Youth Strength Training: Programs for Health, Fitness, and Sport

The benefits of strength training for youth are clearly documented. Yet teachers, fitness instructors, and youth coaches are often not sure how to proceed, and they end up watering down adult versions of strength-training programs.

That is definitely not the way to go. But authors Avery Faigenbaum and Wayne Westcott, with their 50 years of combined experience in teaching youth strength-training classes and coaching, can tell you the way to go―and back it with the most current research on instructional techniques and program design for youth.

Long recognized as leading authorities on strength training, Faigenbaum and Westcott guide you in designing efficient, enjoyable, and productive programs for kids of varying abilities in elementary school (ages 7 to 10), middle school (11 to 14), and high school (15 to 18). You will focus first on broad-based, balanced muscle development, and then move into comprehensive, sport-specific strength-training programs.

In addition, Youth Strength Training will teach you

- productive protocols for warming up and cooling down;

- procedures for enhancing joint flexibility;

- innovative ways to incorporate resistance exercises into physical education classes, sport practice sessions, and exercise facilities; and

- proper exercise technique for 111 resistance exercises using weight stack machines, free weights, medicine balls, elastic bands, and body-weight resistance.

Much has changed since the authors first wrote a book on strength training for youth, and those changes―including information in the areas of nutrition, hydration, and recovery to maximize the effects of strength training and minimize the risks of overtraining―are incorporated in this book. Additional changes, based on the authors' studies, are reflected in workout frequency, exercise repetitions, related training components, and other factors that affect program design and conditioning results. All programs were fashioned with the latest NASPE standards in mind.

Faigenbaum and Westcott have included new information on periodization and long-term planning, perceived exertion scale for youth, overtraining and undertraining, dynamic warm-ups and static stretches, new exercises, effective instruction of youth, and plyometrics.

Through strength training, kids as young as 7 can safely develop a strong musculoskeletal system that can help them improve their health and fitness and also withstand the rigors of sport participation.

Youth Strength Training is the definitive source to guide you in designing and overseeing the programs of the kids you work with, whether you're in a school, fitness center, or home setting. If you want to see high rates of strength development and spark a lifelong interest in strength-building activities, rely on Youth Strength Training.

Avery D. Faigenbaum, EdD, CSCS, is a professor in the department of health and exercise science at the College of New Jersey. Dr. Faigenbaum is a leading researcher and practitioner in pediatric exercise science, with nearly 20 years of experience in working with children and adolescents. He has authored more than 100 scientific articles, 20 book chapters, and 7 books related to youth fitness and conditioning. In addition, Dr. Faigenbaum has lectured nationally and internationally to health and fitness organizations and has developed youth fitness programs for YMCAs, recreation centers, physical education classes, and after-school sport programs.

Dr. Faigenbaum is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and of the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee and was a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports for 7 years.

Wayne L. Westcott, PhD, CSCS, is a fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA and adjunct professor of exercise science at Quincy College, both in Quincy, Massachusetts. He has served as a strength-training consultant for Nautilus, the United States Navy, the American Council on Exercise, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the YMCA of the USA. He has also been an editorial advisor for many publications, including Physician and Sportsmedicine, Fitness Management, On-Site Fitness, Prevention, Shape, and Men's Health. He has authored or coauthored 23 books on youth strength training worldwide and has helped numerous colleges, schools, YMCAs, and fitness centers develop youth strength-training programs.