Development of the Youth Athlete by Neil Armstrong

Author:Neil Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Safety

Resistance training is currently acknowledged as a safe and effective means of increasing muscle strength in youth but this view has not always held sway and earlier reviews of the topic outlined misplaced concerns over general safety, high risk of injury, and negative impact on growth.55,56 Resistance training and its prevailing environment do present the potential for accidental injuries but although data directly comparing injury rates are sparse resistance training has been reported to be noticeably safer than many other sport-related activities.57 The vast majority of resistance training-related accidents are preventable with appropriate instruction, qualified supervision, careful selection of exercise equipment, and strict adherence to safety regulations. Discussion of specific safety procedures in a resistance training environment is outside the remit of the present chapter, but injury risk factors associated with resistance training and how they can be reduced or eliminated with supervision by qualified and experienced coaches or instructors have been comprehensively addressed and carefully tabulated elsewhere.47

The belief that resistance training promotes injuries in youth athletes is not consistent with the documented evidence which indicates that resistance training helps to reduce the likelihood of injuries in youth.58–60 Several studies have reported that when appropriate resistance training is incorporated into athlete physical development programmes, the incidence of overall and acute injuries is reduced and during recovery from injury less time is spent in rehabilitation as compared with peers who did not participate in a similar resistance programme.61–63

Fear of appropriate resistance training promoting growth disturbances in the developing skeleton of youth athletes appears unfounded. Growth plate injuries have not been reported in any prospective study of resistance training with youth athletes that adhered to established training guidelines.64 On the contrary, scientific reports and clinical observations indicate that not only is the mechanical stress placed on the growth plates by resistance training beneficial for bone formation65–67 but there is no evidence to suggest that resistance training will have an adverse effect on linear growth in youth or reduce final adult stature.67–69

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.