Fitness Pro: No Replacement for Hard Work

I was pleased to hear last week that Coach Dave Bohane is back in the saddle as head coach of the Canton High School football program. For one, he’s a proven leader with a good track record, and he knows how to get the best out of his players. Secondly, and maybe less importantly, the eighth graders I coach in Westwood won’t have to face a Bohane-led middle school team next season (although I know he’ll find a more than capable replacement). It’s a good fit for the program, and I wish him nothing but luck in his second stint at the helm.

While reading the Citizen’s article on his hiring the other day, I was happy to hear his philosophy on offseason conditioning and preparation, specifically when it comes to weight training.

“Bohane admits he is a big weight training room and fitness guy, and he will be encouraging all players who want to play football and who are not playing spring sports to get in the weight and fitness rooms as soon as possible,” Citizen reporter Mike Berger wrote in his piece published on March 31.

Championships are earned when no one’s watching, during the long hours spent in the gym while others are lounging around. If you want to be the best, you have to train to be the best. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? I’m a big believer that success on the field in the fall directly corresponds with the work put in during the offseason months — and it all starts now.

I get a lot of questions from both young athletes and parents alike regarding the age in which it is appropriate to start weight training, and what a program for a teenager might look like. While there is no 100 percent, clear-cut list of “rules” in which to work with, there are some suggestions most young athletes can follow in order to get stronger and keep themselves healthy while doing so.

First of all, safety is the main concern, and learning how to strength train correctly should be the first goal of any aspiring young athlete. I can’t tell you how many times in the gyms and weight rooms I’ve been in over the years that I’ve seen youngsters do something incorrectly or without a spotter. If an athlete needs the help, he/she should seek it out even before they start, whether that is in the form of a coach in the weight room or a staff member at your local gym. It would be a horrible thing for an athlete to have to miss time in or out of season due to an injury caused by an improper lift.

That leads to a second point about safety: if a teenager is not there to learn the proper technique and to use the equipment the appropriate way, then they shouldn’t even bother stepping foot in the place to begin with. A high school weight room or a fitness center is not a daycare, and the risks and dangers become much higher if someone’s in there just to mess around and goof off.

Another question I get a lot when it comes to gym memberships and training is what age is appropriate for a teenager to begin a fitness regimen. Many people believe that strength training can stunt a teenager’s growth, or that it is unsafe for a youngster to lift until they are an adult. Unfortunately, that’s a bit of a misconception; strength training (while closely monitored in the right setting) is beneficial, and as long as certain safety measures are taken there is far less risk for injury.

According to Avery D. Faigenbaum of the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association), in his paper entitled “Youth Resistance Training,” there is no evidence to support claims of stunted growth or high risks involving strength training for young adults.

“Current observations indicate no evidence of a decrease in stature in children who regularly perform resistance exercise in a controlled environment,” he writes, adding, “With appropriate supervision and instruction, the risks associated with youth resistance training are not greater than other activities in which children and adolescents regularly participate.”

Under the close supervision of a trained professional, whether it is a coach or a trainer, great gains can be made by young athletes in their individual sports. However, the opportunity for injury to occur is greatly increased if a youngster is doing an exercise without the correct form, or while using an inappropriate amount of weight. The safest way to encourage young athletes to train is to start them slow, using a lot of body weight exercises before moving to ones involving free weights and machines. Also, a proper warm-up and stretching before or after a workout is always encouraged; it’s never good to jump on a bench press or in a squat rack “cold.” Starting from scratch is tough, but form and execution is paramount over everything else, so there’s going to be patience needed on the part of the athlete and their coaches.

In the end-of-the-year “Top 10” polls in newspapers across Massachusetts, we always see the same handful of schools. They’re those perennial favorites, the ones that seem to always be at or near the top every season. Some will argue that yearly success is the result of the enrollment at larger schools, and while part of that is true, I would bet my paycheck that each one of those perennial contenders has a strength program in place, and also the commitment in place from athletes in the offseason, from seniors all the way down to the freshmen. It’s the only way to build a winner, year in and year out. It seems that Coach Bohane realizes that, and I for one hope his kids follow suit. Canton has a beautifully renovated facility in which to train; it’s time to put it to good use.

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Posted by Joe Mascia on Apr 14 2011. Filed under Featured Content, Opinion, The Fitness Pro. Both comments and pings are currently closed.