The importance of training correctly when you are a junior athlete:

By Joel Watson.

In January next year PowerSports Club will be running a Gridiron Clinic for some up and coming juniors, through the planning of the clinic I have been thinking to myself how junior athletes should really train to help them perform better at their given sport and it makes me somewhat frustrated to see junior athletes making really bad mistakes in the gym in regards to exercise choice, form and just the general template of their program – or lack there of. As a junior I had no real direction when it came to what I should be doing in the gym and nothing in the way of how I can improve my performance on the field – back then I didn’t know any better so it didn’t really bother me but now looking back at it I think to myself what I could of done better and what mistakes I made.

I have worked and trained at alot of different commercial gyms in my time and every where I go it’s the same thing in regards to junior athletes - they train exactly the same as your average joe! How can you expect to get better at your sport if you don’t do the right training? Natural talent will only take you so far!

Here is a list of things I would have done differently if I had my time over and some mistakes that I see junior athletes making:

Core:

When I was a junior athlete in rep squads we would always do group core workouts, but the thing is no1 ever explained to me why we did this or what it was for – so naturally as a teenager once the squads finished for the season I wouldn’t train the core just because I couldn’t see any different and I wasn’t told why I should do it plus it was just a waste of time when I could be doing more chest. I can’t stress the importance of training the core to junior athletes enough – in all sports from junior to professional, male or female the posterior chain/core in the foundation of a good athlete.

Don’t train like a bodybuilder or an average joe:

As I said before I see this at every single gym I go to, junior athletes are just that they are athletes why do these “fitness professionals” (personal trainers) give junior athletes bodybuilding style programs, it just does not make sense to me and does nothing for there performance on the field! I’ve had this happen to myself as a junior and seen it go through to 1st grade teams. I’m not sure if its just laziness from the personal trainer or if its just a lack of knowledge, I can understand if its a lack of knowledge but if you don’t know how to train an athlete then pass them onto someone who can and stop trying to make that extra dollar. These junior guys are looking to get into A.C.T teams and Australian teams not looking to get the biggest chest.

Form:

Athletes need to learn exercise form before lifting heavy – simple as that. It’s very hard for a junior athlete to lift light and learn proper form just because as a teen your ego is normally through the roof and if your training with team mates it’s worse. So I really put this down to the trainer/coach to teach and train good form before lifting heavy – if the form is good then the heavy weight will come faster anyway. Noone will be impressed if you bench 140kgs but only bring it down 2 inches you’re not doing any favours for yourself or letting yourself improve! – Listen, watch and learn from your Strength and Conditioning Coach!

Building Glutes, Hamstrings and hip strength:

I don’t think I have ever seen a “fitness professional” teach a junior athlete to do a box squat, use the reverse hyper, glute-ham machine or teach them how to do a Good Morning – but I will see them teaching them how to use the leg curl machine, this is just not good enough for a junior athlete just like the core the Glutes, hamstrings and hips are of top importance for improving an athletes power, explosiveness and strength on the field.

Train the whole body:

You will find most uneducated junior athletes will receive a program from there “fitness professional” and then some will normally ignore the lower body and focus on the chest, triceps and biceps and sometimes that’s even reversed but normally its the 1st one – and all along think  1. It will make me look better and 2. This program was written for me for my sport so it must be helping even if I don’t do it all. Now this isn’t the athletes fault because they don’t know any better, I put this back on the trainer again to stress the importance of training the whole body and becoming a complete lifter/athlete and not just focusing on the body parts you want to.

Overtraining:

This is probably one of the biggest if not the biggest mistake I see junior athletes making – that is overtraining and thinking more is better. I’ve seen some guys train 7 days a week in the gym while going to football training as well and also playing a game on the weekend – yes even training either before or after a game!  It is easier for a junior/teen to make gains but they still need rest and if you’re training more than 4 times in the gym a week then re-look at your program and seek advice from a Strength and Conditioning coach.

Diet:

This is one of the biggest things for a junior athlete and really anyone who is training seriously – you need to eat to grow! Most juniors are looking to put on weight and most find it fairly hard because at that age your metabolism is going like crazy. I have worked with junior athletes before in regards to diet and 95% of them under eat and think they are eating enough and then question me why they aren’t gaining weight, you need 6-7 balanced meals throughout the day not 2 or 3. Do not underestimate how much you need to eat and also how important diet is to your overall training and performance.

Supplements:

I never go into to much detail in regards to supplements with my juniors because I really don’t see the huge importance for them if your diet is in check – of course take your multi-vitamin and some protein powder before/ after training, but other than that don’t fall for the crappy mis-leading adds you see in these bodybuilding magazines. The main focus for a junior athlete should be doing the right training and having the right diet and not looking for the next supplement which will give you skin bursting pumps and a six pack.

As a junior athlete listen to these simple yet effective pointers, I wish I had them as a junior! Educate yourself by surrounding yourself with knowledgeable people and not these so called “fitness professionals” if you are truly focused on going to the next level and playing A.C.T or for your country then you need to seek out training that will help you reach these goals and not limit yourself by training like the average joe this training will normally put you out of your comfort zone when you first start but as you start to see results and learn how the training helps you improve you will never want to train like an average joe again!