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There is often a debate on how many exercises should be used in a strength training program. As with anything, there are always multiple sides being taken. In this article, I want to discuss the importance of exercise selection as it relates to young athletes.
The discussion centers on whether to use many exercises or a few exercises. I completely understand both views, but where I differ is you have to modify your approach depending on who you are working with.
When working with young athletes 13-years-old and under, it is important to expose them to many different exercises so they develop greater coordination, body awareness, and a much deeper and wider foundation of movement. The argument usually revolves around the fact that athletes don’t master a pattern if it is constantly changing. This would be true if the coach did not spend enough time on any one pattern. That is not what I advocate. We spend quality time on each movement until it is learned well, but in the mean time we are also exposing them to other movements. For example, we may be teaching the squat pattern but we will also introduce them to the lunge pattern. There is no reason athletes cannot learn patterns side by side. The lunge enhances the squat and vice versa. The key is to do them well.
When dealing with older, high level athletes there may be a need to streamline the program for many reasons. If you are dealing with large numbers of athletes on a team it is easier to stick with a few exercises, especially if the coach is not an experienced strength coach. Also, if you have an experienced, high level athlete you can focus on their specific needs. Their foundation should have already been set.
The coaches that stick to just a few exercises with young athletes miss the point of development and creating the big foundation. It isn’t about big strength gains with young kids. It is about quality movements and the exposure of their nervous system to many useful patterns.
As I have mentioned many times over the years, I feel we are becoming so specialized and compartmentalized (we break down every aspect of training into its own compartment, yet we use most athletic qualities at the same time during sport). There are many experts in the field that talk about just getting good at a few exercises before moving on to many different exercises. I don’t agree with that. The variety of exercises helps the basic exercises as well. Now having said that, I don’t think you can do weird exercises that are more trendy than practical. What I mean is to have the athlete exposed to many variations of each movement pattern. Listed below are some examples:
Squatting Pattern (Knee Bending)
Body weight squat would be the basic foundational exercise.
-Front lunge
-Side lunge
-Reverse lunge
-Step-up
The lunges and the step-up are examples of other exercises that will be beneficial for the athlete to learn.
Pushing Pattern
Push up would be the basic foundational exercise
-Dumbbell bench press
-Swill ball push-up
-Alternate Dumbbell press
-T-push up
All the other horizontal pushing patterns are additional exercises that add to the learning experience.
To wrap it up, it is important to know your population and the reasons you would limit the exercise exposure with athletes. If there is not a good reason to restrict the use of a large variety exercises with young kids then consider using more variety to add to their learning experience. Regardless of your philosophy, always use quality instruction and quality exercise execution.
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Strength Through Movement Patterns
This DVD offers new coaches, trainers, athletes, and parents a basic look at teaching strength training using the basic movement patterns you already know. It is a safe and effective way to start any training program regardless if you are dealing with a young athlete, competitive athlete or an adult.
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