Furia's Xceleration Strength & Conditioning

To Play In The Game Or To Train For The Game
That Is The Question

By John Furia

This is quite honestly one of the more complex questions strength and conditioning coaches will ever encounter. What is the right balance between game competition, practice (skill training) and physical conditioning? The answer is not quite so complex in my opinion. It is actually quite simple in fact. Our young athletes today play and practice their sport twice as much as they train for it and it is a big mistake! Why? Most young athlete’s strength levels and physical preparedness cannot match up to the volume or demands of the amount of sport competition they are being asked to engage in. In other words our kids play too much, too often and specialize at too early of an age. It is not what many coaches, parents or kids want to here but it is the cold reality.

Here are the 3 major reasons why:

1) Most young athletes fail to build basic levels of strength, flexibility and core stability in the earlier years of development. The emphasis falls primarily on game play and skill practice in excessively high volumes without an equal balance of physical preparation.

2) Overtraining is the most commonly seen side effect. Overtraining occurs when the volume and intensity of an athlete’s play and conditioning exceeds their recovery capacity. Athletes cease making progress, develop repetitive stress injuries and begin to lose strength and fitness. Other side effects include loss or reduced reaction time, chronic fatigue, poor motivation, nutrition and sleep changes and the inability to recover from nagging injuries.

3) Over conditioning or excessive amounts of aerobic exercise: I am always preaching to my athletes that "less is more". I see more and more young athletes ruined by overzealous sport coaches who have sold themselves on that running their athletes into the ground is the way to superior performance. Excessive amounts of aerobic training can ruin young athletes!

Here are just a few reasons why:

-Increases adrenal fatigue which drains the body of precious energy needed to perform.
-Decreases myosin an important protein fiber needed for muscle contraction.
-Produces excessive cortisol which is a catabolic (breakdown) hormone that eats muscle tissue.
-Reduces running speed due to changes in muscle fiber recruitment patterns.
-Depresses your immune system making you more vulnerable to illnesses.
-Drains the amino acid (protein) pool, which takes away from strength increases and adaptation.
-Causes a central nervous system adaptation to slow twitch muscle firing, therefore decreasing power output.
-Can cause overtraining syndrome. (See above)
-Excessive aerobic training for children between the ages of 6-13 years old can ruin their athletic potential! It conditions the nervous system to teach a rhythmic organization of slow muscle contractions teaching the muscles to contract sluggishly. This diminishes the ability to develop speed, power and explosiveness.

Conclusion

This answer is relatively simple. Focus on developing basic motor skills and strength levels with your athlete at earlier ages. Balance game, practice and training schedules so that adequate recovery time is given. Give a higher priority to sleep patterns and nutrition. Let them be kids!

John Furia is the owner of Furia’s Xceleration Strength & Conditioning located in Deer Park, New York. John is a highly sought-after Strength & Conditioning coach for healthy and injured athletes alike, he has helped athletes at all levels - from youth sports to the professional and Olympic Levels - achieve peak performance in a variety of sports.