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New Athletes: Although we highly encourage our athletes to progress through our system from a year-to-year basis; we do not limit past participation as part of our placement process in regards to new athletes. In the early program stages, all new athletes will be evaluated before program phase placement is determined. Overtime Strength and Conditioning makes concerted efforts to ensure our athletes receive the proper training medium to appropriately progress as expected. The evaluation process gives us the opportunity to accurately place new athletes in one of our program phases. This eliminates doubt about whether or not your athlete is receiving the necessary training medium at that given time period. (i.e. - some athletes may need a number of weeks or months doing preparatory work before advancing on to more rigorous training.)
Training Age and its application: Training age is defined as the number of years one has undergone a specific training regimen. For example, an athlete can participate in a sport from age 8-16 but has yet to initiate a strength or athletic development training system. In this case, the athletes training age for that sport is 8 while their training age for strength and conditioning is 0. Our program, like many other successful programs, is built upon the concept of building and enhancing the training age. This allows us to train the body properly not only for one's given physical maturity but their mental maturity as well. For instance, young athletes do not need to mimic a pro athlete's training because they are not yet a pro athlete. An overly ambitious pace or too rapid a progression can promote stagnation in overall progress as well as physical and mental "burnout."
Youth Athletes: With the emergence of youth sports in recent decades, there is an ongoing debate that strength training may have a negative impact on young athletes. The following is a small excerpt from an article generated by A.F.P.A. (American Fitness Professionals Association):
"The development of muscular strength in children has received increasing public and medical attention in recent years. Despite the previously held belief that strength training was unsafe and ineffective for children, major health organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) , the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association(NSCA) now support children's participation in appropriately designed and competently supervised strength training programs. In addition to increasing the muscular strength of young weight trainers, regular participation in a strength training program may improve a child's muscular endurance, body composition and sports performance. Further, participation in a preseason conditioning program that includes strength training may reduce the incidence of overuse injuries in youth sports. It is important to remember that strength training is an activity which is distinct from the competitive sports of weight lifting and powerlifting."
- A complete copy of the NSCA Youth Strength Training Position Statement Paper and Literature Review can be purchased from the NSCA by calling 719-632-6722.
Be assured the Overtime Strength and Conditioning program does emphasize a quality of learning over just "putting up numbers (weights)." Athletes placed in the Beginning Phase of our programs achieve a distinct level of competence in lifting techniques as well as improvements in overall physical fitness through a progressive approach. This program builds confidence in exercise technique, proper muscle structural balance, and general conditioning to set the stage for continuous gains during later phases in strength, power, and endurance.
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