The sad thing about the mainstream fitness industry is that most people associate weight or resistance training with getting buff or swole. As a result, many people avoid weights and opt to jump on a treadmill. Or the go to the opposite extreme and pursue excessive muscle gain. Moreover, the top Youtube fitness gurus are all buff and ripped. They put motivational videos up and people attempt to be as big and strong as their favorite YouTuber. When you take into account the video production, danceable background music and bulging muscles, I can’t say that I blame most people.

However, if you are reading this blog, chances are, you looking to make your little athlete as strong and as explosive as possible. If that’s the case then you must avoid trying to make your kid into a buff bodybuilder type. The reason is because, the pre-adolescent body is able gain strength as a result of nervous system adaptation as opposed to muscle mass. Accordingly, this nervous system adaptation will not make them big or ripped at pre-adolescent ages, but they can become very strong.

However, looking to make your child buff can lead to muscular imbalances and stiffness that will impede real athleticism. 3 things to help keep his explosiveness and strength functional are:

1. Have your child participate in sports like football, soccer, lacrosse, rock climbing, boxing or karate. These sports require functional strength and it is necessary for the young athlete to develop balance, coordination and quickness, as well as strength.
2. Keep the weight relatively light. It will not be resistance that increases strength, but the nervous systems capacity to recruit muscle fibers effeciently. In other words, repetition and consistency is of primary importance for the strength development of child athletes.
3. Never do single rep PRs and avoid overtraining. In other words, the child athlete should have plenty of gas in the tank after the workout is complete. If the child is sore or getting weaker as the days go by, you are probably over-training. Take some time off, otherwise you run the risk of injury.

So, if you want your kid to be swole. This isn’t the place for you. You need to wait a few years and then send him over to Youtube or let him google his heart away. However, if you want your athlete to reach his full strength and explosiveness potential, try the new Fast Functional Fitness App for IOS by << Clicking Here >>.