Training young athletes may appear, on the surface, to be difficult, complicated and a little daunting. However, that is not the case - not even close!
We recently talked about this topic on our Instagram series called "Ruck Talk," and covered multiple avenues for ensuring young trainees reach the desired outcome of the coaches, parents/guardians and themselves. Essentially, you need to ensure these three things occur in order to get the job done and get them to buy into your program:
- Keep exercise selection basic and simple - less to learn = more engagement = more progress = more fun!
- Don't use complicated programming cycles - you don't need to overly complicated programming with youngsters, after all, they are young enough that stagnation probably won't occur until at least year three - so keep it simple and stick with linear periodization
- Build relationships and achieve buy in - this is done simply through taking a genuine interest in your trainees and allowing a loving relationship to develop - this positive, caring culture will get buy-in organically
I CANNOT SAY THIS ENOUGH - YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GENUINE LOVE FOR SEEING YOUR YOUNG TRAINEES WORK HARD AND PROGRESS!