kids’ fitness
Is your young athlete over-trained? By Brian Lawler
WNC Parent contributor
Today there are ample opportunities for children to be involved in sport competitions year round. Sometimes young athletes will participate on several different sport teams at once and will have to juggle practices and games among their school, club and travel teams. In order for children to fully succeed as athletes, a proper balance should be maintained between their training program and the recovery process. After a training session, your child will become weaker for a period of time until physiological adaptations can occur. If your child does not fully recover before the next training session, then eventually he or she will perform at a level far below his or her potential.
Sometimes the issue is not being overtrained as much as it is being under-recovered. Two children can undergo the same training program, and one child will excel and the other the other will have a lackluster or disappointing performance. This is usually because of differences in the athlete’s ability to recover. Highly motivated athletes are at greatest risk for overtraining as these athletes push themselves hard during practice even when they are fatigued. If your child is training hard and is not performing as well as you would expect, then suspicion should be raised that he or she is over-training. An increase in resting heart rate, a decrease in body weight, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, increased irritability, mood changes, muscle soreness, increased illnesses and injuries, or a lack of desire to train or compete can all be indications that your child may be recovering inadequately. All kinds of life stress will have an impact on your child’s ability to recover. Also if your child is sleep deprived or has a poor
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diet, then he or she will likely have a delayed recovery. Recovery can be improved by encouraging your child to get more sleep and to eat as soon as possible after every training session. A combination of carbohydrate and protein (such as skim milk) is best to help replenish glycogen stores and rebuild muscle. Also make sure that your child’s total caloric intake for the day is enough to meet his or her energy needs for training. Many athletes fail to eat enough calories to cover the demands of training and competition. If you suspect that your child is overtrained, then reducing the training load or taking a short break from training altogether is usually all that is needed to allow your child to come back refreshed and stronger.
Brian Lawler is a physical therapist and sports performance trainer at Asheville Physical Therapy. He offers a summer speed camp to help young athletes reach their potential. Visit www.Ashe villePhysicalTherapy.com or call 277-7547.
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