Warren County Soccer Club

For strength training as it applies to soccer, a program needs to recruit large muscle groups in the legs and core (abdominal and trunk area). After all, until your child reaches puberty, he/she just doesn’t have the hormones available to make sizeable gains in muscle mass.

Before initiating strength training one needs to remember that safe strengthening is “Progressive”. Assuming your child has the proper supervision, a slow safe progression is one of the most vital components in the program. The mastery of “Body Weight” exercises should be the first phase of the strength training for kids. If the young athlete doesn’t have the strength of motor skills to correctly perform simple body weight exercises, then they are not ready to advance to loaded exercises using weight of resistance bands. Here is an example of a progression:
 

1. Body Weight exercises
2. Weight machines (limit use to learning proper form)
3. Resistance Bands
4. Free Weights

Unlike machines, body weight exercises also recruit your stabilization muscles, joints and ligaments and help develop your balance and proprioception skills, which as research has shown is extremely important with injury prevention. An athletes proprioceptive skill have been directly linked to the frequency of ACL injuries.

After a proper ‘warm-up’ including and aerobic jog, jump rope or jumping jacks, followed by a stretching routine your little athlete is ready to begin. Here is a suggested beginner workout using body weight.

Remember: Don’t hold your breath, counting out loud insures that you are breathing properly.

(1) Push progression 
 

(1A) When the above becomes not a challenge progress to,

(2) Quater Squats

(3) Dips

(4) Half Crunches

(5) Quarter Lunges

When these lunges are no longer a challenge, progress to side to side lunges. Make sure your forward knee does not move in front of your forward foot as this may cause knee pain.

(6) Planks

Hold up for 5 count. Repeat 15 times twice.

(7) Chin-ups (palms facing you only)

Goal is to do 5.

Progressive exercises require successful completion of 2 sets of 12-15 repetitions in good form before the child is allowed to advance to the next level of exercise.

Now that we know that strength training for kids is not only safe, but also an effective way to increase physical strength and prevent injuries, it is recommended that your child receive a medical evaluation by their pediatrician prior to the initiation of the program.