Debunk a Myth – young dancers can strength train!
We know that strength training is good for us and good for dance, but what about youths? There is still some debate around whether strength training is ok for children and whether it can negatively affect their development.
Answering some questions on why young dancers should be doing strength and conditioning…
Will strength training with weights impact development in youths?
It has been proven through scientific research that
strength and conditioning is not harmful to their development. Children who are pre-puberty or adolescence (either during or post puberty) can use weights and do not have to wait until they are 16+. In fact, the research shows that supervised strength training is actually safer than nearly all other sports in terms of injury rates.
The long term effects of strength training in youths have shown that it does not negatively impact growth and maturation and S & C can actually enhance bone development in younger children.
Why do young dancers need strength and conditioning?
In dance we are fighting a bit of traditional viewpoint that is something along the lines of – we have managed without strength and conditioning for so many years so why do we need it now? Well, for the young dancer S & C will enable them to jump higher, turn faster, hold positions for longer, move with greater control. It helps reduce the risk to injury as it will increase stability in the joints, strengthen muscles and help to equal any muscle imbalances. Why would you not want this for your students?
Dance can be a challenging activity and can be demanding on the body, S & C can help the body to withstand these demands. Not only this, S & C can give the young dancer greater body awareness.
Dancers often have in innate need to be the best they can be, so why not give them the tools to help this to happen? Performance enhancement happens due to increased strength, power and endurance all of which occurs with strength and conditioning.
How do I approach strength and conditioning with my young dancers?
My biggest bit of advice – make sure they are being
instructed by someone who knows what they are doing!!!
Young dancers need to be ready to train – can they listen to instruction and adapt what they are doing when corrected? Yes? Then they are ready!
Before any load is added, they need to be able to do the basic movements with their bodyweight first – i.e. squats, lunges, deadlifts, push ups, planks etc. In simple terms, they need to earn the right to progress just as they would in any of their dance movements and syllabus work.
Make sure that the sessions are adapted for each child and they are programmed for their training age and not their biological age. Be aware of periods of growth and remember that they are not young adults – the sessions should be fun, enjoyable and appropriate for their age!
Go ahead and make it a part of your curriculum!!