Exercise: It Reduces Injury Risks
By Evans Allen
The parents of every youth athlete should understand the importance of proper exercise. The right regimen boosts energy and reduces risks of injury.
General exercise training is needed to build the foundation for specific
training in your child’s sport. Often, the sport-specific training
over-shadows general training. Don’t let that happen. Your child needs
both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.
Anaerobic Conditioning
Anaerobic exercise is associated with resistance training such as
lifting weights or “strength training.” All physical activity burns
energy, but resistance training may have the largest effect on body
composition.
Bad fat is replaced with good muscle. (For every pound of increased
muscle 45-60 extra calories are required just to maintain that weight.)
Bones and muscles get stronger; sleep patterns improve; sensitivity to
insulin is increased; the body produces and stores less fat.
Muscular, skeletal, and neurological benefits grow with time, allowing
your child’s body to use energy more efficiently.
Your child’s body is becoming “conditioned.”
Aerobic Conditioning
This includes running, walking, swimming and similar activities. It is a
much different pathway to positive effects via general exercise
training. Fat is burned as oxygen is used up and replenished.
The more oxygen used as your heart and lungs work together, the more fat
can be used for energy at a resting state. The better shape you are in,
the more fat your body can use up.
After developing your child’s general exercise program, it’s time to
increase sport-specific training to teach key muscles to work the way
they should be used in your child’s sport. A solid regimen of general
and sport-specific training will increase your child’s overall fitness
and lower risks of injury.
Evans Allen is business director at Velocity Sports Performance Academy
in Ridgeland, MS. For more information, visit www.velocitysp.com/jackson.