Sports
Sports, both team and individual, are fun, physically good for you and help many teens feel better about their bodies by helping to develop control over balance and coordination. As with adults, adolescents training for a sport or just exercising regularly should focus on conditioning and building endurance. Training should not be something that starts at the beginning of a season and then stops when the sport is over. It is best to focus on maintaining a level of fitness that keeps your conditioned all year.
An overall fitness program for adolescents should include strength training, aerobic conditioning, flexibility, proper nutrition, and adequate sleep. Exercise can influence the growth of connective tissue but there is no medical evidence that athletic activity has any influence on growth. Strength training by using weights is not harmful to adolescents. The emphasis should be on repetitive motion with weights at a level appropriate to the size and strength of the athlete. As a rule of thumb, the athlete should be able to do at least two sets of 10-15 repetitions of a given weight. This minimizes risk of injury and maximizes strength and endurance.
The use of stimulants, illegal drugs or even drugs sold over the counter (like cold remedies, diet aids and caffeine), for athletic performance enhancement, is dangerous to all athletes. These substances are banned by professional athletic groups for good reason. The temporary enhancement of performance with any of the above substances is offset by the potential negative effects to the health of the athlete. Performance enhancing drugs can have dangerous side effects, particularly to your cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems, not to mention the serious potential for addiction to many of these substances.
Sports Safety Tips
- Use proper skills and techniques for the sport
- Enforce safety rules
- Match teams and players by weight and physical maturation, not by age or grade
- Condition year round
- Always warm up and cool down
- Wear shoes that fit properly, are not overworn, and absorb ground impact
- Athletes with a fever should not play
- Athletes with injuries should work on conditioning and treatment of the injury-toughing it out by playing a sport with an injury can cause damage that could be permanent
- Always make sure you are well hydrated before, during, and after playing your sport. Water is best. (8 oz. per 30 minutes of vigorous exercise)
- Never use any performance enhancing drugs
- Remember that most minor sports injuries are treated with rest, ice, compression and elevation of the extremity to decrease swelling
