Athlete training will deliver a completely customized strength and conditioning program based on the individual athlete’s specific sport and goals from novice to professional athletes. Strength and performance training is critical to all age spectrums to include youth (6-12 years), adolescent (12-19 years) collegiate (20-25 years) athletes as they go through many changes in life and in sport through the growth and development process. Many crucial decisions for long term athletic development are made during this time period.
With the trend towards early sport specialization becoming more prevalent in younger athletes, it is important to ensure that individuals are competent in a broad spectrum of movements so that they are well rounded and able to perform their sports activities in the safest manner possible. Strength and conditioning training provides a stable foundation for a lifetime of movement and performance. Developing athlete’s strength capacity can be significantly enhanced (gains of up to 74% have been reported) through a program that uses a variety of forms of resistance training (NSCA, 2009). The ability to coordinate movement and to efficiently recruit muscles in synchronized action are two of the main reasons for the strength improvements. As athletes age, this is a natural pattern of development but using forms of strength and conditioning training can expedite the process. The increases in muscular strength seen in childhood can be greater than the strength increases seen in adolescence (Joyce, 2014) which evidences why the early initiation of a formal strength and conditioning plan is an important step. Individuals who train twice per week, on average, have 33% higher strength gains than their once session per week counterparts. Stronger athletes perform better, are more trainable and have the most long-term success.