Considerations in Athletic Performance Enhancement Training: The High School Athlete

This week's S&C article comes from Rob Panariello, MS, PT, ATC, CSCS.  Rob speaks to a number of vital points with sports performance programs for high school athletes.  With the education level and more importantly, vast experience in both physical therapy and strength & conditioning, this article is a must read for strength coaches and even physical therapists who work with high school athletes.  

Rob highlights 7 key points.....

#1 The High School Athlete Should Be Evaluated prior to Their Participation in an Athletic Performance Enhancement Training Program
        -  Rob emphasizes how many HS athletes are essentially just thrown into a training program  
#2 The High School Athlete Must Be Prepared for the Initiation of a High Stress Athletic Enhancement Training Program
      -  Each athlete should be considered as an individual, as certainly not every specific exercise may be appropriate for every athlete
#3  The High School Athlete Should not Be Trained as a “Little Adult”
      -  Program designs should be appropriate for the HS athletes age and training experience, not designed off a program/training prescription from experienced athletes(college, professional)
#4  Emphasize Quality and not Quantity During Training
        -  Applying increased intensity to an exercise that an athlete has poor technique with can lead to possible injury
#5  Prescribe Appropriate Levels of Exercise Performance Volume
        -  More is not always better.  Intensity and volume go hand in hand
#6  Don’t Make Powerlifters or Weightlifters of the High School Athlete
        -  Absolute vs Relative strength
        -  We use powerlifting and olympic lifting principles to train athletes for transfer to athletic performance (skill)
#7  Be Sure the High School Athlete Recovers from Their Workouts
        -  Consider nutrition, rest time, training, CNS, etc

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