Want to build the best athlete? Want your kid to grow up and be a great athlete? Let them out of the box. When they are young (elementary school) they do not need formal speed and strength training designed by a Certified Strength and Conditioning specialist like myself. They need to play! Fewer video games and more outdoor play. Fewer structured workouts and more fun play.
Have you ever watch American Ninja Warrior? It is just basically the adult version of kids on a playground. Kids running up slides, swinging across the monkey bars, kids balancing on a beam, kids playing. Let the kid play, let them run around and play tag. You will get more agility, reaction and quickness work from a game of tag than you will from any formal “agility training”.
The time for training will come. There will be a time for them to do formal strength training, and designed speed and agility drills, but that time is not in elementary school. Pushing kids too hard too early is the quickest way to burn them out and take the joy of sport away from them.
The kids will work harder for longer if they are having fun. More total work, with a wide variety of stimuli will come with play leading to better athletes that are in shape and having fun. The NFL calls it “play 60” and not train 60 for a reason, let them play!
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