Combating Chronic Childhood Injury with Physical Development Training
In today’s climate, it is not uncommon to have 25% of a youth athletic team injured. Many parents are questioning “why is my child constantly injured?” and “what can I do to prevent injury?”. With increasing demands of childhood sports and activities, it is imperative to address the underlying factors that play into associated injuries. Physical development training is an often overlooked but key component to facilitating optimal movement patterns, addressing imbalances and preventing injury.
Children are resilient. Think about how many times you watch a child jump off of a 4 foot wall or faceplant on the playground and pop right back up. Although they possess an inherent resiliency to trauma, due to their ever-changing physical development, they are at increased risk of developing overuse injuries. The key to avoiding these types of injuries is simple- teach kids how to move well.
So what does it mean to move well? Each day a child takes an average of 10,000-16,000 steps. If they aren’t moving optimally those 10,000+ steps will eventually take a toll on their musculoskeletal system. Compensation from a prior injury or muscle imbalance contributes to improper movement patterns and can lead to chronic injury. Improper form in a weight training session can also increase childhood risk of injury. Physical development training looks at the child as a whole and teaches them how to move well so they can move often.
A second key to avoiding chronic injury is to address imbalances. As children develop, intermittent growth spurts occur with bone development occurring prior to muscle lengthening. This places increased stress on both the muscles and the tendons which attach the muscle to bone. Until muscle length matches bone length, it is important that a child’s flexibility is addressed to avoid chronic tendon issues and muscle injury. Physical development training also addresses strength discrepancies of antagonistic muscles meaning the muscle groups on opposite sides of a joint. If for example, a child is quadriceps dominant with weak hamstring musculature, this can have a harmful effect on landing form, squatting technique and athletic performance. Working collaboratively with a trainer, any imbalances can be observed and corrected before subsequent injury occurs.
Another consideration for injury occurrence is concentration. A child should want to be participating in his or her activity. Lack of motivation or interest, leads to decreased concentration and increased risk of injury. Pain and/or lack of confidence also leads to reduced concentration. By improving your child’s movement patterns and efficiency, physical development training can help your child improve his or her confidence with sport-specific skills, self-esteem and body image.
All encompassing, physical development training drives injury prevention. A professional physical trainer can help prime the neuromuscular system to handle the loads and movement requirements that a sport necessitates. He or she can train the brain to recruit muscles in an efficient and effective manner which powers proper movement and helps avoid injury. Personal training also improves mental acuity and overall confidence by helping the child attain peak physical performance. Ultimately, the benefits of physical development training are numerous and incorporating this form of training into your child’s regimen is a key component to the prevention and treatment of chronic childhood injuries.
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References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166269/#:~:text=Among%20children%2C%20boys%20average%2012%2C000,steps%2Fday%20%5B11%5D.
