Welcome back to our Monday Field Hockey blog. Today we will discuss the importance of resistance training in young athletes.
Resistance Training
Youth athletes are always looking for new ways to become stronger and faster in order to improve their game. Most kids think the best way to do this is by lifting weights; and while weightlifting can improve your strength and speed, it is not the only way to take your game to the next level. A great way to build upon your speed and strength is through body resistance training.
Body resistance training doesn’t require you to purchase a gym membership or buy a lot of weights. You can accomplish this workout through either your own body weight resistance or use simple resistance bands. Body weight resistance is great because it can be done in a small space and at any time—talk about a win, win. Some very common body weight exercises are pushups, lunges, sit-ups and squats. While these exercises can be very easy to perform, technique is everything and each move has to be done correctly in order to see desired results. Helping show your child the proper way to do these exercise will prevent them from injuries—no one wants to have to sit out a game because they pulled a muscle lunging around the kitchen! Resistance bands are another great way to help gain muscle strength and add more external resistance on top of your body weight resistance. There are a number of resistance bands exercises that can be done to help strengthen every muscle in your body. It’s very similar to regular body weight resistance training, but it adds that extra oomph you sometimes wan.
True Form is a local company that has created a new resistance band product to help gain strength and speed. The product contains a pair of shoes, a belt and resistance bands. The bands attach to both the shoes and belt to allow athletes to move and run as they normally would. The bands create extra resistance to the muscles as the athlete runs and plays their particular sport. True Form also provides a number of different exercises for athletes to perform. Please visit wearetrueform.com for more information on this product.
Whether you’re donning your ultra-cool True Form resistance outfit, or doing pushups in your bedroom, resistance training will help take your athleticism, agility and strength that extra step further. Of course that extra step will be slightly more difficult to take considering you’ll hopefully be attached to resistance bands, but that will only help in the end!
