I had a female collegiate athlete tell me the other day that she was
not allowed in her high school weight room to strength train because
the football team raised most of the money for it and they had it
occupied all the time. She also said her coaches did not really stress
strength training much. This devaluing of strength training along with
no access to a weight room just put that girl at a major disadvantage
to safe play and effective performance. This is a typical example and
unfortunately an all too familiar story that I hear from many girls
that I have trained or coached both past and present. A year ago a high
school volleyball player/client of mine shared something similar, she
was told at school that she was not allowed in the weight room until
she was a sophomore. Is that crazy or what?

Welcome to my world. No offense to boys football or any other boys
program, but I can't help but believe that girls are still under-served
when it comes to getting good strength and conditioning information,
programs and opportunities. What I am observing even to this day is
that many female athletes still don't understand the value of strength
training and preparing for their sport in order to decrease their risk
of injury and increase the likelihood of excelling, winning and
prolonging their sports careers. And the athletes that want to strength
train can't seem to get pointed in the right direction or get their
questions answered as to when and how do they get on a good program
tailored to a female athletes needs and sport.

Benefits of strength training for girls are many, they include:

1. Injury prevention

2. Perform sports skills more efficiently

3. Increase strength and power

4. Improvements in functional strength that carries over to activities of daily living

5. Improvements in balance, speed, agility, reaction and quickness

6. Increased flexibility around a joint

7. Aid in recovery time between intense practices and games

8. Improves self-esteem

9. Improves bone strength and modeling

10. Improves overall health and fitness and helps develop a life long healthy activity

All
of us involved in training the female athlete in some manner must
stress and encourage them to prepare properly for their sport and do
this early enough in their career to positively impact their sports
experience. If we don't the tragic results can be, high rates of
injury, frustration, burnout, playing hurt with achy backs, shoulders,
knees and over playing and over practicing instead of over preparing.
We are also seeing serious injuries, sometimes career ending at younger
and younger ages each year. Did you know that girls are 4 to 6 times
more likely to suffer an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) knee injury
in comparison to their male counterparts in the same high risk sports?
There are definite steps a female athlete can take to try to avoid this
type of injury. I see girls that are just not strong enough to handle
the rigors of their skills sport training (practices) and game
schedules, especially when they get to college.

What the studies show:
(1) Girls are not starting early enough on a strength training program;
(2) Not adhering to a strength program long term; (3) Not performing
the right type of strength program for their sport or activity; (4)
Girls are not warming up properly prior to practices and games.

Lets
try to reverse these trends. Lets protect our girls by getting them
strength training. Their conditioning program should be female
sensitive, age appropriate and task (sport) specific. They can start as
early as age 7 on strength and conditioning programs. The American
Council On Exercise (ACE) has written a position statement on strength
training for children and adolescents, it reads as follows: Strength
training children is a safe and effective option for most children ages
seven and up. ACE states that "research has clearly and consistently
shown that supervised strength training is an extremely safe and
beneficial form of physical activity." ACE also recommends training
within a strict set of strength training guidelines established for
youth by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Sports
Medicine, The American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and The
National Strength and Conditioning Association. They also stress the
importance of eating right and doing aerobic exercise along with
strength training in order to enhance overall physical fitness.

Many
strength training programs can now be done in the home with minimal
amounts of equipment so there are no excuses anymore. A stability ball,
a medicine ball and dumbbells are just about all you need to get a good
functional training program accomplished. What is functional training
you ask?  It is training movements, not just muscle groups. Functional
training is closed chain (feet on the floor) movements where you can
train in multiple planes using combinations of exercises.  Strength,
balance, agility, coordination and proprioception all come into play
when training in this manner.  We can't simulate sporting movements on
strength machines.  That is why I train most of my female athletes off
of the machines. 

We still hear girls say to us, "I don't
want to get big and bulky."  This is a myth, girls do not have the
level of testosterone in their bodies to get large muscles.
They also won't mess up their shot or swing. Strength training will
keep them in the game instead of on the sidelines and elevate their
game to new heights putting them in a position to reach all their
dreams and goals. You will find that girls really embrace strength
training and they love seeing how the additional strength gains made
translates to improvements in their play. When a volleyball player can
add 2 inches on her vertical jump or a golfer drives the ball 20 or 30
yards farther, they are psyched! Coaches and parents, please stress to
your high school athletes that may want to play college or professional
sports that they cannot afford not to be strength training year round
if they want to be successful at higher levels of play. Don't wait,
lets not leave our girls behind anymore, they need the protection that
strength training affords.