In-Season Strength Training for Youth Athletes

At Wagner PT & Performance, we believe in-season strength training for youth athletes is a cornerstone of success and longevity in sports. It is one huge thing you can  do to stay healthy and perform at your best. We see a lot of enthusiasm for off-season programs (for good reason), but in-season training is just as important. Keep reading for some of our thoughts about in-season strength training for youth athletes.

In-Season Strength Training for Youth Athletes Maintains Gains

Off-season training focuses on building muscle size, strength and power as well as overall conditioning. Sport demands are minimal so we really put effort into building a "bigger engine." This is how we improve sports performance and help reduce the risk of injury in the off-season. A bigger engine equals more capacity equals better performance and resilience.

However, these off-season gains will slowly dwindle if not maintained. Maintenance training is just as important for long term performance and health.

In season, we focus on maintenance because sport demands are much more intense and performing well in your sport is the focus. This does not mean strength training should completely stop. Youth athletes need to continue to challenge their body appropriately to hold onto strength, size and power improvements while working on sport specific technique, skills, etc.

3 Things to Consider With  In-Season vs. Off-Season Training 

Success with in-season training requires understanding of how it needs to be different from off-season training. 3 key differences for in-season training are frequency, focus of training and type of injury risk reduction work.

Frequency of Strength Training In-Season

During the off-season, we typically want athletes on a 3-4x/week program (if not more). This is the time to build strength, size and push the envelope.

In-season, 2-3x/weeks is more than enough. Most commonly we do 2x/week to allow consistency, which is the most important thing. 

Trying to build significant size or strength is very difficult during a sport season due to sport demands. So we focus on maintaining as much as possible. For example, if we help an athlete put on muscle mass in the off-season, we are simply looking to maintain during the season. 

If an athlete has more experience in the gym, they can get away with less frequent sessions during their season. They won't have to work as hard to maintain gains because they are more experienced. 2x/week is typically enough. Athletes who are newer to strength training typically need more sessions per week to maintain. 3x/week is good in these cases.

Focus Of Strength Training In-Season vs. Off-Season 

As we said above, off-season training is meant to build size, strength and power. We typically go through very deliberate phases where we focus on building muscle size, then building strength, then power (usually in that order). Bigger athletes are stronger athletes; stronger athletes are more powerful athletes. So off-season strength training sessions are typically longer and have higher intensity and volume than in-season.

In-season training is about maintaining gains that were made in the off-season but we have to balance sport demands with work in the gym.

This means sessions are shorter and have significantly less volume. However, it is important to keep intensity relatively high.

We are trying to convince your body to hold onto muscle mass. In order to do this, athletes have to lift relatively heavy. But because we are in-season we do less volume and leave a considerable amount of energy "in the tank."

When in-season, get in the gym, do the work and get out. No extra fluff.

Injury Risk Reduction Work In-Season vs. Off-Season

Just like improving performance, reducing injury risk is a year round process. However, we approach things differently in-season vs. off-season. 

Off-season training focuses on building a "bigger engine." As noted above, a bigger engine means more capacity. This means more stress tolerance and resilience and a lower risk of injury. This is more of a "general injury risk reduction phase." 

In-season risk reduction is more specific to individual athletes and the sport(s) they play. We take the general qualities that were developed in the off-season and focus on mitigating risk of specific sports.

For example, with soccer athletes we focus on knee health, baseball and softball we focus on arm care, hockey we focus on preventing groin strains. We obviously also take individual injury history into account. 

Serious Athletes Make Time For In-Season Strength Training 

We know it is challenging to make time for strength training during sport seasons but if you are a serious athlete (or aspire to be), this is very important. With the right program and coaching, we can significantly improve performance, reduce injury risk and build resilience. 

Enthusiasm for off-season programs is great, but the best and most disciplined athletes do the hard thing and make in-season training work too. 

Youth Athlete Physical Therapy & Strength Training in Lakeville, MA 

At Wagner PT & Performance, we specialize in working with athletes of all ages and have specific programs built for youth athletes in every sport. Whether you need help recovering from an injury or improving performance we are here for you.

Check out all our Physical Therapy and performance programs for youth athletes.