Speed And agility training

I have started training my athletes in writing, agility, and speed drills as early as Kindergarten. Many of them run with students  who are at the high school level and they're able to keep up and run through the drills.

While they may not be able to do the specific skill at the same level as a high school player they can still start to learn to move and stop and start at that level.   And I don't care what sport you play you can never be too fast or too quick. And there's nothing tougher than playing a player that can get back every ball or is constantly on the move from the start of the game till the end of the game

And I believe as long as they're going to run the drills they might as will be catching, hitting, or throwing a ball from their sport at the same time they're doing it.   That way they are getting sports specific skills as well as strength and conditioning at the same time

Can short-term high intensity interval training show results in children ages 8-11 

This article is based on a report from the Strength and Conditioning Research


Researchers in France recently investigated the effects of short-term interval training on fitness in prepubertal children. The investigators were interested in the effects on the children's aerobic performance and explosive strength.

They tested one hundred boys and girls aged 8 - 11 years. This group was comprised of 46 boys and 54 girlswho volunteers for the study, with the consent and approval of the parents. The same physician evaluated the sexual maturity of each child prior to the onset of training. There was a control group was comprised of 25 boys and 28 girls, and an experimental group involving 21 boys and 26 girls. Five field tests were performed at the beginning of the study to establish a baseline of fitness for the children. The tests included the standing broad jump, the 10 x 5-m shuttle run, the sit-and-reach, the 30-second sit-up test, and the 20-m shuttle run test.

The experimental group followed an interval-training program for 7 weeks. This group performed high-intensity, intermittent-running exercises 2 sessions per week for a period of 30 minutes per session. These exercises ranged from 10 - 20 seconds at 80 to 100% of their maximal aerobic speed. A recovery period of 10 ? 20 seconds followed each run. All exercises were performed on a short track and the children were placed in lanes corresponding to their maximal aerobic speed.

Results reveled that there was no significant difference at tests which were done at the start of the testing between the experimental and control groups. However once the experimental group started their training they did experience a significant improvement in their standing broad jump values and their maximal shuttle run velocity. These improvements were observed to be independent of gender and growth. No improvement was found in the control group which did not training at all. .

These results suggest that high-intensity, short-term interval training can elicit an improvement in some aspects of fitness for prepubertal children. It must be noted that children will perform better in a physical education environment when they are having fun within a group setting and when the instructions remain simple. 

So simply put children ages 8-11 can start training, train with high intensity, and get sigificant results from this training. But make sure you make their training enjoyable(by varying the exercises and routines) and in a group setting if you can!   

Personally I have seen tremendous results from students as early as  ages six and seven.  What I do is shortening the training time and always make sure all of the sports and strength and conditioning training we do is fun for them.  Do not expect a six-year-old athlete to go through a full 30 or 60 minute workout that will not happen.  Start with 10 to 15 minute training times maybe a then go up to 30 minutes.  Remember all of that time will add up each week and month and after six months you can see tremendous results

Baquet G, Guinhouya C, Dupont G, Nourry C, Berthoin S. (2004). Effects of a short-terminterval training program on physical fitness in prepubertal children. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 18(4): 708 ? 713.

Cook Healthy Meals For Your Children 

At Manhattan's Private Calhoun School Chef Robert Surles cooks healthy meals for his Kids. "Chef Bobo " as he is called, cooks from scratch, keeps the portion sizes small, and provides healthy food instead of the preservative loaded, high sugar junk that most students are asked to consume. 

He states that " studies have shown that it may take up to 15 times of tasting something before a child will like it." So rather than give in, Chef Bobo, will keep putting out his healthy food dishes until his students find the particular dishes they like. 

He also tries to avoid any food that has corn syrup in it. He feels this is one of main reason that diabetes is running rampant in our children is that corn syrup is so prevelant in all of our foods. One of his examples is ketchup. Ketchup has more sugar in it than ice cream and he will not serve it to his students. 

One of his recipes is for Rutabaga fries, which are tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then cooked in a convection oven. 

So you parents need to get on the bandwagon. You need to buy healthy foods from the grocery store, like lean meats, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit each week. You need to cook your meals from scratch and avoid the frozen prepared meals in the freezer aisles, which are pumped full of preservatives and sugars. You need to take the time and effort to plan and out and prepare healthy meals each day. 

I would not only recommend that you eat most of your meals together as a family,  but also did you get your children involved in cooking and preparing the meal.  This will give them the routine of cooking and of preparing healthy meals,  and they should carry this routine for the rest of their life

Give your child the gift of health! All of your effort will be worth it, and they will be able to carry this habit of health with them when they go out on their own .