The Pediatric Endurance Athlete

Abstract

Youth sports participation numbers continue to grow in the United States. A shift toward sport specialization has caused an increase in sport training frequency and intensity that places the growing athlete at risk for overtraining, nutritional deficits, and injuries. Individuals who participate in endurance sports are at especially high risk. Youth runners and swimmers are high-risk populations that require special attention to their training schedules, nutritional intake, and injuries. Appropriate scheduling of training, dedicating time to rest, and nutrition education can help prevent problems in the endurance athlete.

Strength and Conditioning for Adolescent Endurance Runners

“…Prior to specialization in a sport of a young athletes choice, physical training should be semi-structured and not emphasize peaking for competitions (26,63). Conversely, an adolescent endurance runner will typically run 45 to 55 miles weekly in preparation for a race (80), which when combined with academic and social commitments, can place a high level of physical and psychological stress on a young athlete (54). This necessitates a well-organized approach to training that caters to the needs of individual athletes and ensures sufficient periods of recovery between bouts of training.…”

“…Many young endurance runners are motivated to include S&C activities to reduce injury risk more so than improve their performance (15). Youth endurance athletes have been identified as a high-risk group due to the rigorous training that they undertake during a critical period of their physical and emotional development (54,80). Indeed, injury incidence rate has been reported to be higher in adolescent elite endurance runners compared to other endurance sports (88).…”

“…A young athlete should be exposed to a wide range of sports and physical activities during their adolescence, however the priority should be placed on the development of rudimentary motor skills and muscular strength (49). Endurance training during early-adolescence (11)(12)(13)(14) years old) should form part of an active healthy lifestyle but should not take precedence over other modalities of sport-training (80). Endurance sports are typically associated with a high volume of training (80), which places the developing body of a young athlete under a high level of stress that could leave them susceptible to overtraining syndrome, illness and overuse injury (54).…”

“…Endurance training during early-adolescence (11)(12)(13)(14) years old) should form part of an active healthy lifestyle but should not take precedence over other modalities of sport-training (80). Endurance sports are typically associated with a high volume of training (80), which places the developing body of a young athlete under a high level of stress that could leave them susceptible to overtraining syndrome, illness and overuse injury (54). Therefore, specialization in endurance running should not occur until late-adolesence, when a young athlete's body is sufficiently mature and well-conditioned to cope with the rigours of this type of training.…”

Dietary nutrient intake of Korean adolescent distance runners

“…The dietary plans for adolescent athletes should be focused on the needs of both performance and growth (Aerenhouts et al, 2011;Petrie et al, 2004). Excessive training without meeting the nutritional requirements during growth carries the risks of irreversible injury or growth inhibition, such as delayed puberty, poor bone health, short stature, and increased risk of injury (Meyer et al, 2007;Solomon et al, 2017). To prevent these problems and optimize the performance, the athletes of middle-and long-distance running, which require a large amount of energy for the training and competition, should be managed so they do not lack energy in their daily meals.…”