Infographic

Mythology of youth resistance training

Avery D Faigenbaum ‍ ‍,1 Andrea Stracciolini ‍ ‍,2 James P MacDonald,3,4 Tamara Rial Rebullido ‍ ‍5

The health and fitness benefits of youth

resistance training are well established.1 2
In addition to increasing muscular fitness
and fundamental movement skills, resis-
tance training can increase bone mineral
density, improve cardiometabolic health,
facilitate weight control and reduce sport-­
injury risk.1 2 The WHO recommends that
children and adolescents participate in
strength-­building activities at least 3 days
per week.3
Despite the established benefits and
WHO recommendations, participation in
youth resistance training is falling short
of expectations. A mere 4.8% of Colom-
bian adolescents and 19.4% of Euro-
pean adolescents self-­ reported sufficient
participation in muscle-­ strengthening
activities.4 5 Without ongoing exposure to
strength-­ building activities, any existing
divergence between weaker and stronger
children will likely widen over time. A
low level of muscular strength is a well-­
recognised risk factor for functional
disability in older adults, and contempo-
rary youth are just as vulnerable to the
inevitable consequences of muscle disuse
and dysfunction.1 2
Deep-­ seated and unfounded beliefs
exist among some health professionals,
teachers, coaches and parents that resis-
tance training is unsafe, ineffective or
unnecessary for children and adolescents.
These beliefs constitute a mythology,
existing despite the evidence that refutes
it. Because of this phenomenon, there is
suboptimal support for resistance training
programmes which could otherwise target
strength deficits and prepare children
and adolescents for a lifetime of physical
activity. While many youth will develop a
minimal level of muscular strength from
activities of daily living, many more will
be ill prepared for the challenges of exer- Figure 1 Infographic about the mythology of youth resistance training.
cise or sport without ongoing participa-
tion in some type of resistance training.
This mythology surrounding youth
muscles, or that resistance training is only mythology of youth resistance training
resistance training may be deterring some
for athletes. All of this is incorrect.1 2 remains a zombie tale that will not die.
adults from recommending the necessary 1
In light of troubling secular trends in Department of Health and Exercise Science, The
interventions to enhance biomotor quali- College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey, USA
ties that are needed to move proficiently youth muscular fitness which appear to 2
Orthopaedics/Sports Medicine, BostonChildren’s
(see figure 1). Important stakeholders still have worsened during the COVID-­ 19 Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston,
believe that resistance training during the pandemic, concerted efforts are needed to Massachusetts, USA
3
growing years will stunt linear growth or increase participation in youth resistance Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA
4
training. All professionals involved in the Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University
that strength-­building activities are unsafe College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA
for children. It is not uncommon to hear care of children must regularly and repeat- 5
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University
adolescent females say that strength-­ edly share evidenced-­ based information of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine,
building activities will produce bulky about strength-­ building activities, as the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Faigenbaum AD, et al. Br J Sports Med September 2022 Vol 56 No 17    997

 Infographic
Correspondence to Dr Avery D Faigenbaum, Dept of
Health and Exercise Science, The College of New Jersey,
Ewing, NJ 8628, USA; ​faigenba@​tcnj.​edu
Twitter Avery D Faigenbaum @afaigenbaum
Contributors All authors conceptualised the overall
idea for the infographic manuscript. ADF drafted the
text and TRR developed the infographic. All authors
contributed and approved the final version of the text
and infographic image.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific
grant for this research from any funding agency in the
public, commercial or not-­for-­profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not applicable.
Ethics approval Not applicable.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned;
externally peer reviewed.
998
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No
commercial re-­use. See rights and permissions.
Published by BMJ.
To cite Faigenbaum AD, Stracciolini A, MacDonald JP,
et al. Br J Sports Med 2022;56:997–998.
Accepted 25 May 2022
Published Online First 9 June 2022
Br J Sports Med 2022;56:997–998.
doi:10.1136/bjsports-2022-105804
ORCID iDs
Avery D Faigenbaum http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1364-​
8503
Andrea Stracciolini http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2898-​
8527
Tamara Rial Rebullido http://orcid.org/0000-0001-​
8526-6323
Faigenbaum AD, et al. Br J Sports Med September 2022 Vol 56 No 17
REFERENCES
1 Stricker P, Faigenbaum A, McCambridge T. Council
on Sports Medicine and Fitness. Resistance
training for children and adolescents. Pediatrics
2020;145:e20201011.
2 Lloyd RS, Faigenbaum AD, Stone MH, et al.
Position statement on youth resistance training:
the 2014 international consensus. Br J Sports Med
2014;48:498–505.
3 Bull FC, Al-­Ansari SS, Biddle S, et al. World
Health organization 2020 guidelines on physical
activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med
2020;54:1451–62.
4 Bennie JA, Faulkner G, Smith JJ. The epidemiology
of muscle-­strengthening activity among adolescents
from 28 European countries. Scand J Public Health
2022;50:295–302.
5 González SA, Sarmiento OL, Katzmarzyk PT, et al.
Prevalence and correlates of meeting physical activity
guidelines among Colombian children and adolescents.
J Phys Act Health 2021;18:400–17.