For years, resistance training in youth has been surrounded by caution—concerns about stunted growth, growth plate damage, and unnecessary injury risk.

But where did those ideas actually come from?

In this episode, I break down two research papers examining resistance training in young athletes, with a focus on what the evidence actually shows. We look at how strength develops in youth, why improvements are largely neural early on, and how properly structured training fits into long-term athletic development.

More importantly, we address the origin of the long-standing myths—and whether they hold up under scrutiny.

• Why astronauts train in microgravity—and what happens when the body loses load

• The load-dependent nature of muscle, bone, and nervous system function

• The origins of resistance training myths in youth populations

• Neural vs muscular adaptations in younger athletes

• Effect sizes and what they tell us about real performance changes

• Strength, power, and movement outcomes from resistance training

• Injury risk: what the research actually shows

• Why supervision and program design matter

Properly structured and supervised resistance training is not only safe for youth—it’s one of the most effective tools we have for improving strength, movement quality, and long-term athletic development.

The issue was never resistance training itself. It was how it was being done.

• Granacher et al. (2016)
  Effects of Resistance Training in Youth Athletes on Muscular Fitness and Athletic Performance: A Conceptual Model for Long-Term Athlete Development
  Frontiers in Physiology

• (2026 Paper – add full citation once finalized)

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