Hello and welcome to The Progress Theory where we discuss how to implement scientific principles to optimise human performance. In this episode, we have Rob Anderson, Strength & Conditioning coach for the Scottish Rugby Academy and director of Athletic Evolution, a podcast that focuses on youth athlete development.

Rob and I discuss the current misconceptions surrounding strength training for youth development, including why strength training does not stunt your growth, and why we shouldn’t just focus on aerobic conditioning at young ages. We also hear how Rob’s wealth of experience has developed his approach to coaching youth athletes. So if you coach youth athletes, work in schools, or are currently a developing athlete yourself, this episode gives plenty of take-home messages for you to implement into your own coaching and training.

In this episode, we discuss:

1:13 - An introduction to Rob Anderson

5:34 - Where Rob’s Interest in youth strength coaching came from

9:53 - Is there a culture change happening for youth coaching?

12:54 - Misconceptions surrounding youth strength training

18:52 - Why bone needs strength training

23:42 - Misconceptions around aerobic conditioning for youth athletes

26:51 - Is past research on youth strength training out of date?

30:54 - The aim behind the Athletic Evolution podcast

36:18 - What key performance indicators to focus on during talent ID to avoid the ‘early maturer trap’.

50:05 - Rob’s philosophy for youth coaching and training

1:00:15 - The LTAD Network

1:06:22 - How to get in contact with Rob

Final Thoughts

So many take away messages from this episode, and it is amazing to see just how far the area of youth training has come in the last 10 years. Not only do I think this is great, but I think it is so necessary that youth coaching is seen as a specialist area. That way it can attract the best coaches for the job who have the right training, experience and skill set.

I just wanted to provide some final thoughts on some key areas which really stood out to me.

• Firstly, just how much of a minefield youth talent ID is, and it is crazy that some still fall into the trap of selecting athletes based on their current performance, rather than actually looking deeper into how much potential that athlete has.
• It was great to have the relative age effect explained in detail to fully understand how it may influence the selection process. It’s great to hear of strategies such as bio-banding, getting players to compete against those of a similar biological age, are being employed to allow both early and late maturers to develop the skills that they need. An early maturer getting selected when they shouldn’t and a late maturer getting overlooked are definitely outcomes that will be less common if we provide better environments for youth athletes to develop.
• And finally, how ‘windows of opportunity have been so prevalent on youth athlete development models, despite scarce support from the research, and that using a more concurrent approach to training may be necessary for optimal youth development.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this episode and it has piqued your interest in getting involved with youth coaching. For more youth development content check out Rob’s work with the LTAD Network. However, for now, please follow and share @theprogresstheory on Instagram and youtube head to our website theprogresstheory.com and listen to our other episodes. We’ll see you in the next one

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Explore these Resources or Items Mentioned in the Show

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

• LTAD Network
• Athletic Evolution

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