One of the most common questions I hear from both parents and athletes is how often should I/my child be training? And some of them are asking in terms of the number of days per week but many are asking in terms of months throughout the year. Simple answer is you should be training year-round.
I can already hear the push back right now as you are reading this. Therefore let’s take a closer look at why it’s important for your child and athlete to be involved in year-round training.
Are you Committed
First, what are your goals as an athlete? For many on the surface it is to improve some type of performance. That can be an increase in performance on the field/court, speed and agility performance, strength and conditioning performance…
We know that there are many layers underneath performance but let’s start there.
Nothing is more frustrating as a high performance mentor than when someone comes in the facility for the first time and mentions they are looking to come one day per week. BIG SIGH! IT does not matter what you are trying to accomplish in life. It is going to be extremely difficult to improve performance doing something once a week.
Especially when it comes to taking care of your body and health. How silly does it sound if you were tracking your nutrition to review at the end of each year. At the end of the year you notice you did well once per week, so would you be excited that you took care of your health and wellness 52 times over the course of a year?
Maybe some of you would, but if you were truly looking to make a change in your life you would not be as fulfilled. You know in your gut that making a shift in your life takes a certain level of energy, commitment and focus…
The same goes when you are considering making an investment in your child’s performance and training. For those that are actually invested in year-round training there are some exceptions where you might only train one or two days within a week. That would depend on several factors like are they in-season, when their games are and several other factors.
With that said, in terms of getting started you should be looking at a minimum of three days of training per week to begin building some momentum.
Diving Deeper
Next, let’s go a step further. There are those kids and parents that come in geeked up ready to start training five days a week and then it happens…
They sign up and completely bust their ass for 2-3 months and like Houdini they disappear!
I pick up the phone and call to see where they have been. Then they follow up with something along the lines of “coach season started”…
Just because the season starts does not mean you stop training! It means you adjust your training. You have worked your butt off several months, do not let that investment go to waste. You have probably heard the saying “If you don’t use it, you lose it”.
That is exactly what is happening here. At the most basic level in season training can be utilized for maintenance of everything you accomplished during your pre-season and off-season training…
Also, one of the primary reasons you even get involved in a strength and conditioning program is to reduce your risk of injury. Most importantly, it’s extremely difficult to be of value for your team if you are hurt all the time.
Throughout that maintenance period you are looking after your body so you can remain healthy. Games can be extremely taxing on the body and it’s tough to simulate what your body goes through during a game without actually playing or performing.
Year-Round Impact
Above all else the most important reason to be involved in a training program is the environment. We know that proximity is power!
As parents you want your kids around strong mentors and a person to guide them towards igniting their own level of confidence and building a strong mindset. It’s difficult to accomplish this when you are only around 3 months of the year…
That’s where so many people miss the boat in terms of mentorship especially year-round. They start hanging around the gym, myself or whoever is guiding them. They get all built up and start experiencing massive success mentally, physically and emotionally. Next they cut it off thinking they got what they needed.
Unfortunately that’s just not the way it works. Remember if you don’t use it you lose it. If you are not consistently immersing yourself in that area it tends to die off. It’s a huge reason so many people are dabblers in life versus being committed…
Your kid reads a book or watches a YouTube video on training and gets all jacked up. They might even go for a run or workout right then and there. It continues for a few more days or maybe weeks but ultimately it’s not sustainable.
The same goes with mentorship. If you try to “ride the wave” during those few months being empowered it will not last.
It’s not about reaching a certain level of empowerment and moving on. Rather it’s the constant evolution of empowerment that results in fulfillment!
Price Focused
Too many people become price focused in terms of training. But if all these programs did was give your child the ability to become a better athlete, improve grades, ignite confidence, take on more personal responsibility and more self-worth would that be worth several hundred dollars a month?
Actually most people spend thousands of dollars a month in search of these things. It could be through tutors, sports psychologists or even medicine for their kids. What if it saved your child from depression or even suicide? Could you put a dollar value on that?
Which is why I had two choices when developing our year-round training program I could go as cheap as possible to sell as many possible. But the problem is I would not be able to stack on the value for you.
So, I decided to go with the second option, which requires a slightly larger investment on your side…
But in exchange for that I can dedicate more time, energy and resources to help guarantee your child’s success.
Therefore I ask you again what would the end result be worth for improved athletic performance, happier, self-motivated and action taking children? You can see why this is not a cost but rather an INVESTMENT.
And I leave you with this. You’ve got 2 choices:
- Do nothing and not take a leap of faith for your child.
- Make a small investment (compared to all the value you get in return) and just give it a shot. See if it’s a good fit for you and your child. If year-round mentorship training is not for you, I always give you your money back.
There’s no risk. You have nothing to lose but stress and headaches! You child deserves it. Do not be confused or underestimate with putting your child into a year-round training program for not only their performance but mental health as well!