Not making progress? These 3 things stop youth athletes from getting stronger

When athletes aren’t making the strength gains they expect, there’s usually more to the story than just effort.

In today’s email, I will address 3 critical barriers that often stand between youth athletes and their strength goals…

The Recovery Paradox

Proper recovery is often one of the most overlooked aspects of strength development.

While dedication is admirable, more isn’t always the best option for strength & conditioning. During the season, we typically see progress with 2-3 focused sessions per week, allowing enough time to recover between intense training days.

In the off-season, when sports demands are lower, athletes can often benefit from 3-4 weekly training sessions, depending on the athlete’s goals and experience level.

Sports schedules, seasonal demands, and competition periods all influence this equation. The key takeaway? High-intensity training shouldn’t dominate every day of the week.

Including 1-2 days of active or passive recovery is beneficial and essential for long-term health and development.

The Maximum Effort Misconception

There’s a persistent myth in strength training that every session needs to be a maximum effort workout. This simply is NOT true, especially for young athletes.

Constantly training to failure or always reaching for maximum weights creates several problems:

- Recovery demands skyrocket

- Technical form suffers

- Injury risks increase

While there’s certainly a place and time for intensity in training, particularly with experienced athletes, progress needs to follow a planned, gradual progression.

Maximum effort has its place, but it shouldn’t be an everyday occurrence.

The Consistency Factor

Here’s a fundamental truth about strength development:

The most reliable predictor of progress isn’t maximum effort or perfect programming, it’s consistency.

The athlete training year-round 2-3 times weekly will outperform those training sporadically, regardless of intensity.

Yes, breaks happen. Tournaments, vacations, and other commitments are part of life. However, this reality only emphasizes the importance of maintaining consistent training during periods we can control.

Understanding and addressing these barriers won’t give any athletes immediate results.

This is about building a sustainable approach to strength development that serves athletes throughout their athletic careers.

Have a great day,

Liam.

P. S I’m currently developing age-appropriate training programs focused on these fundamental truths about strength training to meet kids where they’re at in their development. If you’d like to be among the first to know when these programs launch, I’d love to hear about your child’s situation. Take 30 seconds to share your athlete’s age, experience, and sport here. This will help me create programs to meet the needs of those interested.

P. P. S. I also offer 1-1 online coaching for athletes here.

If you’re interested in learning more about youth athletic developement you can check out my podcast below!