Neil Gresham's Guide to Training Juniors 1

The physiology of the young climber and the risks of intensive training

At the tender age of eleven I put on my first pair of EB climbing shoes and almost straight away I knew I was completely hooked. Whilst I'm still pretty keen now I shudder to think what my enthusiasm would have recorded on the Richter scale nearly a decade and a half ago. Those who also started as a child must surely vouch that the first few years of climbing are by far the most exciting. Bunking lessons to scale the Geography building, endless evenings of guidebook revision, slaving away at your paper round to muster the pennies for your first and much prized set of nuts. And then when you do finally get a lift to the wall or the crag, stopping simply isn't an option until you are literally dragged away!

Climbing has become so competitive now that it is undoubtedly essential to make the very most of the early years, particularly the mid to late teens, if you are to reach world class potential. Some phenomenal feets have already been achieved by the likes of Chris Sharma, Leo Holding, Katie Brown and, in particular, American 13 year old Eric Scully who's climbed 8b+. There is so much to win as a young climber, but this is always offset against how much there is to lose. We are all very keen to encourage youngsters to progress in their climbing, but do any of us really understand the long term risks and implications? It is well known that children differ from adults in their response to hard physical activity; so how much climbing do we prescribe to youngsters, how frequently and how hard? Should they only do routes or can they boulder? When is it safe to do weights and Campusboarding? A whole series of factors must be born in mind when assessing the training requirements of young climbers and the purpose of this first article is to do just that. By examining the exercise physiology of young people we are then in a safe position to prescribe a more specific training framework.

Growth and sexual maturation

Children do not grow at an even rate and the 'growth spurt' which takes place at the onset of puberty usually accounts for significant corresponding improvements in sporting performance. This usually occurs slightly earlier in girls (10-12 years of age) than in boys (12-14 years). The result is that girls are invariably leaner, stronger and more agile than boys until puberty, and most climbing instructors will qualify this: girls invariably out perform boys until at least the early teens. It is also important to note that significant links exist between training and sexual maturation in the young female athlete or climber. Menarche (first menstruation) occurs significantly later in female athletes than in their nonathletic counterparts (Malina et al 1978, Barker 1981). It is also well known that the more active the sport and the earlier it is taken up, again, the later Menarche occurs; one study found the mean age of menarche to be 14.5 for Ballerinas and 15.5 for Gymnasts.

Bones

Before the growth spurt, boys and girls are much the same in skeletal terms. However the onset of puberty causes boys to develop a wider shoulder girdle and girls, a wider pelvis. This sets up inherent biomechanical advantages in the upper body for boys and in the lower body for girls, which in turn will have a knock-on affect to climbing performance.

High impact, repetitive sports such as climbing place major shock loads on the epiphyseal cartilage plates at the end of each bone. Studies show that excessive strain on these plates before they have fully calcified may lead to the stunting and distortion of long bones.  There is further disturbing evidence that osteoporosis may be linked to excessive physical activity during the critical early years of bone growth (Loucks 1988).

Body fat

During childhood, girls have only slightly more body fat than boys; however the growth spurt causes boys to lose fat and girls to gain it (25% being the average body fat level for 17 year old girls and 14% for boys of the same age). The implication of these statistics barely needs to be spelled out and girls who allow their fat levels to fall below 16-18% may temporarily cease menstruation as well as becoming susceptible to anorexia nervosa. For boys too there are many risks attached to training below your natural (set point) body fat level seeing as a minimum level of body fat is required for general bodily health and metabolises. Even in adulthood, low fat levels equal low energy, poor recovery and a higher risk of injury and these symptoms can only be that much more serious for younger people. However, of particular interest to young climbers is that there are only two ways we can get fatter, one is for the number of subcutaneous fat cells to increase and the other is for those cells to grow larger. Once we finish puberty, the number of fat cells becomes fixed and hence from then on the only way we can get fatter is for those cells to grow larger. That is to say that the less fat cells we have when we reach 20, the less fat we are likely to be later on in life.

Heart and lungs

The growing heart reaches a peak maximal rate at roughly 20 years of age for both sexes and their is much speculation about the affects of heavy exercise until this age is reached.  One study (Morganroth 1975) suggested that too much strength training at an early age will produce a smaller heart with thicker walls, possibly leading to higher blood pressure in later life although this is by no means proven. In general it is regarded that aerobic endurance exercise is better for the cardiovascular development of youngsters, as well as being less stressful on the bones joints and connective tissues.

Aerobic and anaerobic power

In comparison with adults, children gain a higher proportion of their energy from aerobic sources than from anaerobic sources and hence they have far better long term endurance than short term endurance. This is mainly because their anaerobic threshold is higher which, crudely speaking, means it takes more time and effort for them to get pumped. However, once they do start to get pumped they have far less capacity to 'hang in there' than adults, seeing as their muscles can tolerate far less lactic acid. Yet because of this, they incur less of an oxygen deficit in training which means that they invariably recover more quickly between bursts of effort.  In other words because they 'can't' get as tired, they recover more quickly, which explains why so many children seem to have unlimited supplies of energy when climbing. The implications of this is that children are better adapted to longer less intense climbing than shorter intensive climbing. Nevertheless, Eriksson (1971) showed that boys of 11-15 years can still increase their anaerobic parameters through appropriate training.

Specialisation

As adults our muscle fibre types determine whether we are one of three types of athlete or climber: a) the 'fast twitch' power machine, b) the 'slow twitch' aerobic stamina monster or c) the middle man who is optimally good at both but brilliant at neither. Children are way less physiologically specialised in comparison and those who are good at sport tend to be good at both long and short events. It is not until puberty that the affect of muscle cell patterns (to which we are predisposed at birth) comes into play. This would indicate that a child who wishes to reach their peak in climbing would be unwise to prioritise their training significantly until their late teens.

Heat and fluid balance

The balance of heat and bodily water (or homeostasis) in children is significantly different to that of adults. Not only do they produce more body heat but their sweat glands are far less active to help disperse it (Araki 1979). As such, youngsters who climb hard are especially prone to overheating and great care must be taken to cool off in between routes, especially indoors or when it's hot. Children also suffer more greatly from 'voluntary dehydration' than adults - this is the phenomenon of thirst levels being out of synch with bodily fluid requirements (Bar-Or 1983). See fluid intake guidelines next issue.

Exercise perception

Above all else, children are understood to have a less developed sense in response to the fatiguing affects of training and exercise (Bar-Or 1977). Their urge is always to get up and have another go, even when they might be dangerously fatigued. Clearly then, restraint and discipline must be nurtured from an early age.

Motivation so what then of the affects to emotionally immature youngsters? Direct evidence is unavailable but this notion should speak for itself. In addition, young people always engage in climbing in the presence of parents, teachers, friends, spectators, competition marshalls and sometimes judges. Sports psychologists understand that these surrounding peers are far more likely to influence the psychological and emotional development of the young athlete than the sport itself. Studies show that enjoyment levels and perception of ability are everything when it comes to the progression of a young person in a sport. Scanlan & Lewthwaite 1988, conclude that parents and Coaches who encourage young people in their sport by interacting with them in a positive but subtle manner will enhance their confidence and enjoyment which, in turn, may indirectly assisting their performance. Those who are negative or overtly pushy were found to have the reverse affect.

With regards to contributing motivational factors, it is interesting to note that many youngsters discover climbing either due to a lack of success or low enjoyment of school sports (team games in particular) or more simply because they are either rebelious or extravert in nature. Some more general findings for young people's motivational trends for participation in sport are also worth noting. Gould 1985 found that both males and females are equally driven by achievement status although girls listed the desire for weight control as well as fun and friendship more commonly than their male counterparts.

Injury data

Scant information is available on incidences and causes of child injuries in mainstream sport, let alone climbing. However researchists agree that the juvenile injury rate is rising owing to a generally higher rate of participation and corresponding level of competitiveness. I wonder if this is also true for climbing. Micheli 1983 points out the urgent need for all those involved in organising sport for youngsters to be aware of the injury risks and to incorporate preventative measures into their approach. Hopefully this article will be of use in this respect.

Summary

It is quite clear that intensive training for climbing poses a whole number of physiological and psychological risks to the young and maturing climber. However, to make sense of all this complicated supporting theory I will outline a safe and user-friendly framework to approach training for the very youngest climbers right through to the late adolescents. There'll also be a few tips from some of Britain's top adult and junior climbers thrown in for good measure. See you next issue.

Main references:

• E.W.Brown & C.F.Branta 1988 :
• (Scanlan & Lewthwaite,  Kabara & Morris, Rogol, Wells & Plowman, Loucks, Micheli, Brown - all 1988)
•  Health Education Authority Literature review 1997
• Williams 1989 (Sharp 1989)

With regards to contributing motivational factors, it is interesting to note that many youngsters discover climbing either due to a lack of success or low enjoyment of school sports (team games in particular) or more simply because they are either rebelious or extravert in nature. Some more general findings for young people's motivational trends for participation in sport are also worth noting. Gould 1985 found that both males and females are equally driven by achievement status although girls listed the desire for weight control as well as fun and friendship more commonly than their male counterparts.

Injury data

Scant information is available on incidences and causes of child injuries in mainstream sport, let alone climbing. However researchists agree that the juvenile injury rate is rising owing to a generally higher rate of participation and corresponding level of competitiveness. I wonder if this is also true for climbing. Micheli 1983 points out the urgent need for all those involved in organising sport for youngsters to be aware of the injury risks and to incorporate preventative measures into their approach. Hopefully this article will be of use in this respect.

Summary

It is quite clear that intensive training for climbing poses a whole number of physiological and psychological risks to the young and maturing climber. However, to make sense of all this complicated supporting theory I will outline a safe and user-friendly framework to approach training for the very youngest climbers right through to the late adolescents. There'll also be a few tips from some of Britain's top adult and junior climbers thrown in for good measure. See you next issue.

Main references:

• E.W.Brown & C.F.Branta 1988 :
• (Scanlan & Lewthwaite,  Kabara & Morris, Rogol, Wells & Plowman, Loucks, Micheli, Brown - all 1988)
•  Health Education Authority Literature review 1997
• Williams 1989 (Sharp 1989)