Training Female Athletes: The Keys to Designing a Successful Conditioning Program

It is time for us (the educators, teachers, parents and coaches) of female athletes to understand and accept the fact that female athletes are different from male athletes and these differences require a female athlete to train differently than boys. /mens. Female athletes are different in height, muscle strength, and have different joint problems than their male counterparts. This does not make female athletes weaker mentally or physically in any way. In fact, the unique anatomy and biological makeup of a female athlete makes them more conductive and more successful than boys/men in certain sports and activities.

It’s also time to move away from female athletes practicing using men’s conditioning programs and protocols. Girls/women deserve more time and attention in their conditioning programs and we must all work to dispel the myths, stereotypes, social pressures and negative attitudes associated with the practice of strength training. Coaches of female athletes may need to educate themselves on how to design a strength and conditioning program for their female athletes and emphasize the importance of continuing a program over a period of weeks, months, and years. Studies have shown that women do not adhere as much to a strength training program compared to men.

When I’m talking about strength and conditioning, I’m not recommending that an athlete join a gym, spend a lot of money, train on exercise machines, or buy big, bulky equipment for their basement. It is important to note that female athletes can train at home or in a comfortable environment with a minimal amount of equipment and space. Using an air ball, dumbbells, elastic bands, or just your body weight from it can be effective training aids to provide a great workout for an athlete with little to no teeth in their pocket.

Listed below are the keys to developing a proper strength and conditioning program for female athletes. This is what the female athlete should be doing!

1. As a young girl who is new to sports or physical activity, training should focus on sports movement, sports strength and sports balance. In other words, she learns to move efficiently within your sport. Work on basic movement skills and fundamental skills in your sport. Learn to stop and start, cut, twist or turn. Girls need to learn to move more like tennis players. Tennis players stay forward on the balls of their feet, taking many small steps. They remain in an athletic stance, ready to move, pivoting on the ball of the foot, knees bent. It is also important to keep your knees over your toes. Emphasize rotational and lateral movement patterns. Perform agility drills to teach change of direction while staying low in an athletic stance with your knees bent. Strength training should be sport-specific, full-body, and multi-joint. The hip, foot, trunk, and shoulders control the knee. Start with bodyweight exercises before adding external resistance, and balance training should be incorporated into the conditioning program. Keep training fun. This is like a training period by training.

2. At an early age, girls must learn to jump and land to prevent injuries, particularly ACL knee injuries. It is extremely important to have quality, controlled landings and smooth landings from a jump, landing like a feather, not wobbly knees or hard, noisy landings. Land on the balls of your feet with your knees bent and ankles bent to absorb the force. It is important that coaches teach and supervise how a girl handles a jump.

3. At an early age, girls must learn to run correctly. Coaches must teach proper form, biomechanics, and striking technique. This will contribute to smooth, efficient movement and help prevent injuries, particularly overuse injuries to the knee, hip, back, foot, and ankle.

4. Emphasize the importance of wearing proper shoes when strength training and at practices and games. Women have more flat feet and crooked knees, so it’s critical that your shoes or inserts address these issues.

5. It would be ideal for a girl/woman to start a strength and conditioning program at least before high school if she plans to compete and succeed in her sport at the high school or college level. Training should be year-round with the appropriate number of rest periods built into the annual training cycle. High school female athletes should definitely strength train year-round.

6. A strength training and conditioning program should focus on exercises that strengthen the knee joint to help prevent ACL injuries. The quadriceps, especially the vastus medialis and, more importantly, the hamstrings, which typically have much weaker strength compared to women’s quadriceps. Also strengthen the abductors and adductors.

7. Focus on core strength. This doesn’t mean training for looks by getting a six pack. What I mean is training the chest, abs, and upper and lower back and hip areas. These are problem areas for many female athletes. Train the core from a standing position, this is more functional and more specific to the sport. If you’re ever short on time and can only do a few exercises, do some basic work.

8. If the sport requires a large number of throwing movements, train the rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder joint. Also work your upper back muscles, the rhomboids, which help stabilize the scapula and take stress off the shoulder joint and musculature.

9. Train functionally. Most of the exercises in the training program should be closed-chain (standing, feet on the ground) that incorporate balance, coordination, agility, and proprioception into each movement. Get off the machines and move freely with multi-joint and multiplanar exercises.

10. Emphasize proper nutrition and hydration at an early age. We are seeing osteoporosis in younger and younger people each year. I highly recommend that athletes and their parents meet with a nutritionist/dietitian to ensure that the athlete receives adequate nutrition on a daily basis in relation to her activity level. It is safe to say that all female athletes could benefit from a daily multivitamin.

11. As an athlete is maturing (12-13 years of age), the emphasis of training should shift from training for youth athleticism, to training to improve locomotion, level changes, push-pull movements, and rotation. If an athlete has a history of strength training and has developed a good base of strength and flexibility, the athlete can incorporate more advanced forms of training into her program. For example, more advanced plyometric training, speed, power and explosive training, and power training with the Olympic lifts. This is a training period to compete.

Athletes, consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program.