Fit Tip #5: Resistance Training and Range of Motion

Eric Cressey

April 2007

One reason that children are more to certain injuries is that they have a lot of range of motion at their joints, but often lack strength and stability within those ranges of motion. A wide variety of resistance training exercises can be extremely beneficial in terms of reducing your child’s risk of injury. 

One easy stabilization movement that all kids can do is overhead stabilization walks:  

• find an object – anything from a book, to a backpack, to a dumbbell
• have your child walk in certain patterns while holding it overhead (Figure 8s, or spelling the alphabet with their steps). In doing so, you move the child’s center of gravity further away from its base of support, thereby challenging his/her ability to remain stable with a moving challenge. 
• As the child masters a lighter object, increase the weight, try the movement with one arm overhead, or pick up the speed of movement.