A trainer’s plan

Shane Freel’s workouts for young athletes aren’t about bulking up.

“You don’t want to be just a ball of muscle,” the trainer says. “You’re looking for strength, speed and flexibility. You look where the body is weakest and how you can make it better.” So he designs workouts with three phases:

Phase I

First you warm up with a combination of stretches and aerobic exercise, such as running, jogging or jumping rope. “You want to get loose and warm up your legs and your upper body,” he says.

Phase II

This is the power phase, with lunges, jumps and lifting moderate amounts of weight quickly.

“This is where you get explosive,” he says.

Phase III

Last, work on strengthening specialized muscle groups such as chest, abs, biceps and triceps. Chest presses, bicep curls and squats build strength and muscle.

Once youths are past puberty, weight training can build strength, muscle mass and endurance. Dr. Larry Gibbons, medical director of the Cooper Clinic, recommends these guidelines:

Start light and never increase weight by more than 10 percent each week.

Stick with weights you can lift for three sets of 10 repetitions. You’ll build more muscle and endurance with repetitions, not by straining under a weight you can lift only once.

Don’t overdo it. “The good news is you can get all the important benefits in two or three workouts a week,” Dr. Gibbons says. “And the benefits begin to occur immediately.”