This coming Saturday, Empower Youth will be attending the 2025 Family Day Winter Classic for the U7-U9 Vancouver Thunderbirds. I am grateful to have this opportunity to be out there to talk about sports performance training and how our organization can help their youth athletes.

Youth sports performance training has become a key focus for young athletes looking to improve their skills, build strength, and reduce the risk of injuries. Instead of just playing the game, more and more kids are engaging in specialized training programs designed to help them excel in their chosen sport. This type of training, which we offer at Empower, goes beyond the basic drills and involves a well-rounded approach that focuses on enhancing speed, agility, strength, flexibility, and coordination. It’s not about turning kids into pros too soon; it’s about helping them develop a solid foundation so they can grow into strong, capable athletes. 

Teen Varsity Youth Athlete working on Rope Climbs.

The benefits of youth sports performance training are numerous. For one, it can help young athletes avoid injuries by teaching proper movement techniques and promoting the development of muscles and joints that are often underused. Plus, it helps them become more efficient in their sport by improving their power and endurance, which can give them an edge on the field, court, or track.

What's great about this type of training is that it's tailored to a kid’s developmental stage and needs. Our coaches work on building fundamental skills first and gradually increase the intensity as the athlete matures. They might also incorporate sport-specific drills to ensure that the training is directly applicable to the athlete's game. Beyond physical improvements, sports performance training also boosts mental toughness and confidence, helping young athletes to stay focused under pressure and push through challenging moments.

In the end, youth sports performance training is all about helping kids reach their full potential, stay injury-free, and most importantly, have fun while doing it!

But what about over-training? For youth athletes, dryland training or extra training can be really helpful, but it’s important to strike a balance. The general rule is that they should aim for about 2–3 sessions per week of dryland work or extra training. This can vary depending on whether they are in-season, pre-season or post-season from sport. This helps build strength, flexibility, and endurance without overloading their bodies.

Junior Varsity athlete working on her KB Deadlift

It's essential to keep in mind that young athletes are still developing, so too much intense training can lead to burnout or even injury. The key is to focus on quality over quantity. If they’re doing a sport that requires a lot of physical movement, dryland training can complement their sport by targeting muscles that might not be used as much during practice.

It’s also good to keep the training varied—mix in mobility, strength, conditioning, and agility drills to keep things interesting and cover all bases. Most importantly is REST. Youth athletes need to recover to allow their muscles to rebuild and grow stronger. As long as they’re maintaining a healthy balance between training, rest, and sleep, dryland training can be a great tool for improving performance in their sport!

If you have a youth athlete that is interested in doing sports performance training, you can contact Coach Barb ([email protected]) for more information. 

Check out our current youth training opportunities at Empower Youth Fitness and Development.

See you at the gym!

-OG

Thursday Workout

Updates from Timberwolf

H:00 - 02 Intro (2-3 min)

H:03 - 06 General warm up (6 min)

Shoulder

Shoulder Screws: Shoulder Screws

Pinwheel

Chest Stretch

The Greatest Stretch + Hamstring Stretch

Inchworm with pushup - 8 reps

H: 06 - 14 Tech (8 min)

Points of performance and progressions

Then, find a partner and build up your weight

Starting from the Thruster weight, power clean and then DL

Find your gymnastics station and prepare for your progression

H: 14 - 50 (36 min)
For time:
30 handstand push-ups
30 deadlifts
30 ring dips
30 power cleans
30 pull-ups
30 thrusters

♀ 155-lb deadlifts, 95-lb cleans, 65-lb thrusters
♂ 225-lb deadlifts, 135-lb cleans, 95-lb thrusters

*Do not spend more than 6 min at each station

**Also meaning you can work on movements that you are struggling with for up to 6 min.

The Chief practicing on the rings. Next up Ring Dips