"It's Just Not Something We Do at School". Adolescent Boys' Understanding, Perceptions, and Experiences of Muscular Fitness Activity

Child Soccer Players' Perceptions of Strength and Conditioning Training: A Multimethod Approach Using Write, Draw, Show and Tell

PURPOSE

The use of strength and conditioning training in childhood is a hot topic surrounded by myths and misconceptions. Despite scientific evidence supporting the safety and benefits of this training for children, the lack of representation of their voices poses a challenge in designing training programs that meet their specific needs and requirements.

METHODS

Children's views, experiences, and perceptions of strength and conditioning training were explored by Write, Draw, Show and Tell techniques. Sixteen grassroots soccer players aged 11-12 years took part in one of 3 focus groups exploring the topic. Data were analyzed following an inductive approach enabling themes to be explored and later deductive analyses using the Youth Physical Activity Promotion model to create pen profile diagrams.

RESULTS

Strength and conditioning were frequently associated with muscle growth, coordination, endurance, and rest. Enabling factors included autonomy, resilience, physical development, and training opportunities. Reinforcing factors included social support, social interference, coaches' communication, role models, and the ways of implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants favor integrating strength and conditioning into their soccer training rather than conducting it as a separate session, which is reflected in their enjoyment. Nonetheless, children remain apprehensive about the potential effects of this type of training on their growth.

"Sharpening Your Mind, Strengthening Your Body" Parental Perceptions on the Use of Strength and Conditioning in Children and Youth

Although strength and conditioning is beneficial and safe for children to engage in there remain myths and misconceptions form parents regarding its use which prevent its widespread take up. This study explored parents' attitudes and beliefs about strength and conditioning in their children. Thirty-one parents (21 dads, 10 mums) took part in one of four focus groups exploring the topic. Thematic analysis was used resulting in themes and sub themes centred on: Beliefs; Determinants; Coach Education; Coach Communication; and Relationship to the Game. There were also smaller aspects of the focus groups which touched upon autonomy as a concept related to implementation of strength and conditioning specifically. Overall, parents of children who play grassroots sport hold generally positive perceptions on use of strength and conditioning with their children, considering it beneficial for both physical and mental development. Key factors relating to successful implementation of strength and conditioning for children focus on having a qualified coach in that particular area (rather than a generic sports coach), effective communication between coach and parents, and coach and children in terms of the benefits of engaging with strength and conditioning.

Out-of-School Sports Participation Is Positively Associated with Physical Literacy, but What about Physical Education? A Cross-Sectional Gender-Stratified Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic among High-School Adolescents

Physical literacy (PL) is one of the main concepts related to lifelong physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF), but there is a lack of information on factors that might be associated with PL in adolescents from southeastern Europe. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between PF, participation and achievement in physical education (PE), out-of-school participation in sports, and PL in high school adolescents from Croatia. Participants were 298 high school students aged 14−18 years (191 females). Variables included school age, PE grade, sports participation, anthropometric indices, four PF tests, and PL (evidenced by CAPL-2-knowledge and understanding questionnaire (CAPL-2-KU) and PLAYself questionnaire). Gender-stratified analyses of differences were conducted using the t-test for independent samples or the Mann-Whitney test. Associations between variables were calculated with Pearson’s product moment correlation or Spearman’s rank order correlation. PF was positively correlated CAPL-2-KU in both genders. PE grade was significantly associated with PLAYself score (Pearson’s correlation = 0.36 and 0.38, p < 0.001 for boys and girls, respectively) but not with the CAPL-2-KU score. School age was not correlated with PL among boys, but there was a significant but negligible correlation between CAPL-2-KU and school age in girls (<2% of the common variance). Adolescents involved in sports had better PL and PF compared with adolescents not involved in sports. In conclusion, participation in out-of-school sports offers a good base for developing PL. Although this study took part over the COVID-19 pandemic period when the regular PE curriculum was significantly altered, the poor associations between school age and PL could lead to the assumption that the current PE curriculum does not allow for improvement of PL in later high school age, which warrants further investigation.