question for those of you with children in high school level sports

[Only me]

My 14 year old son has always been very active. His main sport is baseball and he has been playing since he was 3. This is his first year at the public high school. He was homeschooled through 8th. He wants to try out for the high school baseball team so he had to start training after Thanksgiving. He has always been in good shape. He is fairly small for his age, although he is growing quite a bit now. He is in good health and is really lean and strong. The problem is he is constantly exhausted. This is his training schedule. I was wondering if this is typical for someone his age or if it truly is too much.

 

He has to lift weights 4 mornings a week. He has to be at school by 6, which means he has to wake up at 4:55. He also has weight lifting in gym class two days a week, which means two days a week he is lifting twice a day. This either means that he is working on the same area (upper or lowers) twice a day or doesn't have a break in between. His coach has now added fielding practice at 6 am on the one day that they don't have lifting in the morning. He has batting practice twice a week after school. He also has conditioning Saturday mornings, which is mostly intense running, etc. That is what his coach requires. Back in October we had him start at a baseball training academy. He goes there twice a week from 5-7 but it is 45 minutes away, which means he pretty much has to leave as soon as he gets home from school and doesn't get home until around 8:00. The training consists of 1 hour of of batting practice followed by 1 hour of intense training. Of course this was our choice but we already paid for the 20 weeks and we can't get out of it now. It was pretty expensive.

 

So to break it down it means he is lifting weights 6 times a week, conditioning 3 times a week, batting practice 4 times a week and fielding once a week. Once the season starts (if he makes the team) I'm not sure what the schedule will be like.

 

I don't necessarily think it is an excessive amount of training (except for the lifting twice a day. I think that is a bit much). I think the hardest part is waking up at 4:55 in the morning, lifting, going through school and then usually having some kind of practice or conditioning after school. He has been so tired and even fell asleep in class today. Of course his health and schoolwork comes first but he really, really wants to make the team. He has been looking forward to this since he was very little.

 

Any suggestions? Is this typical?

[xixstar]

Hmmm, only comparison I can give is that dd played soccer and did 2-2.5 hours of practice 5 days a week. In the weeks before school started, whatever the earliest they were allowed to start, it was more like 3-4 hours a day but for a very short time.

 

There are generally specific limits to how much they can have students practice - however, I know there are also ways around that like having open gym times (where anyone could come in, but it's really for the sports players) and what not. I'm not highly versed in all of that because I never felt like they were asking too much of my daughter.

 

I know that I would not have my daughter do any additional training during sports season. Her competitive travel team also usually takes off for the fall season or will only do weekend games without any mid-week practices.

 

If you already paid, you can see if he can get out of other obligations but usually that can be a bit slippery slope - here if you don't practice with the team, you don't play with the team. Or just let it go if it's too much for him at this time and consider it a lesson learned. He can also speak with her PE teacher and make sure he isn't pushing hard during gym and just do the work to pass the class but not for training purposes. Knowing how easy pushing too hard can lead to injuries, I tend to balance more reserve versus pushing harder competitively. Good luck.

[mom2scouts]

That's too much. I would mainly be worried about the amount of weight training as the muscles need recovery time. I think it would be useful to talk to the coach about substituting some of the after school practices with the training institute. The coach will realize he's a serious player and it probably won't hurt him as much as you think.

[acurtis75]

I don't necessarily think the amount of training is more than serious high school athletes do in some very competitive areas. However, with that amount of training sleep, nutrition & hydration are very important.

[JumpyTheFrog]

How will he get enough sleep with this schedule? Has he gone through his big growth spurt yet? He may not get home from away games until 9pm or later.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Lifting weights six times per week is too much. Heavy weights shouldn't be done more than 2-3 times per week, with at least 1-2 days between. It takes time for the muscles to repair themselves. Weight training works by damaging the muscles in a way that lets them grow back stronger. His performance will suffer without sufficient rest time.

 

When are tryouts? In the state that I grew up in, coaches were only allowed to work with players for a certain number of weeks per year. Soccer was a fall sport and it started about 3 weeks before school. We had optional fun practices before that, but they really were optional and the coach was forbidden to attend. I think the reason for this rule (whether a law or league rule, I don't know) was to prevent coaches from having "optional" pre-season practices that aren't really optional.

[snowbeltmom]

 

He has to lift weights 4 mornings a week. He has to be at school by 6, which means he has to wake up at 4:55. He also has weight lifting in gym class two days a week, which means two days a week he is lifting twice a day. This either means that he is working on the same area (upper or lowers) twice a day or doesn't have a break in between.

I would be most concerned about the bolded. My 10th and 8th grader put in at least 20 hours per week in their sport, so I don't think the hours are too much, but I do think that your son is lifting too much. Does his coach realize that your son is also lifting in gym class?

[unsinkable]

.

[In The Great White North]

Baseball is not allowed to start here til the end of Feb.

[AK_Mom4]

Sleep is a biggie here. DS17 has a 6:30am class and goes to bed at 9pm. Can your son fit in a short afternoon nap some days?

 

If he is doing that much weight work, more protein in his diet might make him feel better. I would be looking at a protein smoothie or shake for him in the afternoon as a pickup.

 

Baseball teams don't usually have that type of workout here, but the ski teams certainly do. They weight lift inthe mornings before school and ski all afternoon (3+ hours usually). Conditioning on weekends when there isn't a meet is usual. So I guess I could see that type of schedule for baseball if they had a longer season than the 6 weeks we get :glare:

[Joyofsixreboot]

Soccer was 2x day-early and after school. Two hours before and 2 hours after. They had practice once a day on Saturday. Swimming was 2x day too. They didn't have Sat practice though. High school sports have almost become a job if you count all the out of season extra leagues too.

[Tap]

That doesn't sound suprising for many sports.

 

Ds was a competative swimmer for several years including part of highschool. His club swimming schedule was much more intense than the school schedule but at the time he was:

 

lifting weights 5x per week (high school class)

6x per week--Swimming in pool 2-2.5 hours continuous

1 hour spinning class 3x per week

 

He wasn't considered a serious swimmer because he didn't go to early swim practice also at 6am.

 

 

My advice to him would be to consider the importance of weightlifting class. Is it his general PE requirement that he picked or is it required by the team?. If it is a PE credit, I would have him consider if he needs to work 'as hard' as possible in that class or if he just needs to show effort. If he only needs to show effort, I would suggest that he lightens his weight load, especially on those days that he also has team weight lifting. My son's weight lifting class also had other options like tread mills and stair climbers. If there are other options, he may need to consider them even if they are considered less manly than free weights.

[Samiam]

Sounds pretty much like what my DS14 was doing , except not lifting weights as much only cuz he didn't have the opportunity though. Try outs were two weeks ago, and he didn't make the school team :(. He's on a travel team though so he's still going to be playing competively, probably more so than as a freshman on a JV team. But yeah, that's a pretty normal schedule for the baseball players round here.

[LucyStoner]

A 14 year old lifting 6 times a week, twice two days, is too much. His body is still developing and that sort of weight program is not productive long term and opens him up to more injuries.

[Deb in NZ]

I'd only be concerned about the lifting. At ds#2's school only senior students are allowed to lift. The training schedule is similar to what ds#2 has currently. Ds#2 aims to get as much of his school work done during school hours, using morning tea & lunch times as well as any time given in class. His sports training week looks like this at the moment.

 

Mondays---no sports, but he has Venturers 5:00-6:30 & SeaScouts 6:30-8:30 that includes training in sailing, rowing, etc.

 

Tuesdays---6:30-9:00am Hockey Academy, 9-3:30 PS, 7-9 Premier Mens Hockey training (this is replaced in April by coaching jr. hockey 4-5 & collegiate club hockey games 5-9)

 

Wednesdays---6:30-8:30am 1st XI (varsity) hockey training, 9-3:30 PS, 3:30-7 school sailing team training, 7-9 summer club hockey games (April-October no sailing training, but ds#2 has rep. hockey training instead 4:30-6:00 & collegiate hockey training 6:30-8:00pm)

 

Thursdays---free at the moment, but April-October he has 1st XI hockey games 6-10pm Ds#2 goes to the gym to work out after school if he is free.

 

Friday---free at the moment, but March-July he has Premier Hockey games 6-10pm

 

Weekends--- April-October ds#2 coaches novice hockey players. Many weekends he has regattas (summer) or rep. hockey games (winter) or scouting camps/regattas/activities/etc.

 

And ds#2 thinks he wants to get a part-time job?!?!?!

 

When a sport is very competitive, fitness, dedication, etc. may play the determining point in making or not making a team. IMHO

[Donna]

My ds (wrestler) lifts 5-6 days a week alternating uppers and lowers each day with plyometrics, three 2-2.5 hour practices, and gets up early to run 3-4 times a day during the off season. During the season, he lifts 2 days a week only when he has a day in between lifting and a match so he lifts on Mon and Thurs because he has matches Weds and Sat). Practices run for 3-3.5 hours everyday except match days and he does a private club practice for 3 hours on the weekend. He gets his homework done mostly in study hall and whatever is left over is completed after practice or between school and a match. He tries to get to bed by 10pm and is up at 6:30 to be at school by 7:10.

 

He eats a lot of extra protein when lifting....tuna, protein shakes, lots of boiled chicken. He also takes vitamins and stays well hydrated. Wrestling is known for weight cutting but ds was lucky to wrestle close to his natural weight (wrestled 132lb when he generally wakes up at 132-134 in the morning before breakfast) because the boy close to his size was not as strong. It allowed him to eat well all season and stay strong. He dropped to the 126lb class once this season so he could wrestle that class for the championships at the end of the season but only had to do that once and now there is a 2lb allowance for the season end so he only has to be 128.

 

I would not allow him to lift twice in one day. Muscles need time to recover especially in young boys who are growing. That only makes the risk of injury higher.

[readinmom]

For baseball, it's pretty normal. You'll see a drop off of the amount of kids willing to commit to this type of schedule. That's what coaches are looking for. This, combined with grades, lets the coach build a program.

 

Congrats to your son. I hope it is a positive experience for him.

[katilac]

I would have him double-check on the weight lifting.

 

as far as fatigue, I'm betting a big part of that is simply the adjustment to outside school & schedule. Combined with a new workout regi mine, it's probably taking him longer to get used to it.

 

I would tweak his diet, makeover him a quality vitamin, and make sure he gets GOOD rest and sleep - no screens right before bed, dar and quiet room, etc.

[plansrme]

My 12 yo has to leave for swim practice at 5:10 am, 5 days a week. She goes to bed at 8:30. It could be as simple as that he needs to go to bed earlier.

 

Terri

[Pawz4me]

Over-zealous coach who may not know what he's doing. My nephew is a pitcher who was drafted into the minor leagues last spring. He didn't have workouts like that until college.