Youth Strength Training:
Knowing the Time When
“An Interview with Dr. Kwame Brown”

I have been interacting with Kwame Brown, PhD, CSCS for a little over 2 years through forums and e-mail chat. I was always fascinated with his experience and knowledge with the neurology side of muscular development in humans. His undeniable  passion to integrate proper motor development when implementing exercise programs has changed my way of thinking and reinforced my notion that movements are important—if not more important, than the actual isolated muscle. I love Kwame’s straight to the point -- “paint you in a corner” discussions and his advocacy for youth strength and conditioning has helped spear-head the development of the International Youth Conditioning Association. The IYCA was developed by strength and conditioning expert Brain Grasso and Kwame sits on its Board of Directors.

Kwame M. Brown received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University.  While he specializes in working with children, Kwame has worked with a variety of populations, including spinal cord injured patients, professional athletes, amateur athletes, elderly individuals, post-rehabilitative adults, and others.  In addition to being the Fitness Director for the Oak Marr REC Center (Fairfax County Park Authority, VA) he currently serves on the Affiliate Board of Directors for the International Youth Conditioning Association.

John: What is the IYCA and where did it come about?

Kwame: “Brian Grasso is better able to talk about this than I am, but here goes:  Based in Schaumburg (Chicago), Illinois, the IYCA stands for International Youth Conditioning Association, and was the product of Brian Grasso's vision coupled with encouragement and support from Chris Scarborough, Lee Taft, Brian Robinson (our business director), and others.  Brian then set out to find a variety of individuals with expertise in different areas affecting child and athletic development, such as physiology, neuroscience, agility training, chiropractic medicine / physical therapy, pediatrics, endocrinology, etc.  I basically tanked my career as a scientist to embark on this mission with Brian and everybody else on the board.”

John: Do you feel that other organizations are incomplete in their youth certification training? Meaning, what makes the IYCA different from other new youth training certifications that are springing up?

Kwame: “Short answer:  Without mentioning specific organizations; yes, I do feel that other fitness organizations are largely incomplete in their youth certification training.  Many of the resources offered have to do with changing the sets and reps and intensity from adult type workouts, instead of really addressing child development by employing a variety of perspectives on the development and growth of the child's body and nervous system.  What is different about us is 1) our accessibility 2) we wrote our own textbook by attracting young vibrant professionals from a VARIETY of disciplines that are still actively involved in training young athletes, 3) our experts have both theoretical AND practical knowledge pertaining to youth development, 4) our unparalleled passion for our cause.”

John: At what age is it important for a child to participate in weight-bearing exercises?

Kwame: “Well, if by weight-bearing you mean body weight, then as soon as they master walking.  If you mean external load, such as using dumbbells or heavier medicine balls, then I would say around 8-9.  This is the age at which many children can first consistently grasp safety with equipment.  There will always be exceptions to every rule, but these are good general guidelines.  One note on teaching very young children movements:  It should be done within the construct of fun activities and games, and younger children will respond most favorably to visual modeling COUPLED with verbal instruction, not just verbal instruction.”

John: Did the IYCA come about because of result of something or a need, or both?

Kwame: “The IYCA originally rose from a need to quell the rising epidemic of over-training and injurious training techniques used by many sport coaches.  What we are also trying to address now is getting all children involved in sports and learning proper movement patterns, whether it be for competitive or recreational purposes.  Vibrant, healthy children grow into healthy adults and save billions and billions of dollars in health care costs later on.” 

John: Today's coaches lack a few qualities. What quality do you see as the most important when coaching children under the age of 18?

Kwame: “When coaching young athletes, the emphasis should be on skill-building.  If you listen to Pete Sampras in an interview, he didn’t start seriously consider becoming a professional until he was around 16.  Even then, he was more focused on “building weapons” (skills) than on winning right away.  He will tell you that this is WHY he became so great.  So, all of these coaches and organizations that are focusing on winning at all costs and showcasing 11 year olds to professional scouts are completely missing the point.  We play sports because sports are fun.  Kids should be coached to create competency.  If your child decides at 9 years old that he/she wants to be fireman, would you put them in an intensive firefighting training program?  No, because this child will likely change their mind 6 times before they are 18.  Same thing with sports.  There are only 2 reasons that coaches, organizations, and parents would be that focused on winning and “showcasing” these children:  Money and Glory.  Period.  These are not burdens that we want children being saddled with.” 

John: Can the IYCA partner up with such organizations as "Activate America" or "No Child Left Inside" and be able to spread its message or is it a different entity?

Kwame: “Partnerships, we believe, are essential not only to our survival as an organization and increasing our audience, but also to our mission itself.  We are dealing with such huge problems (high incidence of injuries in youth sports, childhood obesity and motor delay, childhood back problems, youth heart disease, etc.) that no one organization will ever be able to solve them all.  In fact, we are in the process of finalizing some partnerships that will prove not only spectacular, but very useful in helping children throughout the world.  Brian has not given me liberty to talk about these things publicly yet, but believe me we will keep you posted about these exciting new develpments as they become finalized.” 

John: What are the advantages and disadvantages that you see when marketing strength training to the youth population?

Kwame: “Well, first let me say (to clarify for your readers--you already know this) that we are not just talking about strength training here.  We are talking about movement training, which includes agility, flexibility, and strength.  Furthermore, strength training itself does NOT just include weightlifting.  This is a common misconception.  I have told people before, that I include weightlifting, yoga, ballet, ballistic/speed training and other concepts when working with children.  But, let me answer your actual question within this context.  Disadvantages of marketing to children if you are a training facility:  Children who are interested are often involved in a lot of other activities already.  Since you MUST not add to their volume if it is already high, you end up sometimes giving up short term money.  However, you will gain long term money, because you will build a trust with parents.  When I was at Cris Carter’s FAST program, we would delay training for many young athletes because their schedules were already too grueling.  Also, you will meet resistance from coaches.  This is why it is essential to come from the perspective that you are HELPING the coach, rather than competing.  Advantages of marketing to kids are that parents are often starving for some direction, often being tired of leaving their children in the hands of volunteer coaches who are overworked and often not equipped with much knowledge about motor skill or physiological development in children (this is where the IYCA comes in with our YCS certification).  If you are patient, flexible and creative, you can definitely make a living in youth training.  The need is there in the market as long as the responsibility, knowledge, and intentions are there on your part.  John, thank you so much for allowing me to do this, and for helping us further this mission.  Please encourage everyone to contact the IYCA through our message board, and professionals to add our certification to their arsenal.”

John: It is without a doubt, my intent is to shed light on Brian Grasso’s vision of growing the most respected, competent, and complete youth training and conditioning certification in the industry today. If you would like more information on the IYCA or its certification process, please go to: www.IYCA.org. [END]

 

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