Is fitness training kids in the morning worthwhile if it sacrifices SLEEP???

Does anyone have experience getting up in the morning? Oh my, the day still has 24 hours doesn't it? Use them.

oh c'mon malmo, the rest of their 24 hours are pretty full, that's the whole point--is it worth it to cut from the sleep hours? There's no fluff hours of video games and tik tok to cut from.

I think it's a valid question: when training adolescent athletes, is it wise to sacrifice sleep?

You can't chronically deprive yourself of sleep with out it backfiring in a big way. As someone who runs at 5 am everyday before work, you have to either go to bed early enough to ensure you get the same sleep, or don't get up and workout early in the morning. If you violate that, it'll catch up with you and you'll pay the price, either with poor recovery, injury, declining performance at work/school, sleeping through alarms, illness or anxiety/depression.

My kids squeeze in 30 min to 3 min of running around school, before school, when possible, then get cleaned up during PE or study hall or other fluff class during first period. Probably averaged 10 - 20 min in the morning that way. Not worth giving up sleep. Just days when running behind.

You have answered your own question. It is not wise to sacrifice their sleep. But Malmo is correct that you could make time somewhere….if it is a priority.

This. No. Do not sacrifice sleep. If it’s a priority then shift things around and have them go to bed earlier to offset the earlier wake up time. If you can’t do that then stop—sleep is too important. I am in a similar position with my kids. We moved things around so they have AM sport work they do now, but they are getting the same amount of sleep. Think about it: you’re asking whether you should make your kids do MORE with LESS rest. Bad idea.

Oh cmon daddy. Since when did I suggest sacrificing sleep? Point that out for me...please?

If you cannot find ways to organize your day then perhaps competitive running isn't for you?.

I never had a problem with it. My teammates never had a problem with ir, nor did my competitors.

Imagine those guys in the military academies. Every minute of the day is accounted for.

I’m young and dumb and don’t have kids, but my plan for when I have kids is to basically teach them to go against the grain to build themselves up, so I’d want to lead my children to take action and do their exercises on their own, even if it means doing pseudo-yoga / chi gong / martial arts and bodyweight exercises during PE class and lunch. Why not fit fitness into the day?

This way, when I get time to play sports and train with them, it won’t be the only training and practice they get, and it will be all the more rewarding both in terms of results and teaching them, but also the family time aspect

Do not sacrifice their sleep. They need it to grow and they need the rest.

They sleep from 9:00 to 7:00? LMAO. You sure about that?

My kids are also competitive athletes. They might get to bed by 10:30 some days and they are up by 6:15 on school days. Swim practice goes until 8:30 or 9pm many days. Better that than 5am, imo.

Strength training takes negligible time. You can 100% squeeze that into their "busy" schedule. Its 2, maybe 3 days a week for an hour or less.

Sleep is very important. But as a senior in high school, I had free periods at ~10 every day so I'd run then.

Erm,

as a father myself, I feel as though I’ve got to address the elephant in the room…

Whats wrong with just letting kids be kids? They are still children, NOT competitive, sponsored, fee earning athletes.
Their day seems pretty much full and organised already. Where is their down time? Their time for being just…kids? They may want to be competitive athletes, but no amount of schedule juggling will alter things if it was not meant to be. If they are talented, then that talent will show through regardless, and then you can take it from there.

But you, as a father are also responsible for developing the “whole person”, not just a mini Tom Brady or LeBron James. If you push too hard, then they will eventually rebel. You are stressing about scheduling their lives like a pro athlete, when they are nowhere near that level…yet. My advice…back off. Let their bodies and temperaments dictate the pace more. Yes it is good to instil routine and discipline, but insert a bit of “wiggle room” into the schedule to give them time to breathe and develop other parts of themselves, or just relax. If their bodies require sleep, let it happen. If they currently need an alarm to get up, or are getting up naturally at the current time, then that is what their bodies need.

Don’t push it. Or else you run the risk of burn out, and eventually resentment, not only of the sports, but maybe of yourself as a parent as well.

You don't have to do strength and conditioning every day.

Twice a week is better than never.

Do one S&C session on the weekend, and one during the week.

Also, surely they aren't practicing every day for 2 hours? Perhaps they could be a little more efficient with their time at practice, get their run in, and then spend 30 minutes at the end doing S&C.

And finally, you don't have to do every exercise known to man in these sessions. Pick 5 or 6 exercises that cover each major muscle group and have them do 2-3 sets of each. Too many exercises will make it seem like an endless chore, and they'll likely give up on the whole routine. You want them to do "a little a lot", rather "a lot, occasionally".

This.

Do a short 20 minute workout one morning a week. You can get in a lot of work if you alternate muscle groups instead of resting between sets. Two sets of each exercise should be enough for this session. No running. Running takes up too much time. Burpees, pushups, pullups, unweighted air/jump squats... you know what will work for them. What they do should complement what their coaches are having them do.

You can have one or even two weekend sessions if you alternate muscle groups from day to day.

You would need to flex your training around their competition and hard practice sessions at school. That might be difficult for your weekday session since they might not know what the coach has planned for them. Thus, keep the weekday morning workout easy.

If you teach them good workout form, they'll be way ahead of their teammates who get hurt in the gym.

Did anyone actually read what he wrote? He said the kids already get 10 hours. Then asked about them waking up an hour earlier. That would be 9 hours. 9 hours is plenty of sleep. 10 hours is a little overkill. Cutting down to 6 or 7 hours would be sacrificing sleep. 9 hours is not sacrificing.

We read it…

Did you manage to catch that they were kids? And as such didn’t need such a tight and overloaded schedule, one that is almost befitting an adult and pro athlete…

Your body sleeps the amount it needs. If they are actually sleeping 10 hours then their bodies need it. Prematurely waking them would be giving their bodies less rest than needed.

I would add a short workout after dinner. Maybe a break in between doing homework for about 20-30 minutes a day. Also, if you’re looking for the kids to do a workout 3-5 times a week, two of the sessions can be on the weekend so you’d only have to schedule for 1-3 times a week on weekdays.

I would rather have the workouts in the evening so kids can sleep as much as possible. Since they sleep a lot, I’m guessing they’re not morning people. Also, in the morning, body is still very stiff that it’s usually better to do intense workouts in the afternoon to evening when your body has loosened up quite a bit.

Thanks for all the good feedback, everyone. I agree that S&C workouts can be efficient and effective in short chunks, and we are going to aim for 2-3 short sessions a week that fits their sleep schedule.

I do not agree that they are overdoing it. If you read my OP, they are asking me for more, I am not pushing more on them. One is a regional level athlete, one is national level--like I said, many of their peers are dropping normal school to focus more on sports--that seems extreme to me, especially pre-puberty.