Integrative Muscular Training

The purpose of this scholarly review is to provide educators, coaches, and parents suggested guidelines for improving youth physical education programs through the use of rock climbing as a basis for instituting an Integrative Neuromuscular Training (INT) program. An INT program incorporates general (e.g., fundamental movement skills) and specific (e.g., exercises targeted to motor control deficits) activities integrating resistance and dynamic stability training, core-focused strength development, plyometrics, and agility exercises to enhance muscular fitness and motor skill performance (Myer et al., 2013; Fort et al., 2016, Part II). Ultimately, an effective program develops neurocognitive processing and visual-motor abilities benefiting …show more content…
This equates to approximately 29 million youth engaged in sport in the United States (Myer et al., 2016). Despite high participation in sport, approximately 32% of children and youth (2-19 years of age) are either overweight or obese with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to the 85th percentile (obese is greater than 95th percentile) (Siegel, Robinson, Johnston, Lindley, & Pfeiffer, 2015). Siegal et al. (2015) believes physical inactivity is a major contributor to this epidemic and 60% of American youth do not meet the physical activity guidelines established by the The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services …show more content…
Close to a quarter million anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur each year to athletes “initiating sudden changes in direction, quick decelerations, and awkward landings after a jump” (Campbell et al., 2014, p. 263). The risk of noncontact ACL injuries to female athletes is 4 to 8 times greater than male athletes. “Typically, an athlete can expect to be out of competition for up to one year due to the surgery and rehabilitation process, and they can expect to have issues later in life due to the increased incidence of osteoarthritis” (Campbell et al., 2014, p.