National Strength and Conditioning Association Position Statement on Long-Term Athletic Development.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Consensus statement representing expert opinion and narrative literature synthesis
PubMed 26933920 · doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000001387
What was done
An authorship panel tasked by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) synthesized existing literature and current practices to develop a position statement on youth long-term athletic development. The resulting document and its 10 core recommendations were formally reviewed and ratified by the NSCA Board of Directors.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data or statistical findings. It outlines 10 pillars for long-term athletic development intended to guide structured, child-centered exercise programming that addresses physical inactivity, counters overuse injury risks from high competition volumes lacking preparatory conditioning, and promotes lifelong health.
Why it matters
It provides a standardized organizational framework from the NSCA to align youth conditioning, injury prevention, and athletic development across recreational and competitive settings.
Limits
This is an expert consensus statement without primary experimental data, control groups, quantitative effect sizes, or a formal systematic review methodology described in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) publishes an open-access position statement providing strength, power, and speed training recommendations categorized by age.