{"id":12487,"date":"2024-02-04T12:36:21","date_gmt":"2024-02-04T17:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=12487"},"modified":"2024-03-05T19:07:10","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T00:07:10","slug":"powerball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=12487","title":{"rendered":"Powerball"},"content":{"rendered":"

About a dozen years ago, Avery Faigenbaum hopped in<\/span> his car and hit the road, on a mission to glimpse his life\u2019s<\/span> work in action.<\/span><\/p>\n

His excitement stemmed from an email he\u2019d received<\/span> from Mike Bukowsky, an elementary school physical<\/span> education teacher in North Jersey. Bukowsky had created a<\/span> fitness circuit for his fifth graders, guided by Faigenbaum\u2019s<\/span> research about the importance of strength-building<\/span> exercises for children. He thought he\u2019d share a short video,<\/span> in case Faigenbaum was interested.<\/span><\/p>\n

He certainly was.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, Faigenbaum was in Westfield, watching the young<\/span> students arrive for class. There was no hesitation, no<\/span> dawdling at the door; instead, they flocked to Bukowsky as<\/span> he tipped a trash can of medicine balls onto the floor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey pick up the medicine balls, and then they\u2019re<\/span> moving, moving, moving,\u201d Faigenbaum says. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Wow. He did it.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Teen
Faigenbaum turns to the science to prove the benefits of pediatric strength training.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strength training typically conjured images of bodybuilders<\/span>, not elementary school students. But Faigenbaum,<\/span> now celebrating his 20th year as a professor of health and<\/span> exercise science at TCNJ, refuted the long-held idea that<\/span> strength-building exercises would harm growing children.<\/span> In fact, his early research had established just the opposite:<\/span> such training not only increases muscular fitness and fundamental movement skills in children, but can also improve<\/span> cardiometabolic health, help manage weight, and increase<\/span> bone mineral density. In obese children, he discovered that<\/span> the training could be even more transformational, critically<\/span> boosting confidence alongside physical gains.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Faigenbaum\u2019s studies challenging the myths about<\/span> the dangers of strength-building activities gained speed,<\/span> invitations to share his findings began to arrive from<\/span> scholars around the world. And, the exuberant scene in<\/span> the gymnasium demonstrated that, most importantly, the<\/span> science was beginning to reach teachers on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a slow burn of a journey,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Faigenbaum\u2019s decades-long quest to spotlight<\/span> the importance of strength training has reshaped the<\/span> field of pediatric exercise science. \u201cA prerequisite level<\/span> of muscle strength is needed to move at any age,\u201d says<\/span> Faigenbaum. With strength training, children can use their <\/span>own body weight as well as medicine balls, dumbbells,<\/span> and elastic bands. \u201cThis type of exercise provides a nice<\/span> balance between skill and challenge,\u201d he says. \u201cAs they<\/span> see themselves get stronger they gain competence and<\/span> confidence in their physical abilities and, consequently, are<\/span> more likely to engage in sport activities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Desultory games of dodgeball and halfhearted laps<\/span> around the gym are steadily disappearing as kids hoist<\/span> small medicine balls, train with heavy ropes, and giddily<\/span> crab walk with balloons on their stomachs in schools<\/span> around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum\u2019s work \u2014 once considered controversial \u2014<\/span> has been cited more than 26,000 times to date, its findings<\/span> prompting leading health and medical organizations,<\/span> including the American College of Sports Medicine and the<\/span> American Academy of Pediatrics, to update child fitness<\/span> guidelines to include strength training. The International<\/span> Olympic Committee has even tapped him to consult on its<\/span> recommendations for youth athletic development.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is pretty much the main source of pediatric exercise<\/span> science,\u201d Bukowsky says. \u201cHe is the guru. I call him the<\/span> GOAT, the greatest of all time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum remains fueled by a sense of urgency over<\/span> what he describes as \u201ca vortex of inactivity\u201d in the United<\/span> States, where less than a third of children between 6 and<\/span> 17 years of\u00a0<\/span>age meet the recommended guidelines of 60<\/span> minutes of physical activity per day.<\/span><\/p>\n

These days, he is leveraging his research to push for<\/span> policy changes. Since 2020, he has twice won the ACSM\u2019s<\/span> prestigious paper of the year award; one paper highlighted<\/span> the impact youth fitness programs can have on mental<\/span> health, while the other delved into an emerging passion, his<\/span> efforts to overhaul the physical activity pyramid that serves<\/span> as a guide to health and wellness recommendations for kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Current guidelines for youth physical activity emphasize cardiovascular exercise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The current pyramid prioritizes aerobic activity as<\/span> its base and relegates strength training to twice a week;<\/span> Faigenbaum argues that updating the pyramid to make<\/span> strength training as foundational as aerobic activity will<\/span> help children acquire the skills they need to embrace <\/span>physical activity \u2014 and the sooner they start, the better.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they get to first grade, we engineer physical<\/span> activity right out of their life,\u201d Faigenbaum says. \u201cI often tell<\/span> folks that if we wait until high school to intervene we are 10<\/span> years too late.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum\u2019s early years in the field were not easy,<\/span> but he hadn\u2019t expected them to be. When he decided<\/span> to focus his doctoral research at Boston University on<\/span> youth strength training, his advisor, sports scientist Len<\/span> Zaichkowsky, warned him there\u2019d be pushback; the idea<\/span> that young children might need to increase their muscular<\/span> fitness was taboo.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Faigenbaum decided to let the science, not the<\/span> skeptics, lead the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

He assembled a research team made up of Zaichkowsky<\/span> and a handful of colleagues in Boston interested in<\/span> challenging the conventional wisdom on the topic. The<\/span> group included Lyle Micheli, then the director of sports<\/span> medicine at Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, and Wayne<\/span> Westcott, a strength-training expert and fitness director<\/span> at a local YMCA. Their first study tracked the effects of a<\/span> twice-weekly strength-training program on boys and girls<\/span> between the ages of 8 and 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image
Faigenbaum proposes a new pyramid that recognizes the equal importance of muscular strength, skill, and aerobic activities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSurprise, surprise, the children got stronger,\u201d<\/span> Faigenbaum says. \u201cThere were no injuries. The children enjoyed the program. And we started to improve some motor<\/span> performance skills, like their ability to jump and run.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He produced dozens of papers expanding the field\u2019s<\/span> understanding of youth strength training, with studies<\/span> tackling topics ranging from its psychosocial benefits to<\/span> how it could reduce sports injuries in young athletes. In<\/span> particular, his work documented how strength training<\/span> gave overweight children, frustrated by aerobic activity, an opportunity to be successful and provided a gateway to<\/span> increased physical activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

After joining TCNJ in 2004, Faigenbaum\u2019s reputation<\/span> among teachers and scholars alike continued to grow.<\/span> When Carole Kenner became dean of TCNJ\u2019s School of<\/span> Nursing and Health Sciences in 2014, she immediately<\/span> asked Faigenbaum to work on a community program,<\/span> funded with a $50,000 grant from Novo Nordisk, aimed at<\/span> improving nutrition and conditioning in\u00a0<\/span>kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always believed that there has to be a combination<\/span> of the academic\/theoretical and then the application,<\/span> and the application also has to have a component in the<\/span> community,\u201d she says. \u201cVery few people in exercise science<\/span> really put that together, especially in terms of pediatrics<\/span> and wellness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum\u2019s impact on his field has been amplified<\/span> by not only the scope of his work, but its reach. He\u2019s pushed<\/span> to get the research into the world, accepting invitations<\/span> to share his research with police departments, fitness<\/span> councils, sports camps, rehabilitation centers, hospitals,<\/span> schools, and colleges and universities throughout America<\/span> and as far away as Argentina and Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

His speeches carry titles \u2014 \u201cMay the Force be with<\/span> Youth\u201d and \u201cFrom iPod to iPosture\u201d \u2014 meant to engage<\/span> listeners, while his papers reject the stiff jargon found in<\/span> some academic writing. A recent article that went viral<\/span> warns readers that the negative \u201cmythology of youth<\/span> resistance training remains a zombie tale that will not die.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Such efforts at inclusion and outreach are no accident.<\/span> \u201cHalf my work is research, and half is changing practice,\u201d<\/span> Faigenbaum says, adding \u201cWe have to bridge the gap from<\/span> the lab to the playing field.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum\u2019s generosity with his time and scholarship,<\/span> whether sharing studies on bone density or teaching<\/span> colleagues in underserved schools how to build a medicine<\/span> ball out of old soccer balls, sets him apart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unique for a researcher to not only be able to do the<\/span> research, but to connect to the people that it will impact,\u201d<\/span> says Andrea Stracciolini, director of medical sports<\/span> medicine at Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, who is a longtime<\/span> collaborator of Faigenbaum\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum\u2019s work with overweight children inspired<\/span> Stracciolini to seek him out when she was a young doctor<\/span> and ask to shadow him in his lab at TCNJ. There, observing<\/span> how he engaged the children and studying his rigorous<\/span> approach to research, Stracciolini resolved to help him <\/span>shrink the disconnect between clinical pediatric care and<\/span> exercise science research.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought to myself, \u2018This guy<\/span> holds the key to child health,\u2019\u201d she<\/span> says. \u201cHe was a visionary. How many<\/span> people can say \u2018I can take kids who<\/span> are physically inactive, that are obese<\/span> and aren\u2019t interested in exercise, and<\/span> I can empower them. I can give them<\/span> confidence.\u2019 Not many.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Faigenbaum is gratified to see<\/span> a new generation of researchers<\/span> embracing and building on his <\/span>scholarship, but sometimes can\u2019t<\/span> quite believe the extent of it all. When<\/span> he recently learned that a doctor<\/span> in Australia planned to prescribe<\/span> strength training for pediatric cancer<\/span> patients in remission based on his<\/span> research, he was both stunned and<\/span> thrilled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you said to me in 1990, \u2018Well,<\/span> in 30 years your work will reach the<\/span> point where clinicians are now going<\/span> to prescribe this for children who are<\/span> cancer survivors,\u2019\u201d he says, \u201cget out<\/span> of here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, Faigenbaum worries there is<\/span> still much work to be done.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a generation who are<\/span> turned off to physical activity,\u201d he<\/span> says. \u201cWhat we need now are targeted<\/span> interventions that recognize the<\/span> foundational level origins of muscle<\/span> strength and motor skills early in life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If the first half of his career drove<\/span> change one paper, one teacher, one<\/span> school at a time, Faigenbaum hopes<\/span> the second half prompts widespread<\/span> policy changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with pushing for a new<\/span> fitness pyramid, Faigenbaum is<\/span> also advocating for an increase in <\/span>physical education classes in school<\/span> and for pediatricians to integrate<\/span> comprehensive physical activity<\/span> markers into childhood wellness<\/span> checks. He is developing a new<\/span> youth fitness certification for the<\/span> American College of Sports Medicine<\/span> that he hopes will provide a basic<\/span> understanding of pediatric exercise<\/span> science for teachers, coaches, and<\/span> youth fitness instructors.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, as ever, he is at work in the lab. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDid I make an impact?\u201d he says.<\/span> \u201cI think I did. But I\u2019m not done yet.<\/span> I\u2019m just warming up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pictures Bill Cardoni<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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