障碍赛危险吗？ 快看看专业人士怎么说！
在一场比赛过程中，当你从泥巴地匍匐而过，越过高墙墙或爬上一根绳子，你可能会想，“我仿佛又回到了孩童时代！”参加斯巴达勇士赛就有同样的感受，这就是我们为4到14岁儿童举办障碍赛的原因，所有有趣的童年游戏都以同样的方式在比赛中实现——变脏、考验自己，以及玩得开心。
Over the course of a race that finds you bellying through the mud, hurtling a wall or spidering up a web of rope, chances are at some point you’ll think, “Man, I feel like a kid again!” Spartan had the same thought, which is why we offer kids obstacle course racing for ages 4 to 14, all modeled on the same get-out-there, get-dirty, test-yourself and have-fun ethos that drives our adult race series.
但是，年仅4岁的孩子们经历这样的冒险活动，对他们来说是否太过残酷艰辛？ 不会很……危险吗？
But wait: Kids as young as 4 years old enduring the brutal slog of an adventure event? Isn’t that, well, dangerous?
明尼苏达大学家庭医学系和双城马拉松医学主任教授William O. Roberts说：“这不比我小时候在院子里做的多。” Roberts认为，在这种活动中，孩子们可以安全地训练和比赛，并给出一些下文提到的注意事项。
“Not any more so than what I was doing as a kid in the yard,” says William O. Roberts, MD, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s department of family medicine and medical director for the Twin Cities Marathon. Roberts believes children can safely train for and compete in such events, with a few caveats, to which we’ll get shortly.
斯巴达美国儿童赛项目负责人Justin Ross说，斯巴达的比赛旨在挑战和吸引而不是恐吓。 4到8岁的孩子路线长度约400米左右（距离根据每站情况而定）， 9至13岁孩子要跑的赛道距离约1.6公里，11至14岁孩子要跑的赛道距离约3.2公里。 Ross警告父母不要将给孩子百米比赛当作是一日托管，自己可以不用照顾孩子去参加比赛。 他指出“曾经有人试图让3岁的孩子去参加比赛，但这不是一个好主意。 这个比赛不适合一个婴儿。“
The Spartan races are designed to challenge and enthrall but not intimidate, says Justin Ross, who directs the company’s U.S. kids program. The 4- to 8-year-old course is a half mile. Nine- to 13-year-olds run 1 mile and 11- to -14-year-olds tackle 2 miles. Ross cautions parents against using kids’ events as daycare so that mom and dad can race. “We’ve had people trying to sneak in 3-year-olds, but that’s not a good idea. This is not a baby course,” he points out.
Ross说:儿童障碍赛不仅仅是为了赢得胜利，更多的是帮助孩子们实现，或让他们知道他们能做/能做到的事情。
Kids obstacle course racing is less about trying to win and more about helping kids realize what they can do, Ross says.
“是的，这个比赛关乎身体健康，但它也关乎精神成长——孩子们可以从参与中获得了巨大的信心”。 一个非常害羞的孩子，他可以通过斯巴达勇士儿童赛走出来，做一些他从未想过的事情。 你将在完成比赛后看到他们的变化。
“Yes, it’s about fitness but it’s also mental: Kids gain a huge amount of confidence” from participating. “You get a kid who is so shy and he comes out of one of our races and has done something he never thought possible. You can see the change in them” after they finish a race.
虽然这些听起来都很不错。 但是在比赛之前该做些什么准备呢？参加斯巴达的孩子们应该如何训练？ 这里有六个建议。
Sounds promising. But what about before a race? How should kids train—if at all—to enter a Spartan event? Here are six tips.
Kids Obstacle Course Racing: Start Small
Roberts建议，以短跑开始作为家庭任务，让孩子的按照自己的速度完成，不要强加任何强制规则。他说，只要是按照自己的节奏自由发挥，跑一英里（约400米）不会让他/她受伤。
Roberts advises starting children with very short runs, family missions with a goal but done at the child’s pace and without any overbearing rules. “Running a mile isn’t going to hurt anyone as long as it’s structured as free play,” he says.
告诉你的孩子，'让我们看看我们是否可以跑出去一分钟然后再跑回来一分钟。'然后，经过几天的努力，将其延长至90秒。 如果有一天他们不想这样做，请不要强迫他们。 就说，'那好吧，我们明天再试一次'，或者适当缩短距离。“
“Tell your children, ‘Let’s see if we can run out for a minute and then back for a minute.’ Then, after a few days of doing that, extend that to 90 seconds. If there’s a day they don’t want to do it, don’t force it. Just say, ‘That‘s OK, we’ll try again tomorrow,’ or set a shorter distance.”
这样的训练与成年人的训练方式相同：它既可以帮助身体做好准备，也可以向孩子展示他/她可以在没有帮助的情况下跑多远。
That type of training does the same thing that it would for an adult: It both prepares the body for the event and shows the child that he or she can go that far without help.
No Surprises on Race Day
对年龄较小的孩子来说，“就要创造对比赛是什么的期望。”Ross说：“我曾听到起跑线上的一些孩子在比赛开始前很紧张的说：'我不喜欢泥巴。'但如果他们的父母把他们带出去，让他们尝试玩儿泥巴，甚至鼓励他们尝试接触脏脏的东西，往往他们会慢慢接受，甚至喜欢上‘变脏’。”Roberts评论。Ross指出，“其实我们想让他们做的一切，都可以在家里的后院或操场上找到。”
For the younger kids, “It’s all about creating the expectation of what the race is about,” says Ross. “I hear some kids on the starting line getting nervous and saying, ‘I don’t like the mud,’ but if their parents have taken them out and let them get dirty – encouraged it even – they tend to love it.” Echoing Roberts’ comment, Ross notes that “Everything we’re asking them to do they can find in their backyard or at a playground.”
Strength training is OK
根据美国儿科学会的数据，对于6岁及以上的孩子来说，每天至少有一个小时的体育锻炼是正常的，所以他们根本不需要加强训练。专家说，从7岁到12岁，孩子的平均体力将翻倍。
First off, kids who get normal amounts of physical activity—at least an hour a day for kids age 6 and older, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics—don’t need to strength train at all. Experts say the average child’s strength will roughly double from age 7 to 12.
Roberts指出，力量训练已经证明可以为年仅8岁的孩子带来真正的收益，在2010年发表于儿科学杂志上的一项关于先前研究的回顾发现，孩子每周举重两天，坚持一个月或更长时间后，与没有进行举重运动的孩子相比，获得了更大的收益。
That said, Roberts notes that strength training has shown to produce real gains in kids as young as 8, and a 2010 review of prior studies, published in the journal Pediatrics, found thatkids who lifted weights two days a week for a month or longer showed greater gains across the board than kids who didn’t lift.
2009年发表在《体育健康》杂志上的一项研究的作者建议，青少年力量训练应该按照每项训练一至两组，每组6至15次进行。儿童和青少年应该能够完成10至15次重复，这样的训练会有一些疲劳，但不会导致肌肉衰竭。 Roberts强调，孩子们在举重时需要有监护人/家长在旁边。
The authors of a study published in 2009 in Sports Health advise that youth strength training programs start with one to two sets of six to 15 reps per exercise. Kids and adolescents should be able to complete 10 to 15 reps with some fatigue but no muscle failure. And Roberts emphasizes that children have supervision and a trustworthy spotter at all times when lifting.
Never pressure your kids about a race
“我无意中听到许多父母表达了对孩子比赛表现的期望。”Ross说： “我们不希望父母这样做。 也许你的孩子在比赛那天表现的并不好，我们想让家长们看得更远，给孩子伸出援手，给予鼓励，帮助他们度过难关。”Ross指出。
“I overhear a lot of parents expressing expectations about wanting their kids to over-perform,” Ross says. “We don’t want that – the irate bleacher parents. We want parents to realize the bigger picture, and to give a kid a hand over a wall, give encouragement, help them through.” “Maybe your child’s having a bad day.” Ross points out.
Roberts补充道，如果参加比赛是孩子的想法，而不是父母，那就更好了。 这意味着您种下种子，解释了这是一个怎样的活动，并给了您孩子是否参与的选择权。
It’s even better if doing the race in the first place is the child’s idea—not the parents, Roberts adds. That means you plant the seed, explain what the event is about and give your kid the option to sign up.
除此之外，根据美国儿科学会的数据，过度使用肌肉占了所有儿童运动损伤的一半。所以对于所有青少年运动来说，父母要试着管理儿童训练/活动，以避免过度使用个人肌肉。 这意味着你要鼓励孩子每周从特定的运动中休息一到两天，而对于那些训练有素的儿童/青少年，每年也要休息两到三个月，让身体有恢复的时间。
Beyond that—and this applies to all youth sports—try to manage activity to avoid over-use of individual muscles, which accounts for up to half of all pediatric sports injuries, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. That means encouraging kids to take one to two days off from specific sports per week and, for those that are training seriously, two to three months off per year to allow the body to recover.
Keep it fun
如果你可以让孩子的一群朋友加入，他们可能比单独参加比赛时更喜欢比赛。 Roberts说，当你鼓励他们训练时，你做的越多，他们接受的可能性就越大。 而且，你在其中可以进行的“训练”越多，多数孩子就越容易接受。 虽然我们中的许多人已经学会了享受艰苦锻炼的单调和乏味，但大多数孩子都不可能/没能从中看到这些价值。
If you can get a group of your kid’s friends on board, each of them will likely enjoy it more than if he or she entered the race alone. As you encourage them to train, the more you do with them the more likely they are to accept it, says Roberts. And the more “training” you can work into game-like activities, the more receptive most kids will be. While many of us have learned to love the tedium and gruel of hard workouts, most children don’t have the perspective to see value in that.
Be the cool parent
你爱你的孩子不是因为他们做了什么，而是他们是什么样的人。 所以，你要通过你的行动向他们示好，表现轻松的人往往比那些给予压力、竞争感强的人更能从别人那里得到更多的微笑。
Love your kids for who they are, not what they do. And show them through your actions that friendly, relaxed people tend to draw more smiles from others than do stressed, hyper-competitive folks.
下半年斯巴达儿童赛报名开始，赛事信息如下
快带上萌娃参与比赛，见证他/她的成长吧！
《为什么艺人大咖要从小培养孩子运动，怎么养娃才能不输在起跑线上？》
完