In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with former professional soccer player and youth female athlete performance coach Erica Suter. We discuss strength training for young athletes and the benefits of learning these skills and movement patterns early. Erica recommends starting strength and conditioning training in middle school before children hit puberty, emphasizing fun, healthy competition and using comparison positively to level up! Erica shares her personal journey in sports, participating in many different activities before specializing in soccer later in high school. Despite having the opportunity to play NCAA Division 1 collegiate soccer, Erica played for Johns Hopkins, a small Division 3 school. We discuss collegiate athletics and recruiting, explaining why athletes should look beyond D1 colleges and consider D2 and D3.  We speak to the rise of injuries in young athletes, and how focusing on improving strength benefits performance and injury prevention. Erica gives listeners her top 3 tips: free play, year-round resistance training and proper nutrition.  This episode covers navigating body changes through puberty and the reasons for weight training during this time for female athletes. We debunk the “getting bulky” myth, an unwarranted fear among active young athletes.  Adolescence is the key time for strength and conditioning when our bodies are primed to build muscles and bone density. Without proper nutrition and fueling pre/during/post training, workouts are wasted as muscle break down outweighs recovery and rebuilding.   As an elite player, Erica supported her performance with turkey sandwiches, bagels, apple and peanut butter, and trusty chocolate milk! We discuss other fueling strategies and habits to maximize competition performance, speed, strength and adaptation to training. Follow Follow Erica on Instagram @fitsoccerqueen  For more on Erica and the coaching and resources she offers, check out her website: https://ericasuter.com    Her podcast: The Soccer Queens Podcast  And her book ‘The Strong Female Athlete: A Female Athlete Guide to Improve Performance, Reduce Injury, and Increase Confidence’  Erica Suter’s Official Bio Erica is a passionate Youth Speed, Agility, Strength and Conditioning Coach in Tampa, Florida and online, who has been working with athletes for over ten years in performance enhancement and injury prevention. She is also author of The Strong Female Athlete book, which is a science-based and experience-based text with a fresh, novel approach for youth female athletes to improve speed, reduce injury, and increase strength. Her mission is to help them become strong, resilient, and creative through exercise, while inspiring them to love movement and sports – to not see these as obligations, but rather, enjoyable escapes from the stressors of life. Learn more about Lindsey's Services and the Team at Rise Up Nutrition: www.riseupnutritionrun.com Worried that you have RED-S? Curious to know how we could help or how you can recover fast?! Download the RED-S Recovery Race & see how you place for more support:www.riseupnutritionrun.com/reds