With beginning athletes, especially youngsters, strength topography is the main focus in the proper selection of strength training exercises. The most important muscle groups should be chosen and trained. The following recommendations are offered as a rule of thumb:
1. Strengthen the muscle group that, if weak, can increase the risk of trauma (for instance, neck muscles in wrestling and tackle football)
2. Train large, proximally located muscles, especially in the trunk area, with the abdominal wall muscles and spine erectors as a primary choice.
3. Increase strength in sport-related movements to a level that permits sport technique acquisition without technical mistakes.
4. Have athletes perform movements through the entire range of angular joint motion. The submaximal effort and repeated effort methods only, not singular maximal efforts, should be employed.
5. The so-called "three-year rule" is popular among experienced coaches. According to this rule, an athlete should use strength-specific exercises and exercises with a barbell, such as barbell squats, only after 3 years of preliminary general preparation.