Is there anything that should be different in the way a dedicated young climber trains compared to an adult?
Just because some elite young climbers climb similar grades to elite adults does not mean they should train in a similar fashion as they are still growing! Full adult maturation of bones, tissues and organs is not complete until approximately age 19-20 years in females, and age 22-23 in males. Intensive/inappropriate training and/or trying to keep excessively lean can result in full adult developmental growth being delayed, reduced, or in extreme cases never achieved. The adolescent growth spurt will increase muscle mass (especially in males), and increase the hormone levels needed for putting on muscle and anaerobic training. Bones will widen and lengthen significantly. These combined increases in muscle and bone size will increase total body weight. But remember in order for such growth to happen, connective structures like ligaments and tendons must be weak. These connective structures are two to fives times weaker than that of an adult. So a similar force that results in a sprain i
