all posts post new thread

Other/Mixed (Super) Simple training templates for teenagers

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
Look into Reloaded by SF, we run it with our HS athletes & we have tons of 14yr old freshman make great progress on it

It's simply a OLAD with basic movement patterns. Add in some upper body pulling & special variety... It's $10 lol
 
james_1127 said:
Look into Reloaded by SF, we run it with our HS athletes & we have tons of 14yr old freshman make great progress on it

It's simply a OLAD with basic movement patterns. Add in some upper body pulling & special variety... It's $10 lol
Click to expand...
I think I actually got it for 5$ on special at some point and never got around to reading it. I'll definitely have a look at it. Thanks.
 
solarbear said:
Rite of Passage clean and press + front squat:

C&P Ladder 1,2,3
Front Squat 4,5

When you go up to 1,2,3,4 you obviously do 5,6 front squat.
Click to expand...
Thanks, but they aren't there with KB technique yet. For now it's only really basic KB work like deadlifts and goblet squats. My lightest bell is a 16kg and they aren't pressing that anytime soon I think. Well, not without a lighter bell to get there at least.

This got me thinking about dumbbell work though. Maybe they could do something similar with DBs. Or Iron Cardio with DBs or Javorek complexes.

I'll have to check if if they have an interest in these and work on technique with them.
 
Benjamin Renaud said:
Thanks, but they aren't there with KB technique yet. For now it's only really basic KB work like deadlifts and goblet squats. My lightest bell is a 16kg and they aren't pressing that anytime soon I think. Well, not without a lighter bell to get there at least.
Click to expand...

Could possibly work with any Upper + Lower body exercises. The clean and press worked well for my teenage son. Push Ups, Dips, Dumbell Press... skys the limit.

I really liked getting a trap bar once the kids get older. Was much easier to teach and supervise.

Also did Easy Strength with my Daughter once, she made good progress.

Son I also had doing complexes. DL, Bench, Row, Carry 2 or 3 rounds of 5.
 
Last edited:
I’ve recently started Aleks Salkin’s “99 bodyweight and KB workouts” I’m loving the variety of it and practicing more than a few moves in a stringent program. I feel like this would be fun for kids and also introduce them to new movements.

I actually did a session with my son in the backyard today (he is only 6 and just “tried” to do the bw movements and deadlift the kb when i wasn't using it). He enjoyed joining me though.

The part that really got me thinking though was i started incorporating sports skills to the workout when I was doing more advanced movements. While i did CnP i had him make 5 jumpshots. When I did swings it was 5 layups. Front squats was a dribbling drill. Make it fun, following a plan could be boring and counterproductive (depending on the individuals)
 
Benjamin Renaud said:
This got me thinking about dumbbell work though. Maybe they could do something similar with DBs. Or Iron Cardio with DBs or Javorek complexes.
Click to expand...
My son is 11 and plays baseball and runs sprints in track. I have him going the gym a couple times a week with me. Loaded carries, overhead press, even bench press all with dumbbells. When we started, he struggled to get the 10 lb dumbbell over his head. Had to push press it a few times. The very next week, though, he was strict pressing a 15.
 
LarryB said:
I actually did a session with my son in the backyard today (he is only 6 and just “tried” to do the bw movements and deadlift the kb when i wasn't using it). He enjoyed joining me though.

The part that really got me thinking though was i started incorporating sports skills to the workout when I was doing more advanced movements. While i did CnP i had him make 5 jumpshots. When I did swings it was 5 layups. Front squats was a dribbling drill. Make it fun, following a plan could be boring and counterproductive (depending on the individuals)
Click to expand...
Man, there is nothing like working out with your kids when they're that small. My girls are 8 and 5 and both of them love hanging out with me in the gym. Making it fun is key. Make it fun and they keep coming back.
 
Wes Yeary said:
Man, there is nothing like working out with your kids when they're that small. My girls are 8 and 5 and both of them love hanging out with me in the gym. Making it fun is key. Make it fun and they keep coming back.
Click to expand...
Ya, i got rings just for them actually but i love them too. My daughter (going on 8, son is going on 6 but not quite actually) is a beast in gymnastics so i try to keep up with her a bit in that realm as well.

I used to scoff at WODs a bit but now that im as busy as i am (constantly working and coaching one or more of their teams) i really appreciate not feeling like i missed a workout or that my schedule ill be totally jacked if i do. Plus I’m having fun with it. I started taking shots and dribbling in place of fast and loose today as well. That was very fun.
 
A simple upper-lower split 3-4x/week, or full body 2-3x/week would get my vote. Imho, I would err on the side of lower frequency.

Ultimately whatever establishes the habit and gets them bitten by the iron bug is going to be a good thing. It's cool you're lifting w. your kids - keep it fun.
 
what sports do they practice right now? in an earlier life, i coached gymnastics, so i'm biased toward those foundations, but it's good to learn how to do handstands, press handstands, and basics of tumbling at an earlier age than later.

i like your approach, having them learn the basic categories, and then picking lifts to cover what they need.

i really liked the programming for young athletes outlined in parker, miller and panariello's The System: Soviet Periodization Adapted for the American Strength Coach. they are oriented toward field sports, but their foundational weights work is all bar complexes of the kind you might use for beginning olympic lifters. they use javorek complex one (upright row, high pull snatch, back squat-push press, bent row, rdl), but any number of others could substitute. they also have a slew of speed / jump routines for the field athletes, but that's well outside of my wheelhouse.

i always like to see programs for young athletes (or beginners of whatever age) that stress, and inculcate an appreciation of, the quality of movement rather than simply kilos lifted. that's part of my enthusiasm for basic gymnastics and olympic lifting, but that kind of kinesthetic awareness travels really well. it's also a good part of the base for really good coaching in whatever sport.

i think that emphasis on form and quality of movement is also one of the reasons i especially appreciate strongfirst.
 
klk said:
what sports do they practice right now?
Click to expand...
My oldest daughter mainly does gym climbing, also whatever they do at her high school since she's in a multi-sport program. She's also trying out for the flag football team.

My son plays hockey and also does gym climbing. He's also in a multi-sport high school program.

They also dabble in all sorts of things, like a few parkour classes that was offered during lunch breaks at school and whatever else they feel like trying along the way.

This is the reason for a general template for now and nothing too specific. The time they have to invest in technique work is also limited so we go for basic easy to learn basic exercises for now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: klk
When my 16 year old daughter was playing high school soccer and rugby, as well as Rep. Soccer and rugby, she asked me to program a strength and conditioning routine for her. I'm a big fan of Bill STARR's programming and put her on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, strength program using Bill STARR's "Big 3" programming, with running on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. She made excellent gains throughout her High School athletic career, and remained injury free during that same period. She was consistently in the top 3 best conditioned players on her team in soccer and rugby.
 
Fitoldguy said:
When my 16 year old daughter was playing high school soccer and rugby, as well as Rep. Soccer and rugby, she asked me to program a strength and conditioning routine for her. I'm a big fan of Bill STARR's programming and put her on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, strength program using Bill STARR's "Big 3" programming, with running on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. She made excellent gains throughout her High School athletic career, and remained injury free during that same period. She was consistently in the top 3 best conditioned players on her team in soccer and rugby.
Click to expand...
Would this be the program you are referring to?

billstarrarticles.wordpress.com

The Big Three

Program Overview Big Three exercises. Five sets of five repetitions. Three days a week strength training. Heavy-Medium-Light system. Circuit Training Method. Working Rapidly.
billstarrarticles.wordpress.com billstarrarticles.wordpress.com

Thanks for the suggestion, awesome that your daughter was able to perform like that.
 
It is, although I replaced Bench Presses with overhead presses, and did not use the circuit option, rather, had her do each exercise individually , before moving to the next exercise, as recommended in Bill STARR's book "The Strongest Shall Survive". She used the template of Squat, Press, Power Cleans. At the beginning of the programming she did 5x5 with each exercise and used novice linear progression. When she plateaued on Power Cleans, I switched her to high pulls, or as Bill STARR called them, "power pulls", alternating clean grip pulls, with snatch grip pulls each workout. As recommended by STARR, we incorporated Chin-ups as an accessory exercise at the end of the workout using 4xAMRAP format

Follows are a couple of links to Bill STARR's articles, which also lay out much of his programming, which are probably just as thorough describing his programming and philosophy as the book, which is no longer in print;

journal.crossfit.com

Bill Starr, 1938-2015 by Mike Warkentin

Longtime CrossFit Journal contributor and strength legend Bill Starr passes on at 77. Bill Starr died April 7 in Maryland. He was 77. Starr first contributed to the CrossFit Journal with the November 2008 article “Overhead Is Rising.” It was introduced as follows: “This article is both an...
journal.crossfit.com


I would also add, that although my daughter didn't continue to weight train after graduating high school and moving onto university and medical school, she did continue to run and do bodyweight training, which she continues to this date into her early 30's.
 
Boris Bachmann said:
Ultimately whatever establishes the habit and gets them bitten by the iron bug is going to be a good thing. It's cool you're lifting w. your kids - keep it fun.
Click to expand...
Thanks, even the 2 younger ones have been showing more of an interest lately. I guess seeing their older siblings having for training is piquing their interest. With them it's really informal and I just let them ask for what they want to do. I'm having fun spending time with them and I'm sure it's a big part of the reason they want to train, it's so that we spend time together.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom