starting strength gym
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Worried about my nephew and his training

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    50

    Default Worried about my nephew and his training

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    Hi. This is my first time posting on this forum. I have read starting strength 3rd edition, practical programming, and mean old Mr. gravity. I found all three books to be educational and have implemented them into my own training.

    I have experienced good results on the program thus far leading me to realize that a lot of what I was doing before was silly bullshit. This silly bullshit was learned while in a NCAA division 1 wrestling program. So silly bullshit can be anywhere.

    I have a nephew who is 10 years old. He is passionate and very gifted in the sport of lacrosse. Unfortunately our geographical location makes finding quality strength coaches fairly difficult ( He has great lacrosse coaches though). My brother (his father) has taken him to get a Functional Movement Screening at local gym. This was done as my brother is worried that my nephew is not explosive enough off of his first step. After doing some of my own research it seems to me that this screening is also silly bullshit. The link below is the screening that the trainer is certified in.

    (He posts a link to the FMS website)

    I want to get through to my brother who has no strength training knowledge that this is silly bullshit. I must admit that I have no idea how to train a 10 year old boy. I would imagine that he should follow a linear progression when he is older and has started puberty.

    But knowing my brother, I believe that if I go to him with this information and with no alternative solution (as I don't want to provide him with information from ignorance) he will simply disregard what I have to say and continue wasting his money and time on silly bullshit.

    What would you recommend a 10 year old boy who is somewhat physically gifted do to develop explosion and strength? ( I am aware that explosive ability is mostly genetic but this is how my brother understands it.)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,562

    Default

    Did the local gym actually perform a FMS on the 10-year-old boy?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    697

    Default

    As an avid fan and student of SS and father of two 10 year Oods who are active in youth sports, none of this surprises me. Gyms will take overly concerned parents $ for silly BS. I do not ble the parent, the pressure to develop these kids nowadays thru travel teams, AAU, etc. just keeps getting more insane. Parents will do anything to keep up with the Joneses. Do not judge these parents, really, many kids out there today (except mine) are getting some sort of non-sport coaching on the side.

    But Coach, maybe we have it wrong...just look at the potential revenue stream we have been missing. SS Seminars for 10 to 12 year olds. SS 5th Ed: The Grammar School Program. You can dress as Dumbledore for your lecture and all the SS Coaches dress as Harry Potter characters and give the kids juice boxes between sets. Don't say no....just think about it.

    My previous comment about SS for grammar school was sarcasm obviously. But the issue of training youngsters is a serious one to me. My first ever post asked that queation. I appreciated Rip's polite answer about the the trainee growing to Tanner Stage 4 (was in the book, kicked myself after).

    And the issue of missing a revenue stream for training youngsters is also serious. I always say the knowledge of the SS community is amazing. Is it out of the question to think about a book for training kids younger than a Angus McSnot novice? Just thinking because I think Rip and the Crew has the knowledge. I know it would not be barbell training and you might be out of your comfort zone but I would trust you guys more than any quacks out there promoting silly BS. As always thanks for everything.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    658

    Default

    This is unreal even by the standards of FMS practitioners. Ponder the absurdity of asking a ten year-old to do a close-grip push up with his hands at eyebrow level then moved outward only to the AC joint. This is one of the 7 tests. Now ponder that a key facet of the FMS is the intentional withholding of coaching and the insistence upon absolute minimum of explanation of the movement, and zero indication of the standards of the movement. Now ponder the blinding impropriety of using the results of such an endeavor to diagnose movement and motor control inadequacies and to prescribe corrective exercises to "fix" them.

    You should kick your brother in the balls, tell him to let his son play the damn game (or not) or a different game (or not) and to develop like kids have been developing since God invented us, and quit pretending like there's a full-ride college lacrosse scholarship hanging on optimizing his performance in Mini Junior Tiny Tot League - because there's not. Your brother, bless his heart for wanting to do right by his kid, has fallen prey to the stupid, stupid, stupid notion popularized by a bunch or Rec League Coachdadbeasts that recruiters from UCLA are clandestinely prowling the sidelines of the Palookaville Little Kid Lacrosse Tournament.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    50

    Default

    Yes. I dont know the particulars of the results. Although I have seen the document detailing the assessment results that they gave my brother. Thats is the only reason I know about it in the first place.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,562

    Default

    Bill is right. You brother is a fool. We have discussed the fraudulent aspects of the FMS on this board many times, and many studies have proven it is bullshit. Your brother is doing business with charlatans, and he should be embarrassed that the club fleeced him.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    The Gym
    Posts
    548

    Default

    How long before all these parents wind up being swayed by the latest charlatan in town: crossfit kids?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,562

    Default

    starting strength coach development program
    It's been around a long time. I actually think it may be the least harmful incarnation of CF, since it's really just very hard play, not training. If the usual precautions about kids not controlling their eccentric movements are observed, I don't see the problems with it we normally associate with grownups doing CrossFit. Of course, many adults just want to play at the gym too.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •