Program for pre-adolescent lifter?

[Tank50]

Programming

I am looking for some direction on planning out a “program” for my 10 year old daughter. She has shown interest in lifting and would like to get started on some of the basics. I know kids lifting has a lot of benefits and so I want to help her do this well. She gets a lot of other activity as well, such as playing outside, riding bikes, and she also plays basketball (season is wrapping up in a few weeks).

I understand the following
1. First and foremost, it should be fun and enjoyable for her, so that’s the primary goal.
2. I understand that she is not yet capable of training and progressing in the normal sense. I know she can get stronger, but not at the rate or to the degree she will be able to later.

We train at home and have a nice setup with the usual stuff necessary for barbell training. We also have a women’s bar (33lbs), and a 7 lb. Homemade loadable bar, as well as being able to load in 1/2 lb increments. We also have various size light dumbbells.

The plan would be for her to do something about twice a week and if possible keep it under 45 minutes or so. I know that good technique is key and that kids often struggle to control the eccentric portion of lifts.

I have looked in PPST and I know there is a small section on youth, but it mostly addresses the safety and benefits of training for kids, not so much the programming aspect of it.

So my big question is if anyone has suggestions on actually “programming” this? Again, progress is not the top goal (although I’m sure she will be motivated by some progress). I was thinking about just doing 2 “work” sets instead of 3 and just alternating squat and deadlift as well as press and bench? Maybe some bodyweight rows on the bar or pull downs since she isn’t strong enough to do pull ups?

Any thoughts or experience would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Mark Rippetoe]

What is her current Tanner Stage?

[Tank50]

Stage 2, or just transitioning into early stage 3

[Mark Rippetoe]

Leave her alone for at least another year. Don't project your own training onto this child.

[Tank50]

Certainly not trying to do that at all. She has just shown interest, that’s why I was asking to see what others had done that their kiddos have enjoyed and had fun with. Thanks for your wisdom.

[Jason Donaldson]

Two of our boys are your daughter's age or younger, Tank, and both of them express interest in lifting, because that's what they see me doing. Maybe some of our experiences will be useful to you.

For these two younger ones, I allow them to fool around with equipment in our garage gym, so long as I'm there and they keep it safe. (For example, when someone's doing a real set, they stay off the platform and don't interrupt.) I have a small assortment of dumbells and one 25 lb kettlebell that I was given. They mostly fool around with those, and naturally come up with challenges for themselves. "I held the kettlebell for 40 seconds last time, and this time I held it for 60!!!" "Last time I picked up and pressed the 8 lb dumbells, and this time I did it with the 10s!" Sometimes they want to deadlift the bar, or try to press it in the rack. Sometimes they like to do chins. They take it seriously when they do it, but it's playing, which is what they're supposed to be doing at this age.

Our oldest started out this way, too. Then last year, he asked to train, to try competing in a local push/pull meet with me. He was developed enough, and once I made sure he understood what he needed to do and he agreed, we started him on the NLP, and we entered him into the meet.

As a masters athlete, I was in the same flight as the teens, which put us together, which was nice. For my third deadlift attempt, I was right after a different young teenager, whose father had been a serious competitor when he was younger, as the announcer played up. This young man pulled 500 lb, a triple bodyweight lift. I congratulated him afterward, and it definitely seemed to me that he was NOT happy. I've been around several young athletes who are their parent's vicarious success projects, and talking to him and watching his father on the sidelines sure gave off that vibe. This kid dominated his competition on both lifts by a serious margin, but he seemed unhappy. By contrast, my son placed fourth in both lifts with small PRs, and he had a great experience.

While I do hope I misread the situation with this other kid, I'm secure in my approach with mine. I was jumping up and down like Serge Redding after my boy refused to give up on an ugly, shaky, ten-second grind to pull 185 for his third attempt, and he got more than one of the old guys coming up to him and praising his grit afterward. I'll take giving him those experiences over pushing him against his will any day. I hope that he'll stick with it, and that the other two will follow the same path when it's time. They might, or they might not, and that's okay. It's got to be their choice, not my expectation.

As Rip has said, they only get to be this age once.

I'll step down from this soapbox now.

[Tank50]

Jason,
I apologize for the delayed response. Your personal experience is extremely valuable and I very much appreciate you taking the time to share it. Very helpful. Thank you.