My son, who turns 12 in July is showing some interest in working out with me. I purchased the Rogue 10KG Junior barbell. He’s a big kid, always been 90%+ for height ever since he was an infant. Currently his approximately 5’5” and weighs about 155lbs.
I want to make it fun for him, and get him excited about working out. Any advice on where and how to start. Any reading recommendations that might help me?
Thanks!
Both of my boys (11 and 12) expressed an interest in same. I can share some of my experience.
If your boy is like mine are, his continued interest will be directly related the progress he sees. And how much progress he sees will be directly related to how pubescent he is. Unless your son is already at Tanner stage 4, he won’t see big progress beyond 4 -6 weeks of very modest linear gains.
For my oldest, I’ve maintained his interest beyond this point by switching out things that he’s stalling on with other movements he’s interested in—e.g., front squats for low bar back squats, cgbp for bench etc. My sons fascinated with power cleans and snatches so we do those now too.
Rip mentions in his article that kids have problems with the eccentric portion of the movements. They do get really floppy with their movements so watch out for this. I found having them squat to a box helped with the floppiness and with them finding depth.
I guess the moral is, keep it fun and expectations low until the testosterone spigot opens up in a couple of years.
Sounds like I need to wait to train him until there is grass in the forest.
Here’s my experience with my kids. Eleven sure sounds young.
Introducing Your 14 and 15 Year Old To Strength Training: One Parent’s Experience and Advice | Tom Bailey