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Thread: I've found a unicorn!! Comments and advice on SS LP

  1. #1
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    Default I've found a unicorn!! Comments and advice on SS LP

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    A friend of mine has a 16 yo son who made the HS football team as a freshman. He started at WR AND Corner Back and returned punts as well. He runs a 4.5 40 (according to Dad) and can jump out of the gym although haven't measured vertical. He is 6 ft (projected 6-2) and weighs 150 lbs. For two months he has put on literally zero weight doing his HS strength stuff ... He has committed to doing the program and is going to bypass track this spring in order to get strong and bigger.

    His current 1RM (I didn't witness .. it is what he said) are:
    SQ - 275
    BP - 170
    DL - 300
    PC - 200

    Two days ago I taught him LBBS, tweaked his Bench Form, and coached his DL and he picked them up immediately. His glutes and hams were sore yesterday, which is confirmation that his form is on point for a novice/beginner. I advised him to start with these weights:

    SQ - 135
    BP - 115
    DL - 185
    PC - 115
    OHP - 75 (never trained it before)

    I'm advising GOMAD and the normal 10 lb/5 lb jumps in his work sets. I reiterated several times and drove home the point that sleeping, eating, and not doing stupid shit on recovery days is the key. He had trouble as a skinny freshman WR breaking free when jammed at the line and I think he wants to try to move to FS or SS by the time he is a Junior which is when the colleges are really going to start paying attention. I've got from now until about middle of July for the LP.

    Questions (i'm an amateur/inexperienced coach, but know the basics of these lifts and what not to do which is why I'm askin ...):
    1) Do I have everything lined out correctly? Food? Weights? Increases?
    2) What do I do when his squat passes his DL? Should I have him go up #15 per workout on the DL for the first 4 DL workouts?
    3) At 16 - can I expect him to progress at this rate?

    Thanks for taking the time to read/comment. I may/may not *do* everything people advise, but appreciate feedback especially if you have experience with a talented 16 yo kid.

  2. #2
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    The main thing is to make sure the kid is well fed and exposed to the movements and that he has A long off-season" to grow". He doesn't have to play every sport ( athletic directors will pressure him )

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bryanccfshr View Post
    The main thing is to make sure the kid is well fed and exposed to the movements and that he has A long off-season" to grow". He doesn't have to play every sport ( athletic directors will pressure him )
    this x 10000

    my daughter does volleyball.

    the school/coaches expect you to sign up for their Sports S&C class . . . kinda like a PE credit, but for the school athletes.

    all off season they have them doing all kinds of silly bullshit (with barbells, etc).

    for instance, they did "a block of Crossfit" for a few weeks . . .whatever that means.

    it is impossible for a parent (or friend like yourself) to "get in there" and straighten things out.

    Good Luck!

    ______________________________________________

    the way school is now sucks also.

    summer break was just over 3 months when I went to HS.

    now its seems barely 8 weeks. So that time is limited as well.

  4. #4
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    Kids already pretty damn strong for a 150 pound 16 year old. He's got potential to be amazingly strong in a few years.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the replies! I agree, as long as he can steer clear of the silly BS then I think he can grow if he is well fed and sleeps. This all came about because his parents know that I've lifted and put on about 30 lbs as an adult and in a conversation the other day they said 'He hasn't been able to put on any weight no matter what he tries' and I told them that I could help him and see.

    I am also friends with the AD at the HS. I talked to him last night (our daughters play basketball together) and I told him that this kid needs to be able to do his own thing during the strength class. They have them doing arm day and then leg day and weird rep/weight schemes with a lot of volume. He also went to 'the best personal trainer in town' who is called that because he is big, cut, and expensive .. and the trainer made the kid puke. Over 50 reps of bench on one day plus a lot of other crap. I think the kid and parents are buying in to it. He came out to the house and I coached him through his first workout and laid out the plans for ABA, BAB so on ..

    The kid could play absolutely anything he wanted to. Out of the family's three boys, he got the magic mix of genes. I told them that I would meet up whenever he needed and will start seeing him weekly until he's solid with the movements. After that, it's up to him. He has 4.5 months of offseason so he can make real progress on LP.

  6. #6
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    Well, as for not playing too many sports, I've heard the exact same opposite counter argument that too much specialization into 1 sport at a young age leaves one unnecessarily exposed to overuse injuries and that many of the best athletes do exactly the opposite and do many sports at a young age so that they develop great general athleticism which benefits them later. If he starts lifting consistently at 16 and sticks with it while not being afraid of eating (even at low frequency), I don't think playing a lot of sports should be that bad even if his strength training becomes suboptimal. Lifting is something you can do for the rest of your life, but team sports like that are perfect for that age.

    I know the above here is kind of blasphemous on this board, it's just I think skill practice in sports gets downplayed a bit much around here sometimes.

    That being said, if football is his thing, disregard everything I said, cause lifting will probably help more than anything. I just think in sports like basketball and soccer, skill practice matters so much more than strength that suboptimal strength training with plenty of skill practice will probably be close enough.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by perman View Post
    Well, as for not playing too many sports, I've heard the exact same opposite counter argument that too much specialization into 1 sport at a young age leaves one unnecessarily exposed to overuse injuries and that many of the best athletes do exactly the opposite and do many sports at a young age so that they develop great general athleticism which benefits them later. If he starts lifting consistently at 16 and sticks with it while not being afraid of eating (even at low frequency), I don't think playing a lot of sports should be that bad even if his strength training becomes suboptimal. Lifting is something you can do for the rest of your life, but team sports like that are perfect for that age.


    I know the above here is kind of blasphemous on this board, it's just I think skill practice in sports gets downplayed a bit much around here sometimes.

    That being said, if football is his thing, disregard everything I said, cause lifting will probably help more than anything. I just think in sports like basketball and soccer, skill practice matters so much more than strength that suboptimal strength training with plenty of skill practice will probably be close enough.

    I agree with that, the sport I saw mentioned was football. Getting bigger and stronger every year would go furthest, 6'2" and 220 with a mid 4's 40' will get more scouts attention than 6'2" 175. The speed is inherent, being a bruiser with speed is going to take time, food and work on the field and under the bar.

  8. #8
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    ANY kind of half way sane progressive resistance training is going to make a 16 year old male grow ASSUMING, and this is a big IF, if you *can get the kid to eat*. Good luck with that. The parents need to be on board with this. Shove 5k KCal down the kids gullet each day and hes going to get bigger. Get it into his head that elite athletes carry 15% body fat and don't have razor abs. Make sure he understands that those 22 year old physique models he sees on commercials and magazines are NOT the body goal hes aiming for.

    If he truly is a unicorn, it wont matter what kind of resistance training he gets as long as he eats. Protein won't even matter much at that age if he gets enough calories as hes flooded with enough testosterone to kill a small elephant.

    My oldest daughter played varsity tennis freshman year. She easily could be one of the best in the state. She won't eat. She won't train. She's afraid to "get bulky" like her old man. She doesn't want "muscles". Drives me fing insane. So now she's getting crushed when she goes to the state finals because girls that are bigger than her can out power, and out last her. Doesn't matter how good her technique is.

  9. #9
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    Glute/Ham soreness mean you are doing it right? I am trying to coach my kid using the book and the videos but am always looking for other cues/coaching points. He always says his ass hurts when it is time to DL LOL...

    He is also a bit of a unicorn in the other direction 14 years old 6'2" 255, potential genetics to be somewhere between 6'4" and 6'7" (my father is 6'7" wife's father is 6'4" I am 6'4")

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmilas View Post
    My oldest daughter played varsity tennis freshman year. She easily could be one of the best in the state. She won't eat. She won't train. She's afraid to "get bulky" like her old man. She doesn't want "muscles". Drives me fing insane. So now she's getting crushed when she goes to the state finals because girls that are bigger than her can out power, and out last her. Doesn't matter how good her technique is.
    Does she like Tennis? and want to be good at it?

    because:


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