Programming for my 14 and 13 year old Girl Athletes

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

13, 14 year old girls. Between soccer, swimming, basketball, X-country and track, both do sports year round.

I got them convinced that strength is a huge advantage, especially in a girls sport in a small, lower tier school because strength training is not common for girls in sports at their level. They each also had instances in basketball this year where they were man-handled (in the course of playing, not in a fight) by girls who were stronger than they were. They both recognized, first hand, how it sucks to go up against someone a lot stronger than they are, even if that person wasn't as good of an athlete. I used that as an in to pitch weight lifting.

Programming is 2 days a week (sometimes only 1 day because NEVER lift the day before a track meet), both committed to 3 days/week over the summer:

Squats 3 X 5

Bench Press 3 X 5

Lat pulls 3 sets. We go 5,5,5 then shoot for 6,6,6....when we reach 8,8,8. we add a plate and re-set at 5s

Chin negatives (jumping up from a platform)...count of 3 seconds from top to bottom, holding tight the entire range of motion 3 sets of 3 for the first 4 weeks, switched to 4,3,3 then 4,4,3, progressing slowly in that manner

The girls like to play with abs and stuff but not too much else and only after their 4 main lifts. They also run on the treadmill after lifting, but that is against my advice. I "advise" them to just get stronger and then let practice get them in shape, but hey they are 14 year old girls, I'm just happy that they are lifting.

I don't want to add deadlift at this point as it is very taxing and I'm not sure that the return is there, given that the girls are already doing linear progression on squats.

Both girls have already progressed 35 pounds on bench and squat and are up to 66 pounds for squat and 55 on bench for their 5's. Their performance is also improving faster than It did during the season last year. I want to add overhead press in the summer.



Both girls are ~125 pounds and lean

Comments/ input on this programming scheme for the girls?

[M.Scalone]

I like dumbbell deadlifts for smaller women and older clients. They are really easy to learn and load.

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

I like dumbbell deadlifts for smaller women and older clients. They are really easy to learn and load.

how would you program d-bell deeds in this scenario?

[MBasic]

The problem I've run into, is the school itself.
My 14 y.o. daughter does track and volleyball.

They LIKE TO THINK they have a pretty good program at the High School.
In season, she HAS to do their own S&C program (school's).
They make them lift, or take PE/conditioning/weights class for the off season as well.
Problem is the program is too complex.
My daughter has come home with terms like "hypertrophy block" and "crossfit" and "box squats".

We are trying to do the "diverse thing" and are TRYING to stay with the over specialization thing, (but boy, this is impossible these days)
so we do volleyball as another sport.
Same thing, she gets trapped into the V-ball S&C program
There will never be any time to shoe horn in a proper basic LP with the 5 main lifts.
Summer is only two months, and they are some V-ball tournaments that overlap with that.

You can't opt out of their strength programs, and just say "I'll lift at home with my dad, because you guys don't know what the fuck you are doing".
That, or any polite version of that, doesn't fly.
It's really like your worst nightmare, all (some) of the silly bullshit pointed out here, they do a lot of that to my daughter.
Speak up, and you'll be labelled as 'that guy'.

Its better than nothing I suppose.
I occasionally have her squat and pull, and giver her some pointers are her form.
That's about all I can do.

I think I can do things a little differently with the boy (only 10).

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

Actually, the squat, bench, lat pulls and chin-ups is my routine for the girls. We are doing linear progression with micro plates.

I was asking for input to modify, make better, given the constraints that were in the middle of the season.

This summer, we add overhead presses and possibly deadlifts.

[M.Scalone]

how would you program d-bell deeds in this scenario?

I would follow the programming in starting strength. One set of 5 increasing in weight until they outgrow the largest dumbbells and/or move onto barbell deadlifts.

[M.Scalone]

Actually, the squat, bench, lat pulls and chin-ups is my routine for the girls. We are doing linear progression with micro plates.

I was asking for input to modify, make better, given the constraints that were in the middle of the season.

This summer, we add overhead presses and possibly deadlifts.

I have tried a very similar approach with great success.


Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Dumbbell Deadlift 1x5
Chin/Lat Pulldown 2x

[kpsmiley]

Have you thought of getting a lighter barbell for your girls to do deadlifts?

The only other thing you would need would be some light Olympic plates. Rogue has a pair of 10# HG 2.0 bumpers that would work or you could just cut some out of plywood with a 2" hole in the center to start out with.

I don't think doing deadlifts that light would mess up the progression that you have going now.

Also, you would have the barbell to do the press with. I bought a 15# barbell from Rogue since my wife could not use a 45# barbell for the press. It worked until she got to where she was pressing 45# and then we moved to the 45# barbell.

[melody]

Have you thought of getting a lighter barbell for your girls to do deadlifts?

The only other thing you would need would be some light Olympic plates. Rogue has a pair of 10# HG 2.0 bumpers that would work or you could just cut some out of plywood with a 2" hole in the center to start out with.

I don't think doing deadlifts that light would mess up the progression that you have going now.

Also, you would have the barbell to do the press with. I bought a 15# barbell from Rogue since my wife could not use a 45# barbell for the press. It worked until she got to where she was pressing 45# and then we moved to the 45# barbell.

What would deadlifts that light train though?

[kpsmiley]

What would deadlifts that light train though?

I was just looking at what weight they were squatting in the first post, 66#. I think that starting with a 45# bar and then adding plates to get the barbell to the correct height to deadlift would probably be too aggressive to start with given what they are squatting now.

Better off to start conservatively now than to be too aggressive. They are only 13 & 14 yrs. old.

If their form is correct then one can keep adding weight to the barbell.