Tom Bailey: Introducing Your Kid to SS

[Mark Rippetoe]

Introducing Your 14 and 15 Year Old To Strength Training: One Parent’s Experience and Advice | Tom Bailey

[mitchless]

Great article; thanks Tom!

My boys (5, 7, 10) enjoy hanging out in the gym while I'm training and when I'm coaching my wife and dad. When they ask, I let them try the lifts. Having light enough equipment is critical to them having a successful and fun time. In addition to micro plates I've purchased a broom stick, a 15 lbs aluminum bar, and a 22 lbs Starting Strength bar. I also made sure to get 10 lbs bumper plates, enabling a minimum 35 lbs deadlift set up.

So far, only the 10-year-old has been gutsy enough to try squatting, the 7-year-old will occasionally ask to deadlift, and the 5-year-old likes to "pwess." Of the three of them, the 5-year-old is going to be the beast. He likes to help me load and unload the bar -- he can pull a 25 lbs plate off the bar and carry it to the plate rack. As long they are having fun, I expect they'll want to try more.

[Overbar]

Thanks for this article, Tom. I have four sons. The oldest is nine, so we have a few years before they're old enough. One of the great things about a garage gym is that they see me training and are naturally interested in what I'm doing and how much I'm lifting. I have a 15-lb. bar that they'll occasionally use to "deadlift" (using a very loose definition of the term) with 10-lb. bumper plates. They do chin-ups on the rack. My hope is they'll want to learn to train as they get older, forsaking the "gym bro" nonsense that I spent years following, but we shall see.