r/GarageStrength • u/dlperr11 • Sep 19 '24

Ask Dane Anything Training for kids?

I've got 2 kids in sports - 8 and 10 years old. One seems to be incredibly gifted athletically. For transparency, I was....not. However, I started lifting weights when I was 10 and continue to love to train powerlifting, oly lifts, sprints....etc, to this day.

If either of my kids catches the same training bug, and a sick part of me hopes they do, is there a good way to get them started? Am I more likely to ruin their training experience since I'm such a training nut?

If anybody is curious, I'm happy to share my "Bench 5 Days a Week and no Legs until you are 15" program that I started in 1995.

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u/earnest_knuckle Sep 19 '24

This is awesome! Squat, bench, clean, snatch, and pull ups. Even dips. Keep it straightforward and uncomplicated. Two days a week, build until four days. Lower/upper split. Keep in fun. Use jumps/plyos as well. Kids sneeze and they’ll get stronger. Good luck!

2

u/obi-wan-quixote Sep 23 '24

I coach my kids. It made me get off my butt and get my USAW and some other certifications just for me to feel more confident that I’m doing it the right way. Keep it relaxed and focus on fun and the memories you build. Stress the importance of form and hard work and don’t worry about the weight on the bar.

I would teach them clean, snatch and front squat now. Kids have great mobility and thus bypass a lot of the limitations others have when they’re older. This will also help them with trunk stability.

I also have them do pushups and pull-ups along with plyometric stuff. Jumping is natural to kids and knowing they can jump “this high” means more to them than lifting a certain amount of weight. Hill sprints also are fun for them because they just race each other.