Kids Lifting

I have 3 children who Love to go and work out with “Dad” " Daddy" ( that actually depends on the age ) and … those ages are 6- 9 - and 12
I want to know what are exercises that can be safely performed by whom and the best set rep scheme to use for each child at the age they are.

I don’t want to exclude them from sharing even this with me. My wife helps to watch and keep them in a safe area while I lift… we all have so much fun I just want to make sure not to do anything that would be detrimental to any of them but till be able to make a difference in their physical development … they notice small changes in me and my 12 yr old … they are so motivated I want to do all that I can but safely.

         Donnie

Check this out, Chris Shugart may be able to help you out.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=652788

I say let em lift just keep the loads LOW reps higher and form #1. they will push it enough just being kids.

I think its just a solid foundation this day in age.

Oh #1 also keep it FUN make it fun so they want to keep doing it.

Phill

I agree with Phill. For your 6 and 9 year old I would get them doing more athletic movements with perfect form, and with maybe only the bar as resistance.

The 12 year old should be okay to try a little more than the two younger ones, however again, perfect form and low weight.

Look at the benefit of this, your kids will have developed healthy habits even before puberty, and should be in a better position for their lives than many of their peers later on in life.

I am surprised no one has suggested chaining them to the squat rack and making them drink whole milk by the gallon. :stuck_out_tongue:

i just wish there were more parents like you out there. maybe the obesity rate wouldnt be over 50% then.

My 11 year old daughter recently started showing an interest. Last Sunday I showed her how to do some basic stuff with either bodyweight or 5 pound dumbells just so she could feel like she was moving something other than her own weight. Everything I’ve read says that low weight sensible training even for preteens is beneficial as long as safety is number one.

If you think about it kids have been doing fairly hard work on farms for instance for centuries.

[quote]jbodzin wrote:
I am surprised no one has suggested chaining them to the squat rack and making them drink whole milk by the gallon. :-P[/quote]

That’s really messed up. How in the world are they supposed to squat if you chain them to the rack? Everybody knows you have to chain the bar to their back and threaten to take away their toys if they don’t get that last rep. I don’t know about your kids, but mine prefers 3 inch thick t-bones to a gallon of milk any day.

It’s nice to see a parent wanting to keep their kids active. They seem few and far between. A couple of words of wisdom…

The young ones shouldn’t do any heavy lifting. They should be fine with bodyweight exercises, and light multijoint activities. Stay away from heavier isolation stuff until they hit puberty. Their growth plates are still soft, as are the bones where the tendons attach. If you place too much stress on the attachments, you can get calcification there which will lead to issues down the road.

Squats, lunges, pushups, light db press, modified pullups, etc. Remember, they are a beginner to the nth degree. No one would suggest an isolation dominant program for a freshman in High School, they would recommend the big compounds, the same goes true here, just be careful with loads and volume.

Good luck!

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
jbodzin wrote:
I am surprised no one has suggested chaining them to the squat rack and making them drink whole milk by the gallon. :stuck_out_tongue:

That’s really messed up. How in the world are they supposed to squat if you chain them to the rack? [/quote]

He didn’t say how tight the chains were. Also, if you chain their wrists, it shouldn’t interfere with proper form as long is there is enough slack…

[quote]Modi wrote:
He didn’t say how tight the chains were. Also, if you chain their wrists, it shouldn’t interfere with proper form as long is there is enough slack…[/quote]

Yeah and they’ll get the progressive load of the chains too!! Why didn’t I think of that?

Glad you picked up on the chains, I thought that might slip past some people.

Of course that goes against my whole bodyweight protocol…ah well.

I was thinking of getting one of those “Total Gyms” for the kids they would love the nice combinations they could perform on them with less than body weight and could do as many reps as they wanted to …

My youngest Loves to work out to Kashmeir By LedZepplin she will go on for the length of the song and want to do it again… she also loves Crystal Method … she can literally go for hours and then a Large bowl of Frosted flakes with whole Milk and she will sleep for about 4 hours but she cant miss her work out after school.
I love the Ideas you gave me on the exersises.
Thanks :slight_smile: