Forum Statistics

Threads
27,576
Posts
541,635
Members
28,554
Latest Member
pbtom
What's New?

how do you train 13 year olds geared twoards football?

goldy

goldy

Chutzpah VIP
Jan 17, 2011
1,263
153
My son and his friend want to start working out to get ahead for next years football season. My son is around 100 pounds, is fast as hell and can tackle some of the biggest boys. plays wide receiver, half back and running back mostly. his friend is unnaturally huge for his age. must be close to 200 and over 6'. he is their best lineman, like a brick wall.....

So what should i have them do? i think a 5 day split. the big question i have is sets and reps.... should i have them go to where if they can do 6 reps, up the weight? how many sets? they are not allowed in the free weight section so it has to be all machines. luckily this gym has more machines than i have ever seen.

Any help appreciated.
 
Getraw

Getraw

VIP Member
Feb 6, 2011
315
47
My boy Goldy,

This might help some, but when I was 12 my father went through a nasty divorce. He at the time was a retired BB, and this drove him to come out of retirement and compete again. I went with him to the gym every night, he was big on me not lifting heavy and not stunting my growth lee priest style..lol. What he did with me has forever helped me in my road as an BB. He taught me proper form, and I mean drilled me on it. For about 6 months I did basically no weight but perfect form on every exercise. He would point out to me people in the gym doing harmful form and bouncing bench. He had me on a upper body, lower body split. and showed me all his ropes of being a bodybuilder. He kept me interested by telling me how good of a job i was doing and how I was doing great form. Being a kid I wanted to lift heavy weight and look cool, but he kept me grounded and pointed out the fat people bouncing weights and acting strong. Then he showed me the bodybuilders who looked amazing, doing strict form and slow reps. he showed me breathing, and proper diet.

I guess all I'm trying to say is at that age is a perfect time for him to build great habits. I was lucky to have a father who handed these down to me. If he learns proper technique and gets in a habit of good nutrient than he is ahead of most in the game. Train him as if he has never touched a weight before, go back to all the basics..grip, form, breathing. Cause half the people in a gym have never touched a weight the proper way.

Hope this helped some my brother

GR
 
Last edited:
Growinboy

Growinboy

MuscleHead
Sep 25, 2010
502
44
The latest research Ive read states that younger teens who weight train do NOT stunt their growth, but DO have a lower likelihood of being injured while playing sports... I cant quote the study here, but Im sure you could search for it... I think I started at around 11 or 12 and Im 6'3...

As a former college ball player, Id suggest basic power movements- a 5 day BBer split isnt going to be optimal for any 13 year old, much less one training for athletics... Id suggest 3 days a week of basic lifts- squat, bench, deadlift- and maybe a day thrown in for arms, etc so they can do their ego lifts, lol... I always wished my arms were bigger in HS, lol... The other big part of that is speed/conditioning... Sprints, etc arent fun all the time, but like any other preseason training it pays off come game time... I cant wait to get my kid in the dungeon to start movng some iron...
 
goldy

goldy

Chutzpah VIP
Jan 17, 2011
1,263
153
Thanks guys, big help. Getraw you are exactly 100% correct on the form, grip and breathing. that is what i was going to drill into him as the most important thing. i will point out the fools, bc there are many of them, and i will show him the monsters on youtube working out with perfect form nice and slow. I think i am going to put them on Bill Starr's 5X5 program.

I find it so sad seeing some of the younger folk and even these ladies who are in there day after day with horrible form and\or slinging weights around. i cant help everyone, so i help nobody...
 
any1uno

any1uno

MuscleHead
Dec 22, 2010
1,431
203
I'm going to echo what was already said...form and correct lifting technique. With that...speed exercises and plyometrics.
 
W

Wolf

MuscleHead
Dec 25, 2010
274
45
I'll take a look for the studies, I recall them too. They said that stunting growth occurred when injuries took place and caused growth plates to prematurely stop advancing.

I agree with the other guys here. Get them on a basic compound lifting program, 5x5 would be good. Get them sprinting.

I would also suggest you start taking this time to teach your son concepts of training, dieting, structure and rewards.
 
goldy

goldy

Chutzpah VIP
Jan 17, 2011
1,263
153
I started them yesterday on 5X5. went great. my son had perfect form and control over the movement, so much so that one of the trainers came over and said he has never seen such a young man have perfect form like that on a squat. I think it made my son feel great and also made him realize i am not a fool and know wtf i am talking about. diet is going to be hard, he can pound 3 huge bags of chips and other junk and not gain a pound. i am just going to try and get him to eat more meat and less junk for now. he is too young to put him on any sort of strict diet, he just wouldn't do it.
 
W

Wolf

MuscleHead
Dec 25, 2010
274
45
Sure, too young to put on a strict diet because he won't follow it but not too young to start the grooming process to get him to start making better choices and a result better food choices when he's older. Start teaching him how to cook maybe.
 
Growinboy

Growinboy

MuscleHead
Sep 25, 2010
502
44
Good call Wolf! I loved learning how to cook (and eat) in my teenage years... I took every "Foods" class I could in HS- so much that somtimes I felt like puking when I got out to football practice after class...
 
Who is viewing this thread?

There are currently 0 members watching this topic

Top