+ 1 I took my 13 yr old son to the gym for the 1st time.
So my son has been bugging the HELL outta me to take him to the gym. He is a pretty big kid. Like 5'6 170 at 13 years old. We used the calipers at the gym and it said he was around 18 percent BF. He wants to lose some BF before football season starts in the fall.
He takes MMA classes (boxing,tae-kwon do, jui jitsu) 4 nights a week and we also started P90X about a month ago. So he is not brand new to working out. He has played tackle football for 3 seasons but lifting is all new to him.
I made sure i researched the appropriate age for a young boy to start lifting without damaging growth plates...etc..
We worked chest and tri's today, kept it light weights for his lifts and he freakin LOVED it!!! i told him i would ask him the same question in the morning...lol.
Anyway i wanted to ask my bro's on here what thier opinions are about slowly working a 13 year old into lifting. I would be very interested to hear about any of yall that are maybe lifting coaches, personal trainers or even a football coach that has worked with teenagers in the weight room. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thx
TEX
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Awesome!! My son is 5 and cant wait to get him lifting.
bro thats a great thing your doing for your boy. my father took me to the gym around the same age and for me lifting was great. i felt better about myself and i enjoyed it alot and made me better for football (went on to play college). not only that it created a bond and a friendship between us that i will always remember. long as he performs lifts like squat and deadlifts with good form and not worried about the wieght, just sit back and watch him grow.
I am visiting my grandparents who have custody of my cousins. My cousin is 13 years old just like your son, but he is a tiny little fucker. He didnt want anything to do with lifting, but i threw his ass in the car and took him to the local gym out here. He hated every set, rep i made him do but i got in his face and MADE him do it. He gets picked on A LOT and i dont live here to help him out. He will be working out with me everyday i am here wether he likes it or not, But i will say he cant hate it that much. he sees the attention i get with my size and he has already said he wants that. So i said "if you want it stop being a bitch and go lift those weights" You might think thats harsh, but thats how my family is, no sugar coating a damn thing....... in the end its good for him......
It sounds like your young cousin is happy to have you as a good role model in his life. Man, with all the crazy shit these young kids can get into nowadays its too bad he doesn't live closer to you so you could continue hauling his ass to the gym or hell, even to a kick ass movie or something. LOL @ "stop being a bitch and go lift those weights"...i have alot of friends back home in Texas that play it the same way when it comes to family business. Some families keep it real like that...i have no problem with it personally. I hope your little cousin keeps it up in the gym, maybe he has found his new nitch. Thanks for your story.
I think this is great. Great for bonding and for future memories. My working out at that age was typical yard work. We didn't have all the tools available now. My dad was hardcore. I had to finish my chores before I could practice football or anything else. Alot of late nights. My advice would be to be to teach the importance of form and foundational training. Core training and proper rest. Nutrition. At that age he will graspon to every word you say. So start now with character in the gym and around it. As far as the skater pukes, there time will come. But let him be kid. Teach and motivate him through watching you. I started with my son at this age, I pushed to hard sometimes. He made it through though. Now he's playing D1 football. Enjoy this time, be the man your son see when he looks at you. Good luck
Shit dude, i know what you mean when you say all the "tools" they have now. We didn't even have a lawnmower with an engine until i was about 16!!!..lol And we even had an edger that you had to push back and forth real fast to put a decent edge on the grass..haha
I appreciate the advice about good character, training and nutrition. I will certainly take your advice. As far as him looking up to me, you just never realize how much these little guys watch you. I have been a little league baseball coach for 5 years straight (we didn't play this year, too much going on with MMA and football coming up)but i still get compliments from the parents of kids i have coached in the past about how much thier kids had looked up to me and I Never even realized it at the time!!! I always pushed my son harder than any kid on any of my teams. He always thought i was being tougher on him than the other boys (and i probably was..lol) but now we are moving into lifting and I'm gonna try not to burn him out by busting his balls too much at the beginning.
PS. You must be damn proud of your boy playing D1 ball. Not many kids get that chance and i'm sure he prolly thinks that all the ball bustin he got from you has paid off!!
Way I see it he can learn from you to lift or he can learn from coaches that sit on there ass and let the kids do whatever they want. You might have good coaches at your school but my kids coaches suck when it comes to lifting. They work out same muscles over and over they do not show the kids anything about technique. Several kids have been hurt lifting at school because the coaches where lazy on being my daughter. The trick is to get your son to trust you vs the coaches. Start slow work on technique. At this age I would use low weight and nothing overhead. Also while you son is working out with you dont hurt yourself trying to make him think his dad is superman.
Hey Finafan, i know exactly the type of coaches you are taking about. I have even run across several of these types during my little league coaching days. Thats the main reason i started coaching my sons baseball teams several years ago. I saw too many lazy coaches sit on a ballbucket all practice long and do nothing but scream and yell at kids while sitting on thier ass!! I felt like saying"get your fat ass up and show them that YOU can at least do what you are f'n telling the boys to do.
thx for the tips..i will put them to use for sure
might be same coaches lol Texas here too
Tex at 13 and working out with dad means the world to him. Wish my dad had spent time with me. Having kids pick on you is a bitch went through that before. Then bam shit hit the fan it took 6 others to get me off this guy I was going to kill him. Lifting is great started lifting with my football coach and loved it. Today things are the same. Hats off to you for spending time showing him the ropes.
thanks bro, i'm trying not to be the "asshole dad" like my ole man was to me. Now my wife says that i can't always be his best friend...haha I will just enjoy it while it lasts, prolly until high school when he won't want his ole man hanging around while he's chasing some little tail ...lol Just gimme some cash dad and oh, can i borrow your pickup?? haha
Good for you!I have a seven year old and the days I work out at home he works out with me.He does most of his lifting with bare dumbbell handles but he still switches set to set with me.I love it.I think I was eleven when I started using my dads weights in the garage.By the time I was out of high school everyone was saying I was on aas.
thats cool..kids are great. it brings back memories of when i was a kid and worked out with my dad using those old plastic weights with the concrete inside...haha you could hear it rattling around inside when they got dropped too hard..lol
Also when I was a 12 my mom bought me a hevy bag for xmas. When I was 16 I could beat the shit out of men. Only took 1 punch and know one wanted anymore.
Yeah those are what I started with.Good old plastic and concrete.
TxBigBoylmao! I remember those!