re: 11 yo son started lifting in gym.

I might get shite on, but I don’t care. 11 years old is perfectly fine to be in the gym with proper instruction and technique. It won’t stunt growth yada yada.

However, the goal is to prepare for football. The idea for an 11 year old is to be able to move as he should for a football game. He hasn’t hit puberty yet, so he has not reached his stage of physical potential.

Instead of the bodybuilder type of workout you showed, I would make a plan around calisthenics. Pushups, bodyweight squats, lunges, box jumps, pull ups, etc. These are all great for developing a young kid to ensure that he can improve body mechanics and demonstrate a sense of control and stability while moving. It will also make him stronger to at least some degree, but he’s only 11. Once he’s a little older starts getting some testosterone flowing, then I would think about a weight lifting program. If he really wants to move something heavy, have him push and pull a sled. It requires little technique, it’s hard to get hurt using one, he’ll recover quickly and it’ll get him strong in a general sense.


ETA: You can also add resistance to calisthenics. So, if he gets to a point where he can bang out a lot of pushups with not real fatigue, you can have him wear a weight vest and slowly add increments of weight over time.