Work out/Plyometrics for 10 year old

Just wanted to chime in and say HELL YEAH!

I love hearing about parents getting their kids into training.

I was born in 1978, so I grew up in the era of "Don't lift weights until you're done growing or you'll stunt your height" and other such nonsense. Whenever I'd go to wrestling practice at the Y, I'd have to walk by the "weight lifting room" with all it's shiny metal magic devices and other delights. I was told, "that's not for you, you aren't old enough yet"......so sad.

I'm glad it's better now and people know better.

Im gonna give a very honest opinion from someone who used to own a gym, did classes for kids, and was a college strength coach. Ive read Supertraining several times which was and still is the gold standard of plyometrics and athletic development along with related books which would stack to the ceiling....

Kids need to play a wide variety of sports and just play in general. A game of kick the can or tag will be more effective in development of movement than any structured program at that age. The more the better

What you can do is begin to teach them how to train and eat correctly. They need to master pushup and pullup form and do them every day. You can begin to teach them the correct squat form and can use light weight for this(even a bar). The absolute best thing you can do for a 10 year old is to teach him good training habits. You do this by making it fun. Train with him, if hes doing daily pushups and pullups, do them with him.

Consistency will be a much better developer than classes or even hard training sessions. Make a "jump spot" somewhere where its safe to jump. Hang something from a string and every time he is able to touch it, raise it up some. If he wants to do a class with his buddies and he enjoys it, it might be worth it just to get some trained eyes helping him master form or just learn to push himself physically.

Once he hits puberty, dedicated training becomes more important. If hes already learned to eat well and train with correct form, hell be a step ahead.

I’m on my third kid lifter, and the things that worked the best for us: Inchworms, Ring Rows, Loaded Carries, squats.

For all loaded movements, I really like sandbags (minimal injury risk even if dropped on foot, simple to microload, cheap) and medballs.

quote:

---

Im gonna give a very honest opinion from someone who used to own a gym, did classes for kids, and was a college strength coach. Ive read Supertraining several times which was and still is the gold standard of plyometrics and athletic development along with related books which would stack to the ceiling....

Kids need to play a wide variety of sports and just play in general. A game of kick the can or tag will be more effective in development of movement than any structured program at that age. The more the better

What you can do is begin to teach them how to train and eat correctly. They need to master pushup and pullup form and do them every day. You can begin to teach them the correct squat form and can use light weight for this(even a bar). The absolute best thing you can do for a 10 year old is to teach him good training habits. You do this by making it fun. Train with him, if hes doing daily pushups and pullups, do them with him.

Consistency will be a much better developer than classes or even hard training sessions. Make a "jump spot" somewhere where its safe to jump. Hang something from a string and every time he is able to touch it, raise it up some. If he wants to do a class with his buddies and he enjoys it, it might be worth it just to get some trained eyes helping him master form or just learn to push himself physically.

Once he hits puberty, dedicated training becomes more important. If hes already learned to eat well and train with correct form, hell be a step ahead.

---

while those things are good, let me play devils advocate

if a kid weighs 100 lbs, we know a pushup is 62% of bodyweight...how is him lifting the bar or dumbbells that weigh less different?

the researsh shows that the earlier a kid learns to lift the better they are long term as fara s brain health, athletics and long term healthy habits

now i do agree it needs to be a progression and do agree with your plan, just saying logically using a bar is no different than bodyweight

so having 3 young boys myself and training others, this is what i have learned

1) teach them how to hinge properly using the RDL and db or kb to teach it. learning to push the arse back into an object like a wall to really feel it. Kb is the best for teaching sumo deadlift also

2) teach them how to goblet box squat effectively using a 12" box and using the corners to learn to keep calves against the box and push the arse back to sit. then exploding up. this also builds the arms as they hold heavier and heavier weight. sandbag works well here

3) crossack lunges, KOT lunges, curtsy lunge and reverse lunges- Crossack lunges are important to be able to have the mobility to go leg to leg all the way down. Joey Bergles has talked about this. you loose this ability quick.

reverse lunge is one of the best indicators for overall stability. goal should be to be able to hold a deep reverse lunge iso hold for 3 min

curtsy lunge is for balance and building the glutes

kot is for mobility and strength in really deep positions

4) nordic curl- really important to build hamstring strength

5) ring pushups- great for stability and being able to learn to move the body through space. easily progress able

6) chins- extremely important to have strength and mobility to do full chest to bar chins. alos make them do iso holds at different positions and go slow on eccentric as they need to be able to control eccentrics

7) facepulls or band pull aparts for shoulder health and learning how to retract and protract the scapula.

8) farmer or sandbag carries work awesome

9) the sled is your best friend. that and the sand bag might be the best things for training kids

10) jump rope- they suck at it

11) jump a lot, depth drops, DB jumps, broad jumps

12) VBT is god send when training pre pubescent kids. Pre puberty they can not just linear progress their way through things. So how do we keep them motivated to lift and chase PRs...use same weight and go for velocity PRs.

13) crawls- bear, reverse bear both with flat back, alligator crawl, crab walk, duck walk etc. these make a great warm up and are great for mobility

14) broomstick dislocates everyday help a ton with posture and will help a ton with shoulder health

15) hangs both from the bar, german hangs from the rings etc


oh and hill sprints

a simple program with 1 sandbag, rings, a band and a simple 12" box can pay huge dividends.

the programs im gonna send you are the john meadows youth program, the overtime athletes program and a couple others.

quote:

---

if a kid weighs 100 lbs, we know a pushup is 62% of bodyweight...how is him lifting the bar or dumbbells that weigh less different?

---

I have zero problem with kids using weights. Pushups and pullups are just practically much easier and require little equipement

He plays basketball or football outside with the neighbor kids almost every day.


This was the first year in basketball he recognized he should be working on drills to get better and stronger than just playing and having fun.

If he wants to and will keep up with it, I’ll be happy to get any equipment he needs.