Ideas for 12 Year Old

Training Beginners
1

All,

This summer I am planning to do some pro-bono work for a 12 year old boy who is overweight and taking medication for high cholesterol. To summarize the child’s mom has been searching for a gym to do charity work on his behalf but to no avail. I volunteered to exercise with him for a couple hours 3-4 times a week. My question to you is aside from cardiovascular exercises, what other steps could I take to help get this kid in shape. Would you recommend weight training for someone his age and in general, how much is a pre-teen capable of without risking injury?

I know a lot of my questions are very general and not case specific so if you need more information I will do my best to provide it for you.

Thanks

2

I wouldn’t do weight training in this situation, not only is he very young he is also probably not in condition to do weight training might injure himself. I would just make it fun for him, have him maybe do some sport with you also like basketball or something. Just find ways to make the training fun, yet also hard so he gets results. Try to fix his diet also, that will help him a lot just show him the right way to eat ext.

3

Firstly, the kid must learn about proper eating habits. Secondly, a toned-down bodybuilding routine will work. 9 sets per bodypart at 10 reps per exercise. Nothing heavy, no lightweight babys for awhile, but make sure he masters form on all exercises, Thirdly, don’t be afraid to show some tough love. It builds character and will show you if the kid is serious enough to endure this life changing process. Everything I just said I did and experienced.

4

His diet is the only key to helping him lose. If his mom yields to giving him treats and McD’s all the time, your work is going to go for naught. Make SURE you have the bases covered at home and the parents informed on what needs to happen diet wise, and make sure they are in agreement.

I’m with Shizen on this one–weight training will be rough on him. With a normal 12-13 years old, I’d suggest some light weight training, but not here, for above mentioned reasons. Bodyweight exercises are good. Also, you might actually try really (really) light strongman type stuff mixed in with the bodyweight exercises. Goal oriented stuff–carry this to there, light sandbag carry, farmer walks, that sort of thing. If it feels like a game or obstacle course, chances are he may enjoy it more than a straight “exercise time”.

Try and find ways to make it fun for him, keep him occupied. Games of all sorts. Change things often. Encourage him. Chances are he gets enough grief at school and maybe in PE class too. Train with him, along side him, the more you include yourself in the process the less it might feel like an authority figure commanding him to do something, and the more fun he’ll have if he knows you’ll push yourself through the same things.

5

regarding general training for kids, I’m gonna just copy/paste my response to another thread from a while back, as these remain my opinions. It’s long.

This is a very interesting topic.

The Soviets did numerous studies, and had State wide data collection on their athletic youths. They tended to introduce weight training to kids who were 11-12 years old. Any younger than that, and all their training was games, tumbling (rolls, gymnastic stuff), jumping, sports, and calisthenics.

Most recommendations are to limit heavy weight training to people older than 15.

According to Thomas Kurz and studies by Sulmitsev/Krumm…

Youths 11-12 years old can use weights up to 30% of their bodyweight

Youths 13-14 can use weights up to 50% of their bw.

Youths 15-16 can use weights up to 100% of their bodyweight.

Regardless of age, maximal strength exercises and great intensity lifts were not allowed until the development of the long bones had been completed ~= 17 years of age.

The Soviets’ State wide programs and studies also came to the conclusion that children 11 year or under should only use weights that they could do 13-15 reps with. And especially that children should develop their power and strength by running, jumping, throwing, tumbling, and NOT heavy external weights. This was done for a variety of reasons, but the primary one was probably for increased “motor learning”–eg. the more diverse movements you ingrain into a child while very young, the better they master new movements and their chosen sport later in life. In other words it increases their movement “vocabulary” if you will.

Also, it’s worth noting that Kurz states in his book (with a number of different studies by the Soviets and other countries cited that I don’t want to reference now because I’m lazy) that in children the different athletic qualities are all tightly related.

Simply, this means that making a young child agile will make him stronger. Or that making him more coordinated will make him stronger. It’s like Zen in reverse–early on, any kind of training affects all attributes of strength speed and agility, but the more the child ages into adulthood the more independent these qualities become. You train agility, you gain endurance and strength as well. You train endurance, you actually get stronger.

An adult does not get stronger by becoming more agile. If an adult trains endurance he will get weaker, not stronger. He has to train agility to become agile. He has to be specific to the athletic quality he wants to improve, whereas a young child can do anything he wants and improve on everything at the same time.

So short answer is he can train with weights before puberty with no problem, but the best strength training for kids is that he should get involved in as many different physical activities as possible for as long as possible. Get his movement “vocabulary” as diverse as possible. Make him run and jump and tumble and throw. Use primarily bodyweight exercises like push-ups, etc. Use light weight training as a supplement to all these activities, not the mainstay.

Hope that made sense.

6

Also of note, Thomas Kurz talks about a study by Drabik in 1996.

Drabik found that “during certain periods of a person’s life, he or she will be most sensitve to exercises developing particular elements of movement coordination. These are called sensitive ages or critical periods [specific vocab depends on the author–my note]”

Table is as follows:

(quality/male sensitive age/female sensitive age)

Balance-----10 to 11, 9 to 10

Movement adequacy-----8-13 (greatest at 9-12), same for girls

Kinesthetic differentiation------ 6-7 and again at 10-11, same for girls

Reaction to signals------8-10, same

sense of rhythm (I definitely missed this boat growing up :stuck_out_tongue: ) ------- 9-10, 7-9

Spatial orientation-------- 12-14, same

Sychronization of movements------- 6-8, same

Now you can see one of many reasons the Soviets desired well-rounded activities for their very young athletes-in-training.

It should be noted that if someone ‘misses the boat’ on these critical periods, it is not really a disaster. Well, I suppose it was for my sense of rhythm :). As mentioned in my post above, during most of childhood one’s abilities are highly interrelated and so it’s not a terrible concern if he/she starts training later than these ‘critical periods’ even though it is not perfectly optimal.

7

whoah. I guess my advice is too harsh. Well it worked for me. My two centavos.

8

I have a lot of experience working with young overweight children the best thing you can do for this 12 year old child is emphasize the importance of not being fit. Children at that age, normally defiant, but heavily impressionable.

Perhaps ask him what are some of the physical activities that he really likes to do or would like to do. Now you haven’t given any numbers but if he is beyond a threshold of obesity then he can see some serious (not healthy) fat loss from a 3-4 days a week routine. Keep in mind that his CNS is in for a shock as apparently he’s not used to this kind of activity.

Start with diet (work with his mother on this VERY hard, emphasize the importance), moderate workouts (sports related) get his weight down first, 12 year olds aren’t supposed to be buff but “toning” won’t hurt.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

9

One thing I forgot to mention…

This child probably has considerable self esteem issues so be prepared for a lot of “i can’t do its” and “it’s too hard” or “i’ll never lose weight”. So be prepared to give a lot of positive reinforcement!!!

10

[quote]Growing_Boy wrote:
whoah. I guess my advice is too harsh. Well it worked for me. My two centavos. [/quote]

lol. Hey I know a bunch of people starting like you did who turned out great. Never anything wrong with that. There’s always a lot of leaway with individuals, but I usually prefer to err on the side of caution. Besides, the Soviets had this thing about trying to perfect the human specimen for their own national glory… :slight_smile: and they had a lot of literature and resources to do studies with, so I picked up on a lot of that.

11

[quote]Growing_Boy wrote:
whoah. I guess my advice is too harsh. Well it worked for me. My two centavos. [/quote]

were you a obese kid? Did they just go ‘ok your fat, if you don’t want to die your going to run this hill everyday till your fit get to it’ I mean sure could work for a lot but sometimes have the extreme opposite effect. You do want to be careful not to make it too easy then he wont take it seriously and it should be somewhat serious.

12

I was an obese kid and no it wasn’t like that. my then step-dad was an amateur BBer. I was 14 when I started. I reached the point of attempting suicide and he took me under his wing. I had reached the enough is fucking enough point. I basically trained alongside him: 3x10, 9-12 sets per bodypart, concentrating on proper form, and 1hr of cardio work per day. He designed my diet and taught me proper eating habits.

When I would say, “its too heavy” or “I can’t” he would simply tell me fine get the hell out of the gym. He would tell me, “How fucking badly do you want to this!” While I was squatting hundreds with just the bar. He started saying that everytime he saw me begin to falter. After awhile the whinning stopped. It toughened me up, it numbed my feelings. It made me a fighter. When life gets heavier, I don’t buckle. I keep on repping it out. It really depends on how the individual reacts to the treatment.

13

[quote]Growing_Boy wrote:
I was an obese kid and no it wasn’t like that. my then step-dad was an amateur BBer. I was 14 when I started. I reached the point of attempting suicide and he took me under his wing. I had reached the enough is fucking enough point. I basically trained alongside him: 3x10, 9-12 sets per bodypart, concentrating on proper form, and 1hr of cardio work per day. He designed my diet and taught me proper eating habits.

When I would say, “its too heavy” or “I can’t” he would simply tell me fine get the hell out of the gym. He would tell me, “How fucking badly do you want to this!” While I was squatting hundreds with just the bar. He started saying that everytime he saw me begin to falter. After awhile the whinning stopped. It toughened me up, it numbed my feelings. It made me a fighter. When life gets heavier, I don’t buckle. I keep on repping it out. It really depends on how the individual reacts to the treatment. [/quote]

Good post.

14

[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Bodyweight exercises are good. Also, you might actually try really (really) light strongman type stuff mixed in with the bodyweight exercises. Goal oriented stuff–carry this to there, light sandbag carry, farmer walks, that sort of thing. If it feels like a game or obstacle course, chances are he may enjoy it more than a straight “exercise time”.[/quote]
Definitely great advice.

Handball, kickball, even dodgeball (1-on-1, and yes, you have to let him win) are all things that don’t seem like “exercise.”

I also like modified strongman (strongkid?!?) training. When I taught Phys. Ed, I would have my sixth graders doing lifts and walks with bags of dog food. They loved it, especially the time it broke open and one of the kids ate a handful on a dare.

There’s no need at all for free weights right now. I’d avoid them and use “non-conventional” methods.

Another thing: Realize that the high cholesterol may be genetic, so the medication might be necessary regardless of diet and training. But still, hook up with a good nutrition consultant in your area and get together with the parents to sort it out.

[quote]mpenix wrote:
This child probably has considerable self esteem issues so be prepared for a lot of “i can’t do its” and “it’s too hard” or “i’ll never lose weight”. So be prepared to give a lot of positive reinforcement!!![/quote]
The token system works very well in this regard. Kiddo gets a token (coin, sticker, coupon, whatever) for every X amount of time spent training (every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, every session, whatever). After a certain amount of time, the tokens are redeemed for a larger prize, like a shopping spree at the mall.

15

Just remember that a 12 year old does not stock the fridge or cupboards. You have at least 2 people to deal with here. An accurate food log is going to be a MUST. Be prepared to be shocked with what kids subsist on these days and think it’s normal and O.K. Good luck.

TNT

16

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
Aragorn wrote:
Bodyweight exercises are good. Also, you might actually try really (really) light strongman type stuff mixed in with the bodyweight exercises. Goal oriented stuff–carry this to there, light sandbag carry, farmer walks, that sort of thing. If it feels like a game or obstacle course, chances are he may enjoy it more than a straight “exercise time”.
Definitely great advice.

Handball, kickball, even dodgeball (1-on-1, and yes, you have to let him win) are all things that don’t seem like “exercise.”

I also like modified strongman (strongkid?!?) training. When I taught Phys. Ed, I would have my sixth graders doing lifts and walks with bags of dog food. They loved it, especially the time it broke open and one of the kids ate a handful on a dare.

There’s no need at all for free weights right now. I’d avoid them and use “non-conventional” methods.

Another thing: Realize that the high cholesterol may be genetic, so the medication might be necessary regardless of diet and training. But still, hook up with a good nutrition consultant in your area and get together with the parents to sort it out.

mpenix wrote:
This child probably has considerable self esteem issues so be prepared for a lot of “i can’t do its” and “it’s too hard” or “i’ll never lose weight”. So be prepared to give a lot of positive reinforcement!!!
The token system works very well in this regard. Kiddo gets a token (coin, sticker, coupon, whatever) for every X amount of time spent training (every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, every session, whatever). After a certain amount of time, the tokens are redeemed for a larger prize, like a shopping spree at the mall.[/quote]

Wouldn’t skill based movements the clean, and whatnot be good too. Not with a huge load or anything, but learning to clean/snatch may be a good idea. I also like the idea of strongman style training.

18

he needs a hobbie, thats physical. whatever it is, he needs to enjoy it. If he hates it he wont stick with it. weights are a great supplement but at that age they are not the be all end all. if the kid want to play basketball, focus on B-ball and supplement with weights. Good luck.

I currently working with a similar situation of a girl who is 220 and 12 years old. the girl doesn’t mind weights, but loves playing soccer. So we play a lot of soccer, and do weights twice a week. So far, 1 month 20 pounds. We’re halfway through month 2 (weight in only 1/month) so we’ll see how we did this month. Oh ya, and keep their head out of the number game. These kids need to build health long term habits. I admire the dedication you’re showing to help this boy. Keep up the good work. He’ll be a fine T-brother someday.

19

oh ya. And whoever buys the groceries needs to be checked and kept under watch. Kids don’t get fat on their own. Parents are a major cause. try involving the parents. Kids emulate their role models and at 12, and that’s your parents.

20

[quote]ironjoe wrote:
oh ya. And whoever buys the groceries needs to be checked and kept under watch. Kids don’t get fat on their own. Parents are a major cause. try involving the parents. Kids emulate their role models and at 12, and that’s your parents.[/quote]

That’s a key point. Fat kids usually have fat parents. Fit kids usually have fit parents. If the kids see the parents trying to improve themselves, they will try harder. The parents might get motivated if they realize that it’s for the sake of the child, if they don’t want to do it for themselves.

21

The high cholesterol most likely means the kid is swimming in sugar. Sounds like you’ll be doing most of your work with the mom. Might not be a bad idea to get a waiver from the mom to talk to the doc to talk about the specific reasons for the high cholesterol and to see if anything else is up. For that I’d talk to whoever set you two up - I assume there’s some social worker involved who’s experienced with the proper way to do that.