you must spend an absolute fortune in Maccy Ds. Do all the staff know you by name?
Try teaching the lad from my work how to properly do side laterals and then listen to his constant complaints about how he is not feeling it in his shoulders and how it’s hurting his back and asking if his biceps should be hurting lol
maybe you would drop them then!
They are good additions and when I switch back to this routine I do add isolation work
Nah people over here aren’t that social.
Very first thing; I’d make them play a sport for 6 months. Something that’s actually physical, with moving through space, different angles, contact, etc. Football, rugby, basketball, wrestling, boxing, just something athletic.
This is because real deal total blank slate beginners are just AWFUL at lifting weights. They don’t understand the difference between soreness and pain, they don’t have any sort of basic coordination to be able to move their body UNWEIGHTED through space, let alone if you put some actual weight on them, they don’t understand how to push out of their comfort zones, etc. Sports will develop a whole lotta qualities that a lot of beginners spend years spinning their wheels on in the weight room (flexibility, mobility, basic strength, tenacity, coordination, balance, etc).
After/during this time, we’d focus on bodyweight movements, once again to build up some basic strength and have something in the tank before we start lifting. Push ups, pull ups, lunges, crunches, etc. Do this for like 2-3 months, get some work capacity and conditioning developed and have SOMETHING in the well to pull from.
After this, something like Starting Strength for 2-3 months wouldn’t be terrible. You’ll note it’s 2-3 months and not the 2-3 YEARS that some folks want someone to follow these programs for. Just enough time to get the basics figured out and understand what it feels like when you’re upping weight. Other suitable choices would be Pavel’s 3-5, Bill Starr’s 5x5, or other similar works.
Once THAT is sorted out things get interesting. Since the topic was physique, I’ll have to let that go to someone else, but it’s at least how I’d get a noob going.
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Spot on the money…
Ive already got a real Protege … who likes to take way too many selfies and says dumb shit .
And ive gotten too the point I dont bother helping guys out…because I end up getting burn. They want a program wrote out or want to train at my place. That last a few weeks and it becomes a waste of my time.
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What no Homoerotic porn? Id be pimping him out also 
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Short Term
*Get them on The Simple Diet.
*Get them to control their bodies. I have had people that have trouble walking up a curb. not joking, so short term turned into long term. So playing a sport, walking, gardening. Just get them outside doing something.
*Teach basic knowledge of the lifts. I always taught all the lifts to my clients before actually letting them lift. Most trainers do not do this but I want them to know some basic queues I was gonna tell them every god damn rep. Tight core, elbow position, leg drive, etc.
*Find the lifts they are geared toward and give them results they want. Are they high bar, low bar or front squatter?
*Improve technique, Still not focused on the weight of the bar just technique. If they have a technique issues like, knee collapse during squat. training is geared toward fixing that not adding weights to the main lifts.
*Run basic beginner program focused on the big lifts
I wouldn’t proceed to the next phase tell all of these are completed and linear progression has stalled.
Mid Term
*Improve technique
*Start choosing a long term lifting approach (do i want to do ppl, bodypart splits, lift based, westside, whatever)
*Start developing a lifting goals and research those who have similar. (Do I want to increase my 3-5rpm, be a bodybuilder, go for aesthetics)
*Set short term goals (Target weight, Lifting stats, whatever they are lifting for)
*At this point they should roughly know how many calories, carbs, protein they should be eating and adjust accordingly.
*I actually refer back to a graph I will link below just because I tend to over think things otherwise.
Long Term
*Fix deficiency in diet and weak points in lifts.
*Start developing a lifting philosophy. At this point nothing should drastically change your opinion of your program. You just pick up more and more pointers but you should be settled into an approach by now.
*At this point if someone wants to run a spec phase to bring a lagging body part or lift up. They can probably do it now.
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Short term:
Start with the hips! I would immediately have new dude walking around with a band thru belt setup to hit the glutes and hips.
Mid section tightness! I would use stuff like Robertson’s “21st Century Core” article. Suitcase walks, planks, leg raises, etc. Anti rotation, or anti flexion or whatever. I want new dude to brace properly, and get a tight mid section from day 1.
Calesthenics! Push ups, inverted rows, step ups, back raises, lunges. Anything where you push/pull your body thru space. Learn to generate tightness, Twist the hands so the elbows go “in”, grab the ground with the toes, keep the mid section “tight” and the body “straight.”
Full body! Get used to moving around, and the way you use your whole body, even if you’re working 1 “piece” of your body.
Step 2 introduces weights.
Dumbbell presses At different angles, Iso rows, hamstring work. Some curls, some triceps. Beginning to figure out how to use the upper back, and actually lift weights instead of just moving your body around. Make sure new dude can move around correctly. Both arms and legs do The same thing. The easiest stuff from step 1 will be the warm up exercises for step 2. Harder calisthenics like dips/chins/Glute hams get worked in as assistance.
It would be upper/lower, but each session still starts with hips/abs/core tightness.
Step 3.
-Add barbells and compound lifts. The easiest stuff is totally dropped. The most useful calisthenics or dumbbell/machine/assistance exercises from step 1 and 2 are carried to forward to this step to be used a “assistance” work.
Still upper/lower split. Still do band thru belt and start each session with band thru belt and lower back/abs.
I would stick to some kind of rep PR system like Greyskull, or “light 5/3/1”. Hitting more reps each week would keep it challenging, without rushing to pile the plates on. I feel like this would be a good way to develop decent lifting technique. Then, after 6-9 weeks, using your rep PRs as a guide, you’d know exactly what weights you should use for your future training.
I recommend fat absorption supps in your approach. Self lubing ass will save some time.
Dude looks swolez as hell brah!
How did you train him, if you don’t mind?
(Holy fuck, I can’t believe no one has asked this question when you have a real life protege with pics right here in this thread lol!)
Oh…thats been a long and drawn out cluster fuck of a mess and I do mean Cluster FUCK is putting it lightly!!
The only reason Im spending time and effort with my protege is because hes my son so its a given …LOL
Long story short his actually training with me hasnt been consistent at all… This summer has been the first time in a year that Ive actually had a chance to have him under my wing. He just turned 18 little over a month ago has graduated High School.
Here what I mean by not consistent through his High School career. This is how the normal training with me Has been running, In the Spring I had to focus on getting him bigger and stronger for Football…Come Summer I had to hand him off to Football so he could practice and lift with them…Lets just say that the the programming for their S&C was less than optimal. They honestly didnt do much or any in season lifting and with his work load studies and athletics I didn’t push it doing it at my place.Soon as Football season ended He went right into Wrestling season where he would drop weight for his weight class which he didnt even try to do just the end result of the actual wrestling conditioning. After Wrestling I ended up getting him again for the Spring and started the process again. Except for this year my son took Advanced PE and was lifting at school and had to follow what they were doing. If your still interested I can write about how I approach his actual training
I threw in this pic from two years ago I think right after wrestling season… Cant tell by the pic but he was lean as hell but had lost allot of actually meat off his frame
Heres one from this past winter hes the kid doing the throwing added it in so you could get a idea on his lower body development
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Yes, definitely! I think a lot of other people will also benefit from reading this.
I guess if someone is interested Ill just write up my general approach with him with my philosophy behind it.
Yeah that would be great.
Ok… will try to make it not too wordy .
This is a fun thought experiment. Here’s probably how I’d break it down:
Block 1
This period would be all about creating the ability to positively respond and adapt to the stress of training. The emphasis would be on consistently nailing the basics of nutrition (multiple meals per day, adequate protein, calorie, and micronutrient intake, etc.), sleep (being in bed a minimum of 8 hours per night, having a nightly ritual, etc.), hydration, and potentially supplementation.
Training would have a very large aerobic component – somewhere in the ballpark of 3 to 4 sessions of low intensity cardio (HR 120-150 BPM) lasting 30-45 minutes per session. Strength training would be done 2 times per week, with a premium being placed on coordination, stability, and the ability to move in all 3 planes. Think lots of half and tall kneeling work, alternating movement, unilateral exercises, and anterior core work. Probably 4-5 exercises per session done for 2-4 sets each.
The last component would be ensuring the development of adequate autonomic variability, which would be measured via resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and neutrality as measured by a variety of orthopedic tests. Improvements in autonomic variability would come from the aforementioned lifestyle changes, the aerobic work, and through specific breathing and “corrective” exercises which would be performed daily.
At the end of this block, you’d have someone with a resting heart rate under 60 BPM, a high HRV (the scale depends on how you’re measuring, so its hard to give an exact number), full ROM in the relevant orthopedic tests, an ability to move well in all 3 planes of motion, and the lifestyle habits necessary to support hard training. They’d also probably be a lot leaner. In short: they’re the perfect “blank slate.”
Block 2
Strength training would be increased to 3 times per week, and the emphasis would be shifted towards lifts that more directly build technique in the classic big exercises. Examples: Romanian deadlifts, goblet/ 2 KB front squats, etc. This would be supplemented with basic bodyweight work (pushups, inverted rows, chin up isometrics/ eccentrics, etc.) and a lot more core work. Because frequency is being increased by 50%, per-session volume would probably stay the same for this block.
Aerobic work would be dropped to 2 sessions per week, and could include tempo workouts rather than slow steady state cardio. Breathing work and mobility work are still done daily.
During this block, I’d probably introduce some power work. As it takes time to develop good landing mechanics, most of the actual power work being done would be with med ball throws. Depending on the length of the block, jumps could be added later.
The block ends when this person can demonstrate efficiency in the developmental exercises and no longer has a hard time recovering from 3 strength sessions per week.
Block 3
Here, the emphasis shifts squarely onto hypertrophy. The classic big lifts or close variations are introduced, and volume is increased – either by adding a 4th day of strength training or adding sets and reps to the 3 day template. Things start to look a lot like a classic hypertrophy template. Lots of sub maximal work on the big lifts and lifts meant to build muscle and provide balance. Pretty much any progression model or kind of periodization will work fine here as long as it’s not totally stupid. That said, I probably wouldn’t have them doing too many sets above 85% of their max.
Aerobic work is done 1-3 times per week for maintenance. Power work is done on every lifting day, and can include a variety of jumps and throws. Mobility and breathing work is done daily.
The volume of food is increased as necessary to fuel growth.
I guess that’s it. It’s almost impossible to put a set amount of time on each block, but I’d guess that for most people, Blocks 1 and 2 would last between 1 and 3 months long each. Block 3 could last as long as necessary. Eventually, the protege might want to branch off and either focus on their conditioning or on maximal strength. In either case, the specifics of the plan would change but the overall structure would stay the same. That said, I’d advise them not to focus on either of these goals before spending a solid 18 to 24 months focusing on hypertrophy and sub maximal lifting and conditioning.
The sports suggestion is absolutely fantastic. If you take a look over my answer to this question, I set up my first training block (and components of the second training block) to achieve many of the adaptations that would happen naturally for someone who plays sports. My only worry about suggesting sports to an “average” adult would be that they’re so deconditioned and so locked up that they’d end up hurting themselves before actually making those positive adaptations.
Interestingly, if you look at some of the novice programs put out by Russian strength coaches, they include a ton of general activity and some (Sheiko comes to mind) even program in sports and games. Like, their program will literally say: Bench 3x10, chin ups 3x5, Sports for 30 minutes. Contrast that with most American novice strength programs where the goal is to do as few movements as possible while stacking on as much weight as quickly as possible, and the difference is startling.
Anyway, got off on a tangent there. Just wanted to say that I thought your answer was awesome.
Im just going to write this up in small parts
To start I wasn’t allowed allowed by my wife to start until he was over 13 by my wife. With the promise I would NOT have him lift too Heavy. She felt the need to take it up with the Pediatrician first as if I would do anything to compromise the well being of my son. I could see her concern if I was just some over zeolite dad whom had no clue.
To Start with I was lucky because I was dealing with a Kid whom had ran the gambit of youth sports since the age of 6 Football, wrestling and Baseball. Note we had him active because he had been diagnosed being border line asthmatic at a young age. So it was are way of managing it by keeping him physically active. Added to that before i was given the OK by the wife to put him under the bar I had him doing basic Body weight exercises.
Lifting wise… Keeped it as Basic as hell starting out !! Saw no reason too over complicate it at all felt it was completely unnecessary. Starting him out my main goal was just getting his form down on the main core lifts. Which wasn’t hard since all the sports had helped him develop good body awareness. Main exercise selection was kept simple… Box squat shortly after without…Bench…OHP…and Trap Bar deads along with some secondary stuff Dips, pull ups and a few others I cant think of off the top of my head. Note: Did not use cleans during this period… I have a love hate relationship with them. The main goal during this time was just getting his form down because at the time my concern was that he would be taught good form before going into the High School weight program.
Pretty much had him lift 3 x a week set up similar too Starting Strength … Ran a 5 x 5 with a twist .
First I didnt increase weight every session unless I felt his form was solid also on the finale set of 5 in some cases I would sorta turn it into a AMRAP set , understand I would stop the set if the form started breaking down. Or I would simply just keep having him do sets of 5. After the core lifts I would just have him do the secondary stuff wasn’t always written in stone the rep and sets…I felt the set was need for a little extra volume… was it right or wrong who could say at the time.
Diet wise didnt do anything just made sure he ate healthy.
In closing on my end the main focus was just working on form since I was under restraint from my wife along with just making sure he had grasp on how to preform the basic movements when he entered his first year of High school.
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You sounds like a great father.