My teenage sons joined my gym

Iseulte

They want to strength train with me but I want to make sure I don't give them advice that will be detrimental while they are still growing. They are 14 and 16. Can anyone recommend a book that can help me guide them into safe weight routines for their age?

OGingerBeardMan

I loved The New Rules of Lifting. Gives good foundation information, it helps teach good technique (though I'd still recommend having a personal trainer help initially just to make sure form is good), and has a good variety of lifts.

JohnnytotheB

It's not a book, but a website. Athleanx.com has a number of vides, etc for free about lifting, technique and the science behind a lot of it.

MikePTY

I would try to get them a couple of personal training sessions, ideally by a trainer who has experience working with teens, to show them how to safely use the equipment and develop a routine.

Other than that, they can pretty much lift as normal. There is a myth that weight lifting can stunt growth but that's never been shown to be true so you won't have to worry about anything like that. Just that they take it safe and seriously enough to avoid injury like anyone else would. I lifted in my teens including max lifting when I was 16-17 and had no issues.

TonyB0588

My son is 17 and has been lifting at home and school for the past three years. Seems safe enough.

mreichard

I'd just make sure that they are being safe --- spotting each other for bench press, not doing weights on squats or deadlifts that they aren't ready for. Also, not doing exercises with bad form just so that they can put more weight on the bar.

flowerhorsey

This will sound horrible but I would join a different gym 😂

GiddyupTim

Well, of course, Rippetoe's Starting Strength book is an established bible of sorts.
I don't think there is anything special with teenage boys, beyond making sure they attend to proper form and do exercises beyond the bench press and curls.
Younger males tend to want to look good in the mirror. They sometimes assume that if a muscular chest looks attractive they can just hit the bench press really hard, to the exclusion of all else. Not realizing that the chest doesn't look good unless it is balanced by a strong back and good posture -- and nothing looks good on top of toothpick legs.
Young guys have a lot of testosterone and they can build muscle FAST! I don't know how many guys I have seen who join the football team and start lifting weights and want to show off how much they can bench, or how many pull-ups they can do, and that is all they do, and they rapidly develop an extremely unbalanced physique.
Stress that they follow the rule of balancing pull exercises with their opposing push exercises.
You're going to do fine. You're asking questions. You're trying to learn. As you know, that's all any of us do as we go along. And, if we keep our minds open, we learn more and more as we go along.
(PS I think it is really fun to go to the gym with my boys!)

NCK96

My 17 year old son and I have been lifting together for a few months in our home, and it’s probably time for us to move it to a gym, especially for the squat rack. We’ve watched a ton of technique videos online and consulted several books, like my old copy of Body For Life and my New Rules Of Lifting For Women. I’ve considered a session or more with a personal trainer for tips and help with form. As much as I enjoy the time with him I do have to admit I’ll be a little glad when he goes off to college and I can go back to working out by myself. He’s usually very quiet but starts asking me a million questions when I’m out of breath and I’ve had to point out that he can’t wander off when I’m bench pressing.

DanSanthomes

flowerhorsey wrote: »

This will sound horrible but I would join a different gym 😂

Why? Sorry, confused...

hesn92

The community center where I live offers a training session for teens to show them how to use equipment and how to do certain exercises etc. In fact I believe anyone under a certain age is required to go through this training before using any of the strength equipment. I would see if your gym has something like that.

Hulkfan1

I would focus on form and form and more form... so that they learn the correct movements and for safety purposes I would advise having them perform mainly machine or cable exercises. My sons run from 26 to 15 and that is the way I started them all.

MostlyWater

I think that's cute. DD was a member of Lucille Roberts when I was a member & I had hopes of us having fun together there. It didn't happen.