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Reply to "Puberty and working out"

@HSDad22 posted:

both my boys started weight training around 13/14 yo.  both are late bloomers and late to puberty but have made huge strides in strength and stability, huge for better baseball.  Everything gets better with strength:  speed, coordination, athleticism, etc.   My oldest learned with more strength comes better stability and better body control, leading to more strikes not just velocity.

Some key notes from our experience.  They did work with a Trainer from Wasserman.

1. Eat, eat eat.  but pay attention to what you eat.  No I'm not saying lean only, that not as important early on (didn't say it was not) but eat dense.  Most kids have problems eating tons of food on their small stomachs, so make sure what you eat is loaded with calories without having to eat a ton of it.  Forcing food down can be a put off to eating more.  I do agree with Peanut Butter added to shakes etc.  Right amount of fat and protein to go along with calories.  Whole Milk, not lowfat, etc.

(the myfitness pal is a good suggestion, allows you to just scan the barcode on the package and help track what you are eating, you have to track food intake if you are serious about gaining size and weight, you can't gain lean body mass without a surplus and in order to determine how much, you need to figure out what keeps and sustains your current weight and then go more)

1. Muscle growth (bodybuilding) is not always possible nor the goal at 14 (it's different for everyone) but strength and development of type 2 fibers is possible.  Finding a weight that works for the exercise and then work to failure, then increase reps to failure vs always increasing weight at same number of reps is preferred.  Increase weight when failure becomes to hard to reach.  Explosive movements and eccentrics to build an athlete.

2. The power lifts are fine, deadlifts, etc.  I preferred them to stay away from back squats until they had core strength.  Make sure to start with strengthening the stabilizers and muscles that are typically dormant (anterior ceratus) etc. to work on the things that cause potential mobility and mechanical issues with baseball movements first.

3. During growth spurts kids are prone to Seavers and Osgood-Schlatters (heel and knee) where the bone is lengthening and ligaments are stretching, so they should back off during those times.  Mostly just to manage through the pain and not prolong it.

4. When doing pulling exercises (lat pulls, etc)  make sure you hold the bar with whole hand, not let it get into the fingers.  Tendons that control the fingers go right through the elbow and issues can result by putting too much load on them.  big issue for throwing and hitting.

5.  The best part of weight training at that age is first developing an enjoyment of it and second learning the right techniques for making it a lifelong part of your athletic and other journey.  If you have to keep reminding your kid to do it, back off, set up a schedule with them and then leave it up to them to follow it (being a workout partner is good, just don't over coach).  It's okay to remind once in a while, with something like... "were you able to get in your lift today?"  but don't be a nag and don't make it about them being not good or lazy if they didn't get to it.

6. Find a program and have a plan, playing it by ear ends up being a lot of work for little gain.  Just doing something is better than doing nothing, although that sounds logical, it doesn't really work out.

Solid post! A trainer/nutritionist told me this week about using the powdered peanut butter in shakes. It blends easier and it is also easier to find healthier options this way compared to Jif and Skippy.

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