training routine

I honestly have to say I am not sure why a 14 year old needs a daily workout routine let alone a training coach. 

JMO

He should be a kid and do other things.

Play pick up basketball to take the place of jump rope and some running.

Play two hand touch football to take the place of situps (avoiding touches will give you an ab workout) and some running.

Have him do some chores where he's got to life something heavy to replace pushups and situps.  I used to cut firewood and stack it for my work out.

Those things aren't bad to do and will help.  If he struggles to complete the workout then he needs to scale back or if he's finishing that with no problem then add to it.  But he's a kid - let him be a kid.  You can take the money spent on the trainer and take him and a couple of his buddies to see a movie after games at a tournament. 

I agree with all of the above. To be quite frank I don't know why the above routine is worth any sort of payment- that is an extremely basic exercise regimen.

Also, stay away from any distance running for baseball. A mile run will have no benefit whatsoever on a baseball player's stamina, explosiveness or strength.

I would drop the mile run and perform some basic speed drills (start, 10yrd, 20 yrd, 40 yrd) and then baseball specific running (batters box start towards first, stealing 2nd, turn and burn for fly balls) to work on 1st step quickness and crossover moves.  I would also add planks and/or supermans for core work, lunges (plain, walking, and twist), along with a decent dynamic warmup

Here's my son's year round workout routine when he was fourteen ...

Played baseball in the spring, summer and fall. Water skied and swam a lot in August. Attended a basketball and soccer camp in the summer. Caddied and made money when he had time. Pllayed soccer in the fall. Played basketball in the winter. 

When my son got to high school he got involved in serious training. He's 6'2", 195 after soph year of college. I didn't see where training as a 14yo was going to result in much considering there was a lot more growing and filling out for his body in the future.

My son is 14 his HS hitting coach gave him a daily workout as follows:

Dry Swings working on specific things for him

Plus:

1 Minute Finger Tip Pushups

1 Minute Sit Ups

500 Jump Ropes

1 Minute Hand Grips

1 Minute Wrist Rolls

He does it every day and it does not take long.

I agree with sowilson's take on the routine.  The mile run is useless; trains the wrong energy system.  During the season, I'd be more focused on throwing, hitting, and armcare.

What I can't understand is the antipathy stated in this thread toward a 14 y/o  undertaking a training regimen. If someone can explain to me why increased speed, strength, and size are not beneficial to a teenage player, I'm happy to listen.

It's not that anybody (well at least I'm not) is against him getting faster, stronger and bigger but that it can lead to many negative things if not careful.  I've seen more kids get burned out because they were told to do this rather than be a kid.  By the time they are seniors they are done and are going through the motions.  So what good was it to do all that work when younger just to have it lose all the momentum in what is the last year?

If a kid truly has that desire and drive then he will probably do this on his own or seek out the knowledge from others on his own.  But the vast majority if the time it's the parent's idea to do this and the kid goes along with it and gets burned out.  What's worse is the parents who for some reason convince themselves it was their kids choice when it wasn't.

Just be a kid and be active will help him become bigger, faster and stronger naturally.  Playing other sports, doing something fun like water skiing (RJM's kid) and things like that give a kid the workout they need without them knowing it.

I agree with Coach. I've never heard of a pre high school kid asking for a training regiment. A fourteen year old still has very open growth plates and typically a lot of growing to do.

Kids get enough regiment and physical training in high school sports. My son was 5'4" when baseball started in 8th grade in March. He was 5'11" when fall ball ended the end of October. Just adapting to his growth was enough. I wasn't going to have him messing with rapidly changing growth plates with physical training. 

Woahhh, I've been told a hundred thousand million gazillion times that "Long Distance running increases stamina, which helps pitchers go deeper into games." So all this time I've been focusing on increasing stamina doing long distance running it was for nothing? I also focus on long tossing, arm excercises (jaeger bands), and lifting weights, but long distance running was also a big focus of mine?  Should I change this now?  I do feel some positives from it though, it seems like I am never short of breath, which is a good thing I guess. 

Every single movement in baseball is an anaerobic movement that involves full energy and max effort of fast-twitch muscles for short bursts of time. Long distance running does the exact opposite of that.

I would highly recommend not long distance running for baseball at all, ever. High intensity interval training and progressive sprint work is much more beneficial for the athletic movements required to excel in the game.

I have played for several coaches in the past who have instituted long distance runs as part of a training regimen. I've always scratched my head as to why these coaches were asking my teammates and me to do something that would hinder our capabilities to excel in the sport.

Those people that told you that long distance running increases stamina are very wrong. Baseball (and especially pitching, as you noted) is a series of extreme intensity sprints. You don't need aerobic stamina to be explosive. So yes, my recommendation would be to stop long distance running altogether.

While true, I find the biggest obstacle to kids being active on their own is xbox.  With the "live" feature they don't even have to get off the couch to talk to their friends.  Unfortunately the feed off each other and get fatter and stupider by the minute. 

Can you describe the training program?

OP stated:

10 pushups (3 times a day)

20 situps (3 times a day)

1 mile run

20 minutes of jump rope

hitting in cages

What are your thoughts on this daily workout? Should he being doing more or less?

I think the bigger Q is why would anyone pay someone who only requires those basic exercises that even rumplstiskins would know and understand; waste of $$ if you ask me.

I would be interested to know what the program is as well.  For a short time I allowed my kid to go with his friends to a trainer because he was invited and wanted to go.

I found it was very random.  One week they would flip tires and do rope work and the next week they would jog around the building etc...

There did  not appear to be a plan for improvment over time.  He enjoyed working out with his friends but as for a benefit over a simple routine he could do at home (if he chose to) there was not.  It was a great way for the trainer to make some cash though.

I don't see a problem with it as long as it is done safely and with the kid actually wanting to do it. 

I found the best thing for my kid was his off season participation in Basketball, really gets a lot out of that and has a great time.

He did a combination of three types of weight work as well as core and explosive jumping. He did his workouts with a neighbor that has a significant amount of experience training his own kids(both his son and daughter played college football and field hockey) as well as others.

 The routine's were made up focusing three types of weight work. Pushing exercises, Pulling exercises and legs. I do not know the actual lifts but the program was designed more for overall strength vs "getting ripped". He was not big on Bench pressing. For legs he did squats, leg press deadlifts etc. He also incorporated body weight work like push ups sit ups pull ups rope climbs etc. When son started he could not do a single pull up. After a year or so he could do 20 pull ups hanging off the front end of a dug out. It gave him a tremendous amount of confidence. Sorry I dont have the exact routine (as it  would change each week to keep his body guessing). He really got after it on his own with the trainer.  I think what was great about his routine was the combination of Pushing Pulling  and legs/core alot of different routines to keep the muscles confused and give them a chance to rest instead of the same routine each time out. This made him stronger overall vs just one area. Much of his weight gain and strength was in the trunk /core area as opposed to being a bulky looking weight lifter.

Hope that helps.

BBoy; sounds to me like you had a great trainer and your son really got a lot out of it.

Thanks for sharing; sounds like the guys we were going to were just not great.

I was very interested in this thread as my son enters HS, your posts have been very helpful, thanks.

I also have a 14 yr old rising freshman who wants to be bigger stronger faster and I see no reason why he should not be doing some sort of workout. He is a big kid though at 6-1 175 and is making a weak attemp at growing a beard so he developed quicker than alot of kids his age. I can't afford a trainer and probably would not take him to one at this point anyway, but I do give him some ideas on stuff to do, take him to the gym with me(core only, no weights), and gently nudge him when he needs it.  I told him I spend way too much money hauling him around and paying for lessons and hotels and stuff for him not to be putting something into it on his own.  So yesterday I asked him what he did and he had hacked the weeds in my garden with a mattock, ran some hills, and jumped rope.  It is dumping rain today so I hope that he will do some planks or something while he's watching TV.  If not and he goes a couple days without doing much physical like swimming or playing basketball then I will make a comment about how I bet there is another ss out there who broke a sweat today and that usually gets him going again. 

To answer the original question, I am no trainer but to do the pushups and situps daily seems a little boring and leaves alot of stuff out that needs work.  Plus I would think those muscles need a break.  I would mix in some planks, burpees, lunges, squats, mountain climbers and such.  And run up and down the stairs in the hotel instead of a mile.  My last 2 cents would be that if the kid is just not into it for whatever reason, maybe being tired physically or mentally from the traveling and games, then let him decide if he wants to do some work or go play in the pool.