Beginner Strength Training Workout for Kids

Does your child or teen want to build strength and stamina? Pediatricians and youth fitness trainers say it is safe and beneficial to introduce young people to supervised, progressive weight training. Keep reading for the benefits and how to build a strength-training program for kids.

Benefits of Strength Training for Kids

Resistance exercise during strength training builds muscle strength and stamina to increase lean body mass and improve metabolic rate. This is especially beneficial for children who are overweight. Strength training regularly is good for heart health, cholesterol levels, and building strong bones.

Strength training for kids also helps to reduce injuries. It can help improve sports performance, but even more importantly it builds a fitness habit that can serve your child well throughout their life.

Optimal Age to Begin Strength Training

Weight training is appropriate once a child can maintain balance and postural control and can listen to and follow directions. This is usually around age 7 or 8 but it depends on your child's maturity level.

Although children under 10 years may develop strength from training with weights, adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 15 are usually the group most interested. Your child should also be eager to train and be prepared to train multiple times per week.

Strength training for kids is not weightlifting, powerlifting, or bodybuilding in their purest forms, which are aimed at competition. These distinctions should be clear to parents, trainers, and children.

Strength Training Preparation

Before a young teen starts a formal weight training program, an evaluation by a pediatrician (perhaps at their yearly wellness visit) or sports medicine doctor is recommended. There are a few conditions where weight training is not recommended, including for children with uncontrolled high blood pressure, seizure disorders, or those who have undergone chemotherapy for childhood cancers.

A qualified personal trainer with experience training teens should supervise participants at all times, especially for groups likely to lose concentration. A suggested instructor-to-child ratio should be 1 to 10 (or fewer). It might be best to start with one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer or coach if your budget permits. This ensures that the child is properly performing the strength-training exercises, however, many children and teens begin working out with a qualified coach or sports team.

Good form and progression of loads over time are essential for any novice weight trainer, but especially with developing and immature bodies. Always be aware of safety requirements including proper technique and appropriate weight selection.

Competition between friends or other children in the training group can lead to the selection of a weight that is too heavy or using poor technique that could lead to injury.

When choosing a place to work out, look for a well-equipped gym with adjustable equipment for the light loads required for adolescents, who are less robust than adults. If a gym isn't an option, light dumbbells or bodyweight exercises can be substituted for machine equipment and barbells.

Workout Components for Kids

Given that good form and lifting techniques are essential, exercise type, weight selection, repetitions, and sets are the main variables to choose from. Here is an example walk-through using a dumbbell curl as an exercise example:

• Fuel up: Ensure the child has eaten and has enough fluid prior to the exercise session, preferably with carbohydrates.
• Start with a warm-up: This could include a jog or run on the spot, mild stretches, and some simulation of the exercise with very light weights or just body weight.
• Demonstrate correct form and technique: For example, for a dumbbell curl, the weight should be light enough so that other body parts are not brought into the movement in order to lift the weight. Jerking the head and torso backward with the lift is a sign the weight is too heavy. Even if this occurs at the top of the repetition range—number 12 for example—the weight is probably too heavy.
• Pick weights accordingly: Choose a weight that allows at least 12 repetitions and preferably 15. This ensures the weight is light enough not to place too much stress on joints and the developing cartilage and bone, which is one of the potential risk areas for strength training for kids.
• Establish sets and number of exercises: Two sets for each exercise is probably enough for younger children, and it should minimize boredom. Aim for six to 10 exercises depending on age, fitness, and maturity. Exercise number and weights can be increased gradually as children get older or stronger.
• Supervise: Parents should take responsibility for learning a few weight-training basics so they understand what’s appropriate.
• Cool down: This includes stretches and mild calisthenics.
• Set a weekly plan: Two sessions each week is sufficient—three at most. Children and adolescents should have at least one day in between sessions to ensure recovery from muscle soreness.
• Make the workout fun: That might mean incorporating music into the sessions. Boredom comes quickly to younger children and can produce careless behavior.

Basic Strength Training Program for Kids

Below is a typical gym weight-training workout suitable for adolescents in the 12- to 15-year-old age group, and for both girls and boys.

Warm-up

This should be 10–15 minutes in length to get the blood circulating into the muscles, preparing them for the strain they will be under during the workout. Warm-up with aerobic activity for 10–15 minutes, followed by a few form lifts with no weight load before each loaded exercise.

This warm-up will help the body and mind to become acquainted with the proper form of each exercise, which is critical for safety and effectiveness.

Exercises

All exercises are performed in 2 sets and 10 repetitions.

1. Barbell squats
2. Incline dumbbell press
3. Seated cable row
4. Dumbbell arm curl
5. Cable triceps pushdown
6. Barbell deadlift
7. Standard crunch
8. Barbell, dumbbell or EZ bar bent-over row
9. Cable pulldown

Cooldown

A cooldown with light stretching, 5 to 10 minutes is also recommended.

Schedule

Train two to three times per week. The workout should last 20 to 30 minutes.

Progression

For adults, it is recommended to increase the weight by no more than 10% per week, but children should add weight even slower. Coach your child to use a gradual progression, which can also be done by increasing the number of sets or exercises per set.