Let Them “Play” Gym

A lot of over-zealous fitness bro-dads want to get their kiddos started on a progressive strength-training program as soon as they can air squat with good form. I’ve seen dads boast online that they have their five-year-olds doing Starting Strength.

While you might be chomping at the bit to get your kids going with a structured weight-training program so that they can turn into little beasts, for the sake of the long-term fitness of your children, hold off on it.

For starters, prepubescent children just don’t have the adaptive capacity to keep up with progressive, incremental weight increases with a barbell training program. That ability won’t kick in until they hit puberty.

Second, and more importantly, your kid has the rest of his or her life to train. Setting them up with a regimented program when they’re six years old is just setting them up to burn out on exercise by the time they’re in their 20s.

So if you shouldn’t train your kids when they’re young, what should you be doing with them? Coach Mark Rippetoe sums it up nicely in his usual Rippetoe-ian way: “I don’t personally believe in the ‘training’ of children. Time enough for that sh*t later. Let them play. Please.”

Instead of training your kids in the gym, let them play in it (under your supervision, of course).

If your youngsters tell you they want to try some of the same exercises that you’re doing, by all means let them. If they want to do a barbell squat or deadlift or power clean, show them how to do it with proper technique. (If they’re really young, consider getting them a small barbell that they can manage. Rogue makes a good one.) If they want to do wind sprints with you, have them tag along. Swing a kettlebell? Get a light one for them.

Let your kids do any and all exercises they want to do. Just keep things light, fun, and unstructured. The goal when your kids are young is to make fitness enjoyable.

One of the benefits of having a garage gym is that it makes “playing” gym with your kids a lot easier. When I’m outside with the kiddos watching them zoom around on their big wheels, they’ll often want to take a break from that to go “work out” in the garage. They’ll both take turns doing pull-ups in my power rack. Scout likes deadlifting a small kettlebell. Gus likes doing bench presses with a 10-pound bumper plate and is working on his deadlift with a lady’s bar.

I just let them do whatever they want and provide instruction on how to do the lifts safely and correctly. They’ll have fun playing gym for a few minutes and then they’re back to doing power slides on their trikes.

Am I looking forward to training them? Absolutely. But right now, I’m having a blast just watching them have fun in the gym. And I can take satisfaction in the fact that I’m helping them develop a positive attitude towards fitness. When they’re actually ready to train, they’ll know how to do the lifts, but more importantly, they’ll see exercise as a joy and not a slog.

...[ Continue to next page ]

Share This Post