my little sister is running track this year for the 1st time.
SHe is 11 and is participating in the shot put, discus and 100m.
I would like to train her but my experience is with athletes, well trained…never worked with kids before and my training is way too tough.
any pointers?
thanks
Keep volumes and distances low (no speed work over 150m) and concentrate on drills and general fitness.
In addition… Instead of lifting weights bodyweight exercises in a circuit fashion should be sufficent. Pushups, Crunches, Dips, Burpees etc. Also focus on alot of core and hip mobilty work.
I agree, though dipd might be a bit too much at this age
Great question! What about extensive tempo running?Any guidelines to follow as far as intensity and volume go? If youngsters can make great gains with improvements in
general fitness, how would speed training( 0-30, ins and outs ) be incorporated into the training plan?
Read the CFTS. Dealing with family members can be a pain in the ass because you have to separate your personal feelings at times. And read Speed Trap as well.
Sorry I didnt clarify. I meant dips like off the side of a bench. Dont sure what exactly those kind of dips are called.
Bench Dips
Those should be ok
What about competion at this age? My daughter is 8 and did great at the 55m and the LJ this indoors. But, against the same kids in the 200 she finished waaaaay behind them. Should I keep her out of the 200 for the next couple of years?
I wouldn’t, what is her overall level of fitness like?
IMHO do as many events (including field) as possible till at least 13 and play winter sports in the off season.
This is a routine I wrote for a girl of similar age without a lot of equipment.
I’d focus on body control first of all. Set several short term strength goals. For a girl that age I’d like to see her be able to do one full range pullup, one full range dip, 25 v-ups with perfect form, 10 janda situps, 1 full range single leg squat, and be able to hold herself near the top of a manual glute ham raise for 10 seconds. Once she gets these goals knocked out then introduce the weights. This will get her stronger a lot faster. Here’s how I’d go about introducing it:
For each one of those goals above you’ll have a progression of exercises.
Once she is able to complete one progression she then moves on to the next.
Train the whole body 3 x per week and hit everything…even 2 x per week will be plenty to get her moving in the right direction. Here’s how the progressions would go. On some of these you can mix and match different stuff at different times and of course you can supplement with weights. For example, you can also have her do bodyweight bulgarian split squats at any time or bodyweight squats at any time or pushups at any time etc. but this is about as simple as you can make things and hardly any equipment is required.Pullup progression
- Supine row - feet on floor - x 20
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/WTSupineRow.html- Iso chin x 10 seconds top, 10 seconds midpoint, 10 seconds just short of lockout *** When she can do this she’ll be able to do at least one pullup 3. Negative accentuated pullup x 4 seconds eccentric + partner assisted concentric (have her lower herself all the way down on a 4 count and help her back to the top) x 5 reps (start holding her from the waist, then progress to the feet, then one leg - when she can complete 5 reps with you only assisting by grabbing onto one leg she can probably knock out 5 full range pullups when fresh)
Ok, so basically what this progression means is you have her start off doing supine rows with her feet on the floor. When she can complete 20 of those move her onto iso pullups where she holds the top position for 10 seconds, then immediately descends down and holds the midpoint for 10 seconds, then near the bottom for 10 seconds. When she can do that with 10 second holds at each position move her onto negative accentuated full range pullups etc.
Dip Progression
- Iso pushup between low benches, feet on floor (not on knees) x 10 second hold
- Regular pushup x 20
- Iso Dip x 10 seconds top x 10 seconds midpoint *** When she can do this she’ll be able to complete at least one full range dip.
- Negative accentuated dip x 4 second lowering, partner assisted raising x
5 repsAbs progression
1A. Chinnees (sprinters situp) x 30 in 30 seconds (raise the torso while lifting one knee up)
1B. Cross bench situp x 10 (drape her legs over a bench and have her pull herself up as far as possible engaging the hamstrings)
Single Leg Squat “pistol” progression
- Bodyweight squats (butt to calf arms folded in front) x 50
2a Peterseon stepup x 20 (3 second eccentric) 2b.Ski squats (wall sits) - x 5 positions 10 seconds each (sit on a wall and descend to a 1/4 squat, hold for 10 seconds, to a 2/3 squat, hold for 10 seconds, to a 1/2 squat, hold for 10 seconds, to a deep squat, hold for 10 seconds, to a ATG squat, hold for 10 seconds. Start off at 10 seconds and work up to 20 seconds per position.
3a. Bulgarian bodyweight split squat x 10 (3 second eccentric, 2 second pause at the bottom of each rep) 3B. Single leg ski squats x 5 positions x 10 seconds each 4a. Single leg pistol off sittign onto box, using something to hold onto for balance x 8-10 5. Sl squat on box, free standing x 5 6. SL free standing pistol x 1Glute Ham progression
- Wall pawdown x 2 legs x 20 (have her lie on her back next to a wall.
place the feet against the wall and “pawdown”, contracting the hamstrings and elevating the hips.- Single leg wall pawdown x 20
- Iso glute ham top position x 10 seconds 4. Eccentric glute ham x 5 (lower under control and assist on the
concnetric)You don’t need a lot of volume per workout or per exercise although training in this fashion one can handle quite a bit. Initially the gains are all neural so “learning” is the most important factor. 1-2 sets per progression per workout will be enough. Go ahead and feel free to “supplement” with other stuff to such as :
Push-ups, reverse 45 degree lying leg raises (garhammer raises), Back raises, Lunges, Bench presses, overhead squats, Pulldowns, light barbell squats, Hanstand wall supports, Step-ups, Dynamic flexibility movements, agility movements, sprints
etc.
I would warm her up each time having her do some footwork drills such as an agility ladder. Each workout have her do one easy plyo movement such as 4
star hops etc. Incorporate some over a full range of motion, such as lunge
jumps and squat hops.When she can complete the aforementioned goals, then we’d move her onto
barbell focused movements and more advanced control exercises.
Would you let her do it or not???
She looks very lean and fit. She can complete her workouts with out any problems. But her batties run out at 100m when racing the 200m. I might put her in the throws and HJ if she wants to. She does a mix of dance/gymnastics as well all year.
Thanks for the advice.
How old was she? It seems general enough to where a beginner can do it.
Just focus on technique and let them enjoy themselves. You want them to develop a passion for the sport not end up hating it! Everything changes during teens so don’t worry to much until then.
I would make her do it 
I don’t know how it operates there but here with childrens athletics which is up to age 14, we have a meet each Sat morning at which they do 4 (sometimes 5) events, usually 2 track and 2 field and they are very actively encouraged to compete in all. We run a similar thing on our club night but usually 3 events and at least 1 field one.
9 and under the max distance is 200m and no high jump.
10+ they run up to 1500m and start HJ.
Our 1st practice (for her) was Monday
we are going on Mon-Wed-Fri every week
I had her jog a 400m for her warm up
I had her do 6-15-20m walking lunges
3 sets 10 push ups, i rolled a 3kg medicine ball to her and i had her step and throw it to me (we did this 10-15 reps) we also did some power skips (power used loosely)
I also had her do bodyweight squats…it was funny when her little legs started trembling and she felt the burn
lmao
cooled down with stretching