Keeping in mind I am talking about a 14 year olds workout. His leg exercises are going to be squats, cleans, lunges and calf raises at this time. Not sure if there is enough hamstring exercises in there? Do you think I should add some to help increase speed, strength and balance? Found this site and wondered what you all thought. I don’t have the equipment for 6 and don’t care for number 7 for a 14 year old IMHO.
Thanks for any thoughts.
H the calf raises i wouldn’t agree with.you can adjust stances of the squat to target different areas and PC’s are a good overall exerrcise.are you familiar with glut ham raises etc
The lunge will work the glute/ham intersection.
How about reverse leg press, or the glute-ham raises mentioned in the previous post?
The GPP DVD has some good demonstrations of this type of work.
How about the RDL or SLDL? Or am I missing something?
Depending on the physical development of the kid there are many different options. I’d personally start with activation exercises such as butt bridges, ab/adduction, etc. You can advance the butt bridges from two legs to one leg. Also you can do Bridging supine with your heels on a swiss ball (iso holding first, then for reps). Once the can hold that position you can progress them to a hamstring curl by curling the ball to the butt and back. Then Iso Back Extensions are great for thee entire back side. Also Reverse hypers would be great for hip extension (which is what you are really after I believe). Glute Hams are great too but it really depends on natural strength and activation levels. The later exercises are more what you are looking for but the former will get you there safely.
Oops, I forgot to post the link.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459279
Thanks for the replies. Would you all agree that working the hamstrings on top of what I have stated is a good idea? It seems to me I wouldn’t want to work one side of the leg (quads) and not the other. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Curt
As you can see in my initial post, I am not big on dead lifts. He is 14 and I feel that may not be the best option. I would like take it slow with him. He is not a big 14 year old and is just starting out.
thanks.
Not familiar with glut ham raises. Hope to get this kid faster by next year.
I think you thought you said something about deads but you didn’t type it.
I can’t believe in the t-mag article SLDL or RDL’s weren’t mentioned. Even regular deadlifts are good for the hams.
If you only do the exercises mentioned at the beginning, you may overdevelop his quads compared to hams. SDL/RDL could even it out.
Make sure the squats and lunges are deep (to recruit hams and glutes). I assume by cleans you mean power cleans.
edit - ‘Thanks for the replies. Would you all agree that working the hamstrings on top of what I have stated is a good idea? It seems to me I wouldn’t want to work one side of the leg (quads) and not the other. Please correct me if I am wrong.’
I missed that bit.
If you only do the exercises mentioned at the beginning, you may overdevelop his quads compared to hams. SDL/RDL could even it out.
Make sure the squats and lunges are deep (to recruit hams and glutes). I assume by cleans you mean power cleans.
You are correct, I didn’t type it. What do you think of the t-mag exercises?
Oops, yes glut ham raises are in the article. Sounds like you recommend them. That is something we can do in my home gym.
Thanks
Everything sounds good. Just make sure that you are developing him into an athlete. This means training him to be good in movements that relate to life/sports also. By doing this he’ll get better at being an athlete, which in turn will make him faster and also better over the long hall, not just the best 15 year old. I see kids/parents screw that up all the time. Weight training is only a portion of their athletic and speed development, if it becomes too much the speed and athleticism will actually decrease.
Best of Luck.
Thanks for everyone’s help. He is in the middle of football season and I am just trying to get him a good base until the off-season.
curt,at this age i would start to introduce weights but i would use high reps et low weight but i would also use plyrometrics more than weights or bodyweight lifts/exercises.
also don’t forget that med ball work is great for explosive vs strenght.*****just make sure you are teaching the athlete to run mechanically good
my advice here is to look at the greats run
The reps will be high of course. I want to develop a good base.
You say watch the greats run. I watched a few videos and really have trouble telling what they are doing different. If there is a good instructional video that shows good start to finish at a slow and detailed pace, that would probably work best. The videos that people mention that are on this site… where are they? I don’t see where they can be purchased? Must be right in front of me, but that is my blind spot. Please post link or give me a hint or something.
Curt
Go to the store of this site -from home page.
GPP DVD has what you want (slow mo running analysis)
Hope it helps!
Go tothe home page and press the linkto the store. The GPP DVD will get you started- especially for the kind of hamstring exercises that are the most helpful to sprinting.
Thanks. I found this site via a search for something and I never really visited the home page, just the forum section. Didn’t even notice it before.