Advice for teenager starting in the gym

xckjoo

Hey guys,


My kid is interested in starting to go to the gym so I'm looking for some advice on how to start him off. He has dyspraxia and isn't very active so co-ordination and muscle strength isn't the best. My rough plan is to start him off with some circuit work and start adding in some weights over time.

Would something like the reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/ beginners program be a good fit? I'm a bit worried it might need too much co-ordination for this stage of his development. I could go more traditional with squats, bench and deadlift, but the also required decent level of co-ordination. There's always the machines, but then he won't get the chance to develop the skills.



Has anyone gone through a similar experience? Is there anything I should watch out for or avoid? Thanks for the help. At a bit of a loss as to what to do :pac:

Jay Pentatonic

A personal trainer would be advisable. Tell the PT about his Dyspraxia & that he's not very active. If the PT is a good one he'll know what to do. He'll tailor a PT program for him & help him out. I wouldn't go to a gym & wing it without professional help at the very start.

antix80

Circuits can be difficult because there's a lot to remember.. HIIT can also be stressful to many people and IMO you shouldn't really do circuits more than once a week. Maybe others will argue differently but that's my experience. A HIIT class once a week can be a nice social thing.
Cardio machines (crosstrainer, threadmill, bike) can improve fitness too. Squats, bench and deadlift really are the best to get down ASAP.

I'd second the advice to go to a personal trainer to get a program done up and to learn the big lifts. The machines that target one muscle are best avoided initially.

silverharp

Some places run teen fit classes, basically an introduction to the gym. If you could find something like that it would be a supervised intro. Alot of gyms are over 18's these days but maybe something based in a leisure centre might be more likely to run them

xckjoo

Hadn't thought of a PT. Might be a step to far in terms of cost at the moment though. And resources for teens seem to be thin on the ground where I am. I think he's feeling a little self-conscious about his current ability so classes might not work at the moment. I'm also worried he'll get the same level of self-consciousness in the gym if everyone else is moving a lot bigger weights than him, so a PT might be ideal. I'll keep my eyes open for one.



Any thoughts on stuff I could do with him for now? He's going to have to get into the mindset of exercising if he's going to keep it up so I'd like to get him moving now that he's finally shown an interest in doing something.

silverharp

if you mean at home get some dumbbells and look up youtube for different compound exercises

antix80

I think it's important for him to make the decision to get down to the gym, or a class, or whatever he decides to do. Don't make the phonecall for him. Best you can do is get him some training gear - 3 or 4 pairs and shorts and tshirts, gym bag, and a pair of runners.

If he goes to a gym, they will usually give an introductory session and even a program although they usually limit it to the cardio machines. Still, it's not a bad start and he'll be able to see his fitness improving and lose the fear of going to the gym.

I think a place that has the feel of a club is important to keep an interest and most gyms don't achieve that. Most people wear headphones. So at some stage he should look into a club in an area that interests him (running, boxing, even classes in the gym can help meet a few people)

As for people lifting heavier.. that's not an issue for most people in the gym. People are more likely to feel self-conscious for not knowing where to start, or being afraid of using equipment wrong, and of course being overweight.. a personal trainer doesn't have to be long-term - just a program, a few one-on-one sessions and a diet plan.

xckjoo

antix80 wrote: »

I think it's important for him to make the decision to get down to the gym, or a class, or whatever he decides to do. Don't make the phonecall for him. Best you can do is get him some training gear - 3 or 4 pairs and shorts and tshirts, gym bag, and a pair of runners.

If he goes to a gym, they will usually give an introductory session and even a program although they usually limit it to the cardio machines. Still, it's not a bad start and he'll be able to see his fitness improving and lose the fear of going to the gym.

I think a place that has the feel of a club is important to keep an interest and most gyms don't achieve that. Most people wear headphones. So at some stage he should look into a club in an area that interests him (running, boxing, even classes in the gym can help meet a few people)

As for people lifting heavier.. that's not an issue for most people in the gym. People are more likely to feel self-conscious for not knowing where to start, or being afraid of using equipment wrong, and of course being overweight.. a personal trainer doesn't have to be long-term - just a program, a few one-on-one sessions and a diet plan.

Ideally ya that all sounds good, but he's only got a vague interest in going to the gym so far and if left to his own devices he'll just let it all fall by the wayside. One of the issues with dispraxia is that too many variables overwhelm and he ends up ignoring the issue.
Diet is an issue in the he doesn't eat healthy, but he's skinny so at least he doesn't have that to deal with yet. I've been asking about clubs but there's nothing he's very interested in and I'd say he's self conscious about his abilities compared to his peers.
No offence to anyone that works as a trainer in a gym but from my experience the quality can be bargain basement and I wouldn't trust them to come up with a plan suitable for him and then spend the time making sure he can safely follow it. I'm going to start looking for someone that might be able to help but would still like to get him moving on stuff before then. Get him used to actually doing some physical exercise in his life

IvoryTower

I followed that reddit plan you posted and loved it. It would be ideal for someone to run through it with him though to start off and then maybe check in every few weeks if possible