What is a Good Weight Training Plan for a Pre-teen?

I came up with one, but I would love to hear your ideas!

Photo by Gene Jeter on Unsplash

My 12-year-old is getting more interested in weight training.

Thankfully, I did a lot of weight training when I was younger, so I can share what I know. Perhaps a bit of a cliche, but in my early 20s, I had a boyfriend who was a bodybuilder, and he taught me about different exercises and proper form. We discussed carbohydrate cycling, and I saw what it took to get ready for a professional competition.

I have been in and out of gyms my entire adult life, but I have never trained anyone or done a personal training certification course. However, I teach both yoga and Tai Chi, which has helped me understand the body in new and more profound ways.

My son is homeschooled, and I include physical education in his curriculum, so his new interest allowed us to pivot and think about a schedule and weight training exercises appropriate for a healthy young pre-teen.

3-day Weight Training Plan for Healthy Pre-teens

This graphic shows what I came up with for an initial weight training plan based on spending three days a week in the gym — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I wanted to make the format easy to get into a repetitive pattern: 1) warm-up, 2) 5 exercises with 3 sets of 10 each, and 3) cool down with an option for extra cardio if desired.

Image courtesy of the author

I came up with these exercises mainly because I know them, and I thought they would be reasonable for beginners.

I wanted to stay away from exercises like deadlifts and overhead presses that I think are riskier. (I hurt a disc lifting weight overhead when I was younger, so I know that injuries can stay with you!) We may add some explosive movements like kettlebell swings in the future, but I think that is also one where the form is essential and is subject to incorrect practice.

I also left out other great abs exercises like medicine ball side twists and weighted crunches. My thought is that a pre-teen boy may find these exercises less “fun” and might lose motivation if these are included early on.

For his model, I used what I learned as a pretty traditional training formula — back and biceps, chest and triceps, and then “leg day.” Although I used to be a regular reader of Muscle and Fitness, it has been a long time since I read that kind of thing, so I don’t know if this approach is still the most common in weight training.

I will have to say that I am not a fan of circuit training. I am a bit of a purist — lift weights or do cardio, but not both simultaneously. Of course, that’s just personal preference and not based on any scientific study about the effectiveness of exercise methods.

I know the proper form for the 15 exercises included in his schedule; however, I wanted him to watch videos to reinforce the importance. I looked up how-to videos on YouTube for each exercise, and I have linked them in the next section.

How-to Videos for 15 Exercises

I appreciate all of the excellent training content on YouTube. These videos come from various sources, such as trainers at Gold’s Gym and Planet Fitness.

Back and Biceps

• Seated cable row with v-bar (machine)
• Single-arm bent-over row (on a bench, free weights)
• Lat pulldowns (machine)
• Dumbbell curls (standing, free weights)
• EZ bar curls inside grip (standing, curved bar)

Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

• Chest press (machine)
• Incline chest press (on a bench, dumbbells)
• Dumbbell front raise (standing, dumbbells)
• Tricep kickbacks (on a bench, dumbbells)
• Tricep rope pushdown (machine)

Leg Day

• Leg extensions (machine)
• Incline leg press (machine)
• Seated leg press (machine)
• Hamstring curls (machine)
• Calf extension (machine)

Community Feedback Requested

The great thing about Medium’s In Fitness and Health publication is that there are a LOT of really knowledgeable people who contribute articles. My intent with this story is not so much to say, “this is the best weight training plan for a pre-teen,” but rather to say that this is what I did and see what you all have to say about it.

I am open to hearing about potential improvements, such as ideas for exercises to rotate in. (Neeramitra Reddy, I’m kind of wondering what you think :)

Do you think I am missing anything significant? Are there other exercises you think would be fun for a pre-teen? Have you done anything similar for your child or PE class? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!

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