Hi:

I have a daughter who just turned 10. She is big for her age and could stand to drop about 15 lbs. She also needs to develop better upper body strength. I have googled a few conditioning programs but most seem to include weight lifting. Is 10 years old too early to start lifting weights? I would never have her lift heavy weights but what about light weights? I assume body weight exercises like push ups and pull ups are good. We also have a 5lb medicine ball that we throw around.

Any ideas?

Thanks

I don't think 10 is too early for some strength training that involves light weights. I do think it would be wise to get with a local gym, rec center or high school and see if you could talk to a trainer there about helping with a simple program. Might seem like overkill, but an hour spent with someone like that starts things off right, imo.

Great. Thanks for your response.

Here's what I would recommend for any young kid to develop strength, coordination, athleticism. And as a bonus it will help them get in shape too.

Play multiple sports seasonally...
- swimming
- gymnastics
- soccer
- basketball
- flag football
- martial arts

Gymnastics is incredible for developing strength, body control, balance, coordination. But all the sports are good for all around development and health.

Then at home I suggest things like:
- playing tag and variations (google the different variations)
- fundamentally correct body weight exercises (push ups and pull ups)
- free play, climbing trees, playing on play ground,
- backyard soccer, football, etc

These are all healthy things great for long term development and health.

I agree with Jeff on the multiple sports, it keeps them active year round and works on different aspects of coordination and athleticism. Plus, it can get kind of boring doing work outs at younger ages.

Funny you mention gymnastics. My son showed an interest in gymnastics at around 5 years old, so we put him in a local gym recommended by some friends. The folks who ran the gym were from Russia, so we knew this was the real deal. They had trophy cases filled with trophies in the entryway. Holy smokes did those kids work out and it showed. It was a bit too intense for our liking and ended up being way too much of a commitment both in and out of the gym, so it only lasted a few years.

The smallest girl on her bball team is also a competitive gymnast and she can shot the farthest since she has so much upper body strength. My daugher also plays soccer and softball too.

Jeff,

Weights are a sport.

Plus weights do an amazing job at CNS development. Studies reinforce this. At age 10, I believe that it is supposed to be empty bar stuff. But squatting with a 15 pound bar is allowable.

I want to do weights with my son but I think macros are not going to happen. I think tricep press, curls, etc will be doable. He was tinkering tonight.

I might do a combination of weights and dribbling skills in my basement. 10 arm curls and dribble for a few minutes. repeat 3 times.

Might do this and add in other simple exercises.

Thank you so much for these recommendations, it's very helpful for me!