The training of children and young part 1

Working with kids has significantly influenced my beliefs about my role as a CrossFit coach . Design and implement a program for children and adolescents has really sharpened my general skills training . Unlike my adult clients , who are responsible for making informed choices , it is not the work of a child or adolescent to monitor my efforts and my advice. There are special responsibilities inherent in working with young people. The children I work with need guidance and limits , and they rely on me to help them improve in a healthy and sensible .

Connor and David were my first experiences CrossFit Kids. My son Connor began practicing CrossFit workouts with me in November 2003 when he was 12 . It was just something fun and exciting thing we did together - a sort of natural evolution from our joint training Kenpo Karate. Connor came immediately to this as a bulldog who became our mascot CrossFit to my room , BrandX , and he regularly humiliated me during our workouts.

I posted this on the CrossFit website in November 2003: " Finished today's workout at 14:50 . My 12 year old son finished 30 seconds faster. It's just a little humiliating to have your son standing in front of you and saying . Go Daddy, you can do it ' "It has become a way of life for me. Shortly after Connor began to crush me in training , his best friend David ( 13 years ) began to join us. This gave me two teenagers to continue , and it is at this point that things began to get interesting.

David and Connor both of them have a natural competitive spirit that made them become the embodiment statements Glassman as "men will die for points ." Only they are not men. They are boys. No deep voice, not testosterone surging , no adult muscle mass . Just kids with the desire to work and excel . I rubbed my hands and laughed . This promised to be fun.

I started to put the boys in CrossFit workouts together in early 2004 First , I just chose a circuit, which would probably leave on the ball and threw the clock . " 3-2-1 - GO! " They swung through the doors like bats outputs hell and moved the ( relatively minor ) expense as gruff dockers trying to finish earlier. No form, no technique, just the raw determination and desire to win. It was fun to watch and not particularly alarming because they do not lift heavy loads .

Quickly, the boys began to get faster and stronger and it took me up the ante to make sure they are challenged . This meant increased expenses . These boys saw school equivalent training in a room where large numbers develop represented the ultimate position in athletics and prestige. They were not satisfied until they saw no more records in the ends of the bar . So we loaded.

Many months have passed and , with increasing loads , I began to realize that Connor and David had big problems of form . It began to become clear to me that , in their zeal to raise increasingly heavy as their peers and my willingness to allow the boys would soon be in danger if they continue to follow this path.Feeling my responsibility as a father and coach , I immediately drop their loads . Not just heavy loads , all loads ! You talk about devastation! Try to put a simple PVC tube into the hands of boys as Connor and David and see the disgust and disappointment that will result. This was not an easy pill to swallow for them . Fortunately , the boys made ​​me confident enough to accommodate the new rules and protocols of their training.