How to Coach Youth Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding among youth has increased in popularity over the last decade as young people seek to add strength for other sports. Stronger muscles helps improve basketball abilities, football abilities, wrestling abilities and much more. It is up to the coach to make sure each person does bodybuilding exercises properly. Read on to learn how to coach youth bodybuilding.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Free Weights
• Dip Bar
• Benches
• Pull Up Bar

Coach Youth Bodybuilding Successfully

1. Understand the bodybuilding goal for each person you coach. Are there specific muscle groups a person wants or needs to improve? Does he plan to compete in various weightlifting competitions or does he want strength for a specific sport?
2. Pair youth bodybuilders with a partner in a similar weight lifting range. Two people working on the same weights will lessen time spent adjusting weights.
3. Teach students that one person should "spot" the weights while the other lifts. Spotters help lift weights off the lifter if there is a problem, keep count of repetitions (moving the weight) and encourages the lifter to keep lifting.
4. Create personalized lifting schedules for bodybuilding set by the coach. For example, Mondays are upper body for one group, back/biceps and lats for another group and lower body focus for another group. Tuesdays, switch the focus of the workout.
5. Encourage bodybuilders to take at least one day off from working out each week to allow their bodies to recover.
6. Mix in some aerobic exercises to improve over all health and stamina.
7. Have lifters do forced reps (doing reps until you can't do any more and the spotter helps with the last rep).
8. Work on negative reps. For example, have the spotter help lift the weight up on the bench press and then the lifter slowly lowers the weight to reset for a rep.
9. Keep the workouts to a maximum of around an hour.

Use Compound Exercises to Work Multiple Muscles

10. Use the bench press with the lifter lying on her back on the bench, with the weight bar grasped in either hand and laying across her chest. Push up on the weights until elbows are extended.
11. Do the military press. Lift the barbell from the floor to chest height using legs and arms. Press the barbell up from your chest to over your head and back to chest level for each rep.
12. Spend time on the dead lift, which uses a barbell with weights on the floor. Squat down and grasp the barbell with both hands. Stand erect, lifting the bar with straight arms. Make sure lifting takes place with the legs, keeping the back straight.
13. Use pull ups on a bar, also called chin-ups. Grab a bar positioned high enough that your feet don't touch the ground. Pull yourself up on the bar as high as possible and lower yourself down.
14. Use bar dips by lifting yourself up on the bar until your arms are straight. Slowly lower yourself down until your chest is level with your hands and then push back up until your arms are straight.
15. Work the legs with squats. The weight bar is held behind your head with both hands. Bend your knees to squat down as far as possible and then stand up.

Tips & Warnings

• Have the bodybuilders start their workout with compound exercises before moving to specific muscles.
• One of the most important roles of a coach is to keep people motivated to lift.
• Avoid over-training, which can be detrimental to the bodybuilding process. Give the muscles a rest periodically.

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