I lined up on defense as a cornerback, about 3 yards off of the receiver. I couldn’t wait for everyone to see me lock this kid down, definitely not letting him get the ball – or maybe I could even pick it off. The ball was snapped, the quarterback dropped back five steps, and the receiver blew right by me. Wow. When he came back to the line during this flag football practice, I as the coach gave him some “coaching” on that play. “Hey Everett, take it easy on me. I’m trying to show your teammates how to cover a receiver and you’re way too fast. Let’s do that again but this time maybe dial it back a couple notches, ok?”
“Alright, Dad,” my 13-year-old son replied, “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot faster. Maybe the CrossFit is starting to pay off!”
That real interaction was not one of my finer coaching points on the football field, but it did make me realize Everett was right – he was getting a lot faster and stronger. And I couldn’t keep up with him anymore! Maybe it had something to do with the couple years of CrossFit training he had started to really get into, usually during the winter and summer months when he wasn’t actively playing a sport.
I have trained close to 100 teenagers now over the years since we started our CrossFit Teens program in 2016. Some of them are now adult members of the gym, which is pretty cool.
I have absolutely seen the impact of strength training, coached with proper mechanics in mind – on the performance level of our kids in their chosen sports, and also their growth as human beings. I have had numerous parents come up to me after a training session and say, “I wish we had this when I was growing up, they just threw us in the weight room and told us to lift.” I completely understand – I had that same experience!
Our CrossFit Teens program, developed over the course of 8 years, focuses mostly with our younger athletes on developing strength, speed, power, and durability.
We train for increased strength (not necessarily size, they’ll grow when they grow) using major lifts – squats, deadlifts, and presses. We also include classic gymnastics movements that sometimes get missed with all the focus on barbell work – pull-ups, push-ups, dips, and sit-ups, and all the fun variations you can imagine to mix it up.
Speed and power come from practicing Olympic weightlifting techniques – the clean & jerk and the snatch – as well as sprints and fast interval workouts that leave the kids totally gassed but ready to show that speed on the field.
And durability comes from taking 10 minutes at the end of each session to cool down and stretch, as well as finishing with some core strength work.
We’ll focus on teaching and correcting movement to stress proper mechanics, and as we see the kids moving consistently we can add intensity with more weight on the barbell and more speed expected in our workouts.
Our CrossFit Teens classes will meet on Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30pm, beginning next week! Our winter session will go for four months, November to February, and then we will pause as spring sports start up in March. Middle school and high school students are welcome.
You can purchase a monthly membership, 10 classes, or single classes on our online store here.
Can’t wait to get it started and see all of our young athletes in the gym again!
Ryan