2008.03.13

The boy, now nine years old, will from this point forward be referred to as (Mini-Omega) MO. Anyway, I could have slept in until 7 this morning, but MO didn't want any part of that. As lifting buddy, Dr. Clancy Hardman said, "Just get him the 'gym rat' t-shirt now and get it over with."

The boy insisted we work out this morning. So, we got up shortly after 6 and headed out to the gym. MO started with 2-miles on the recumbent bike to get warmed up. Here is MO's workout from this morning:

3 x 10 - Lat Pull (overhand)
3 x 5 - Hang Clean
3 x 10 - Bench Press
3 x 5 - 6" Dual Side Jump
3 x 10 - Lat Pull (underhand)
3 x 10 - Dot Drill

The focus of the workout was two fold: 1) develop proper form 2) build upper body strength. At this point, the agility work is second nature to MO. Additionally, it is cold outside. Now is the perfect time for him to develop upper body strength. Learning the proper way to perform bench press, and cleans will help immensely in the years ahead. On bench press, the most weight he was permitted to use was 40 pounds. He is controlling the weight down to his chest and exploding upward. He is working on keeping his head squared to his shoulders and exhaling on the "push".

MO is starting to come around on hang cleans. I have observed probably two or three-dozen high school aged athletes perform power cleans and hang cleans. Of the 30-ish kids I have observed, I can really only recall one that had excellent form. Not surprisingly, I think he holds most of the local high school records related to power lifting.

There are a few kids with... ehh form. Mostly, the kids have "I am about to sheer my patella tendon and develop chronic knee problems, watch this!" form. I digress.

The biggest problem I have noticed with the high school kids is their inability to perform a decent front squat. If you cannot front squat properly, you will not have a whole lot of success performing cleans.

Right now, MO is working on hang cleans with about 15 pounds. He is focused on getting a good shrug, catching the bar at his collarbone, elbows up, and sitting his butt down and back.

Anyway, MO has put in two good workouts this week. He is hungry and begging for more. When I was 9, I was not worried about getting in the weight room.

That is all.