Slightly tongue in cheek question. My son is 14. 6’3" and about 210. Very large frame. Easily moved 175 and 225 on his squat and DL today but struggled to press 65. He’s already reset his bench once when he missed at 95. The best way I can describe him is a 12 year old torso walking around on 16 year old legs. Upper body wise he doesn’t look like he’s ready to train. Shaves his upper lip once a month whether he needs to or not! So he’s frustrated with how hard his upper body lifts have been from the start. Furthermore, his HS basketball and football coaches only think in terms of bench press. He’s getting pressure to lift at the school instead of with me and the SSC we see once a week. I’ll spare you the silliness that goes on in there but when they ask about his bench they see it as program failure instead of a physiological limitation. So…
- Is it normal for kids his age to be able to linearly progress some movements but not others?
- Would the increased upper body volume prescription for novices in the newsletter be appropriate in his case?
- He understands where a 2-3 month LP would put his bench and press and I don’t think he see’s that happening. I’m doing my best to manage his expectations without noceboing his upper body lifts for the next five years. Its a fine line and I don’t know that I’m doing it very well. Any thoughts on how to navigate this?
Thanks again for all you guys do.