I'm sure that I could make this a 1,000 part post so I'm just going to update it as often as possible.
My son comes to the gym with me and on squat day, he squats. On Press Day he does shoulders and bench press. He isn't afraid of me at all, no matter how much I bark or scream or hit the nose torque. It doesn't phase him at all and as soon as I finish my set I'm back to helping him step by step work on his lifts.
The last few weeks he hasn't been wanting to add more weight to the bar on squats and at times he has had some technical issues (issues I think can be taught by simply adding weight to the bar, helping to learn more body awareness). I had an idea last week, why not add in front squats to the training instead of pushing the squat weight or volume to the point of being boring or mentally stressfull to him. I tried to show him, and I can't front squat. She he came home and hit YouTube and figured it out.
This week he came straight in, did all of his normal squats while I was warming up, rested while I did my squats, then did his front squats while I was setting up for Good Mornings and Deadlifts.
When I sit back and look at the photos and videos I have to ask myself what all he is really learning by being in the gym with me.
Not to be afraid.
It is OK to be afraid.
Effort is what really counts to your friends in the gym.
Your friends in the gym are your REAL friends.
Lifting might be a Meritocracy but it is also something where what you lift isn't always what matters most.
If you are in the gym, the conversations are not only amazing but they mean something to you. We are all after the same thing.
Yes, it hurts. Homework also stinks but good food makes it all better.
We better get home when mom says we should be home. (that goes for EVERYONE in my gym)
He taught himself how to Front Squat from watching videos, because he wanted to know how to do it. He relied on Ilya and I to make corrections but since we couldn't show him...he needed to see first and then have his trusted training partners help from there.
He has a lot to learn, but so do I.
