I have convinced my 14 year old over weight nephew to come over to my house and lift with me. He is about 6 tall 300lbs (almost all fat) and uncoordinated. I really don't care about him playing sports or any thing I just want him to boost his self image. Any suggestions on what sets and reps exercise I should use? I have the BFS book by Shepard but I think in his state it may be too much for him. Currently his is just a big Fat lazy slob with no goals, I would never say that to his face BUT his parents do (which I think is bad). Help

-G-

• Ease into it.  Try NOT to make him sore, because it could be enough to get him discouraged.  For the first month at least, the weights should be very easy for him.  He'll still gain strength, because a large fraction of newbie gains are neurological.
  
• Try to make him a form fanatic.  This will offset the (purposely) slow increase in the weights, and will form a foundation for (hopefully) a lifelong change in lifestyle.
• Under NO circumstances should you allow him to push a maximal weight for a year, period.  The training benefit of maxing would be seriously offset by the very high likelihood of injury.

Wayne and Bill - I have a basic old school barbarian gym in my basement centered around a Tuff Stuff adjustable squat rack I also have an old parabody adjustable bench and the classic redneck oly platform "a 3/4 hunk of plywood" assorted oly and standard bars some home made strongman stuff 2 inch bar, 225lbs farmerswak imps, rolling thunder soon to get some atlas stones, one side of a cable crossover (I may get the other side soon)

I agree not to have him max but if I don't how do I know where to start? I was thinking of just using some a PVC pipe at first for squats because this is a body that has never been to parallel and back. for upper body bench and push pres and curls.

Yes I agree that being in a sport would be good for him.

I've trained a few kids who were in similar situations.  Some of them stuck with it, others didn't.  Not to repeat what Bill and Wayne have said above here are a few things that I found to be useful.

-first workout test the kid on a few bodyweight movements: can he do a full squat with proper form?; can he do a push and if so how many?; same with situps. This will give you and idea of what kind of shape he's in and see what kind of flexibility he has.

-emphasis proper form and compound movements

-ask yourself what lifts are you comfortable teaching/coaching.  you mention having a platform, but if you're not comfortable teaching O-lifting, don't.

-pick an exercise that is going be your "test" exercise.  Typically I'll use squat.  Test on how much weight he can do for 5 reps with proper form every 6 to 8 weeks. 

-give him some say in the workout. Typically at the end of the workout I'll have them do pushups and/or situps.  I'll give them the choice of doing either 2 sets of 25 or 1 set of 30 or 35.

-include some type of cardio work, whether it's a walk around the block or some more intense.

Rick

G-Man,

I was that fat kid in high school.  Actually kind of fat again, too many pies and a desk job don't result in a cut physique.

That said, for me it was weight training that really turned me around, but you can't forget the cardio.  If your nephew is 300 lbs, he's probably winded on two flights of stairs.  I would recommend getting him walking and after he can manage a pretty stiff 30 to 45 minute walk get him to try a few minutes running.  Once he can huff it for a mile or more, it'll be something he holds on to.  I do.

As far as anaerobic training the most basic stuff is sit ups, push ups, pull ups and dips.  He'll probably suck at all of them to begin with.  Again though, mentally, they're something he can hold onto.

I'm not a coach and only trained from football (third string, not a hero) and many hours in the gym, so take the word of the coaches.

Just speaking up as the fat kid who turned it around.  Senior year of college I had cut to about 185 with a single digit body fat.  Really changed my attitude about who I am and what I can do.

I had the first training session today, the kid did great ! he is eager to learn. He did squats with PVC pipe 3*10, bench with just the bar 3*10, one hand DB presses 3*7 with 15 lbs  lunges no weight CB curls and a bunch of core work with a focus on balance. I noticed that his left arm is considerably less coordinated than his right (which is Normal for someone who has not trained) but his mother said its also because he broke his left arm when he was younger. To counter this I am going to use more dumbbells.  He already wants to use more weight but I told him he has to have better form. I will put cardio on hold till I got him hooked!!
He also said he wants to come see a highland game this summer

Great news G man. Its good to take it slow for an newbie. If you start them like they are puting  out a forrest fire they will might not come back!

Terry Lawson

That's good news.

And don't wait 'til summer to get out to a game.  There's always one going when the weather is fine (or not).