• Do you have teenager that wants to get stronger, fitter, faster and you just want to make sure that they don’t hurt themselves???
  • Maybe you would like them to start gym training but aren’t really sure how to start.
  • Perhaps like all teenagers they seem most influenced by youtubers doing gym work and you’re just not sure if it’s the right advice for them – need some professional help?

I can relate and thought it might be useful to share our story and what we did about it.
As a 14-year-old our son Lachie was super interested in starting to work out to get stronger, specifically for footy.  As the bodies that he competed against got bigger and the hits got harder there was a natural desire to get stronger, as there are for many teenagers playing a variety of sports.  The problem is that I don’t know anyone that can simply walk into a gym and safely set themselves a program which they complete with perfect form with no prior experience. Lachie was no different, not knowing how to press, squat, lunge etc with correct form.
So, we set Lachie up with Dave West (Westy) here at Smart Health.  Westy is both a physio and a level 2 Strength and Conditioning Coach and perhaps more importantly relates extremely well to teenagers interested in sports and gym-based training. Westy worked with Lachie weekly for about 3 months. Beginning with a movement screen to identify and address any potential issues, he then took him through mobility, flexibility and fundamental strength and core training. Lachie learnt correct form in primary movement patterns and gym-based exercises such as squat, hinge, press, pull and lunge. Westy also helped him with exercise programming incorporating training concepts such as progressive overload, super-sets and safely training to failure, as well as optimal recovery and nutrition for growth. Amazingly, the advice was all individually based with Westy taking into account the equipment that Lachie had available to him at home and at school and what he wanted to achieve from his training.
18 months on and Lachie hasn’t looked back.  He continues to train 2-3 times per week in the gym (mostly at home), still has fantastic form across all exercises and is completely self-sufficient in terms of programming.
As parents it’s our hope that we set our kids up for the best possible future, we feel that the investment that we made in Lachie learning how to best train in a gym has set him up for a lifetime of safe and effective training. 
Appointments with Westy (Dave) can be made through the awesome Smart Health admin team on 8293 1100 and as he is a physiotherapist, private health rebates do apply.