Introduction
I’ve had the opportunity to train professional, college, high school, middle school, and even elementary school athletes, but if I’m being honest, middle school training is my favorite. Those years are when you can truly make or break an athlete. It is the stage where habits are built, movement patterns are learned, and confidence in the weight room starts to form. When done right, middle school training sets the foundation for everything that follows.
When a middle school athlete starts training with me, my overall goal is not just to get them stronger. I want to teach them how to read their workout, how to work in a group, how to hold themselves accountable, and how to navigate a weight room safely and effectively.
How to Teach Youth Athletes to Squat
The squat always looks easy to grasp, but it’s usually tougher than most kids expect. Everyone thinks they know how to squat until they actually have to do it right. I start simple, with bodyweight or goblet squats, and most of the time, I have them take their shoes off. That way, they can actually feel the ground and learn where their weight should sit: through the whole foot, not just the toes or heels.
When we start with air squats, I keep it basic and build from the ground up.
My Main Cues for Air Squats Are:
- Feet shoulder-width apart, with toes turned out slightly.
- Hips and butt start the squat, not the knees.
- Keep pressure through the midfoot to heel.
- Knees stay out as you lower and stand.
From there, I’ll move them to a kettlebell or dumbbell squat, a.k.a. a goblet squat. The goal here is to keep the same setup and balance we built with the air squat, but now with some added load in front. I tell them, “Imagine there’s a cup of water on top of your dumbbell. Don’t let it spill.” For the kettlebell, it stays high and close, touching the chin so the chest stays tall and the back stays tight.
Once an athlete owns that movement, meaning they can stay balanced, controlled, and consistent, it’s time to move to the barbell. When we transition, I keep things as simple as possible. The biggest focus early on isn’t about how much weight they can lift; it’s about learning how to use and rack the bar safely and moving with confidence under load.
My Cues for a Barbell Squat Are:
- Make sure your hands are even on the bar before you start.
- Get under the bar, squeeze your traps, and set the bar on top of them.
- Stand tall, take two to three small controlled steps back.
- Set your feet, find your balance, and take a breath before you squat.
- Keep your chest tall, core tight, and drive through the floor.
From there, everything else builds off those basics. Whether it’s a beginner learning how to move or a high school athlete chasing new PRs, the fundamentals don’t change. They just get stronger.
Video: Demonstration of teaching athletes how to perform the squat.
How to Teach Youth Athletes to Bench Press
Teaching the bench is tough for a lot of reasons. Communication, outside influence, social media, ego, or just plain body awareness. Everyone’s seen someone “benching” online, but actually learning how to do it right takes patience.
To build up to the barbell bench, I start most athletes with a single-arm floor press or a single-arm dumbbell bench, depending on their strength level. This helps them learn control, stability, and how to move the weight with purpose instead of just throwing it around.
Everyone’s seen someone “benching” online, but actually learning how to do it right takes patience, says Jonathan Blakely
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My Cues for the Floor Press Are:
- Focus on driving your elbow back, not down.
- Soft touch on the elbow when it hits the floor. Don’t slam it.
- Dig your feet into the ground and stay connected through your legs.
Once they control that movement, we’ll move to a standard dumbbell bench. During this phase, I’m focused on elbow path, control, and foot drive. I tell them, “Dig your feet into the ground and reach your knees out. Aggressive legs lead to a good bench.”
My Cues for the Dumbbell Bench:
- Drive your elbows back, not out.
- Control the weight on the way down and pause at the top before your next rep.
- Keep your feet planted and use your legs to stay tight.
When we move to the barbell bench, that’s when the real coaching begins. Most of my male athletes have learned to bench from social media or a friend, and most of those habits need to be fixed. I spend time breaking things down, focusing on setup, control, and consistency before we worry about load.
Social media makes this harder. Kids see lifters repping 225 fast and loose and think that’s what strong looks like. I teach them the opposite: control first, speed later. Every rep starts and ends under control, with a short one-count pause at the top before the next one.
Ego can get in the way for my male athletes. They want to move heavy weight before they’ve earned it. My female athletes usually just need confidence. We’ll often spend four to ten weeks with dumbbells before ever touching a barbell to build that confidence and movement quality first.
Ego can get in the way for my male athletes. They want to move heavy weight before they’ve earned it, says Jonathan Blakely
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My Cues for the Barbell Bench Are:
- Eyes lined up with the bar before the lift.
- Hands even on the bar before unracking.
- Unrack under control and gain full control before your first rep.
- Pause briefly at the top between reps.
- Dig your feet into the floor and reach your knees out for leg drive.
The bench press looks simple, but it’s one of the most technical lifts I coach. It’s not about throwing weight around. It’s about learning to control every inch of the movement. When an athlete learns that, the strength comes fast.
Video: Demonstration of teaching athletes to bench press.
How to Teach Youth Athletes to Hinge
The hinge is one of the most important movement patterns we teach. It builds the foundation for speed, power, and strength. Most athletes want to “squat” everything at first, so teaching the difference between a squat and a hinge takes time. The goal early on is to teach them how to load their hips instead of their knees.
I always start with a wall butt touch drill. It’s simple, but it teaches them how to push their hips back and feel their hamstrings load. Most kids will either bend their knees too much or reach too far and lose their posture, so we start slow and focus on control.
The hinge is one of the most important movement patterns we teach. It builds the foundation for speed, power, and strength, says Jonathan Blakely
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My Cues for the Wall Butt Touch Are:
- Don’t lock your legs out. Keep a soft bend in the knees.
- Reach your butt for the wall, not your back.
- Only your butt should touch the wall. Don’t try to lean or rest on it.
- You should barely touch the wall, just enough to feel it.
- Feet are closer than wider. We want control, not a wide stance.
Once that movement looks clean and consistent, we move to a kettlebell hinge or kettlebell RDL. This is where we start adding a load while maintaining posture and control. The goal is to keep the same movement pattern and tension while learning to use the hips to move the weight.
My Cues for the Kettlebell Hinge Are:
- Big chest and flat back. Posture comes first.
- Keep your arms long. Don’t pull with them.
- Reach back for the wall behind you with your hips.
- Keep the kettlebell close and move smooth through each rep.
After they’ve built confidence and understand how to hinge properly, we’ll move to the barbell RDL. This is the final step in the progression and teaches them how to move under load while keeping perfect control.
My Cues for the Barbell RDL Are:
- Keep your arms straight. No bend in the elbows.
- Turn your elbows in toward your body to stay tight.
- The bar never leaves your legs. It should stay in contact the whole time.
- Lower until just below the knee, then stand tall through your hips.
The hinge is a movement that takes patience, but once athletes learn it, speed, power, and posture all improve. It’s one of those skills that separates good movers from great athletes.
Video: Demonstration of teaching athletes to hinge their hips.
How to Teach Youth Athletes to Dumbbell Snatch
The dumbbell snatch is one of my favorite velocity-based movements for middle school athletes. It’s fast, powerful, and teaches them how to coordinate their body from the ground up. But for beginners, it’s also one of the hardest lifts to get right. Early on, I see athletes forget to move their feet, pull too early with their arms, or overthink the movement and slow themselves down.
To keep things simple, I start with a snap-down drill. This drill sets up how we move fast, stay athletic, and understand force going into the ground. I tell them:
“Imagine there’s another pair of shoes right beside yours. Jump out of your shoes and land in the ones next to them.”
That cue helps them connect with the ground and learn how to drive through their legs instead of just using their arms.
When we move to the dumbbell, I remind them:
“The rep should be fast, but the set should be slow.”
That means each rep should be explosive and powerful, but we aren’t racing through the work. Every rep should look the same: fast, clean, and confident.
My Cues for the Snap-Down Are:
- Start with a tall posture, feet close, and hands by your face.
- Jump out of your shoes and land in the shoes beside yours.
- Jump down into the ground, not up and then down.
- Throw your hands back and “reach for your holster.”
- You should finish looking athletic like you’re playing your sport.
Once they understand how to move with intent and land strong, we progress to the dumbbell snatch. This is where we put speed and coordination together. I want them to move with confidence. No hesitation, just smooth, athletic movement.
My Cues for the Dumbbell Snatch Are:
- Jump out of your shoes into the shoes beside yours.
- Jump down into the floor and stay balanced.
- Keep your belly button to forehead still. Don’t swing or lean back.
- Start with your arm long and let the legs do the work.
- Drive the elbow up, then throw the weight through the ceiling.
- Move fast and confident. Intent matters more than weight.
The dumbbell snatch teaches athletes how to generate force quickly and stay under control. It’s not about how heavy the weight is. It’s about how fast and clean the movement looks. Once they can move fast and land strong, that’s when real athletic power starts to show up.
Video: Teaching an athlete how to perform the dumbbell snatch.
Acceleration Technique
For running, I spend time on wall drives, group competitions, and 10-yard accelerations with one focus: teaching athletes to understand pushing the ground. Most young athletes try to move fast but do not yet understand where that force comes from. Learning how to push properly sets the tone for everything: sprinting, cutting, and even lifting.
Common Mistakes I See in Middle School Training
When it comes to middle school athletes, I stick to one simple motto: keep it simple. I see too many coaches trying to do too much with athletes who barely know the basics. They might mean well, but often they are not qualified to coach proper movement yet.
I have seen middle schoolers doing maximal lifts, complex Olympic movements like cleans or overhead squats, or full-blown “kill them” workouts where the goal is to make them tired instead of better. That kind of fatigue chasing might look tough, but it teaches nothing.
At this stage, training should be about learning, not surviving the workout. Teaching movement quality, coordination, and control will always produce better long-term athletes than chasing numbers or sweat.
Keeping things simple and consistent wins every time. When middle school athletes understand how to move correctly, the weight on the bar will take care of itself later.
Final Thoughts
Middle school training is not about chasing numbers. It is about teaching habits. My middle school athletes’ training always carries a high rep range of six to twelve and light to moderate weights. I focus on better movement patterns rather than bigger weight. As they learn to move better, they naturally get stronger.
Over the years, I have seen the long-term payoff of starting early. I have coached athletes who began training with me in middle school and continued through high school, college, and even into the professional level. When they arrive at their college strength programs, they are already ahead. They move well, understand how to train, and do not have to spend weeks in the freshman learning phase that most go through.
The kids who learn how to train early, how to read their workout, move with intent, and hold themselves accountable are the ones who thrive. Teaching habits first sets them up for long-term success, not just short-term numbers.
Middle school training is not about chasing numbers. It is about teaching habits, says Jonathan Blakely
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The post Teaching, Not Just Training: Coaching the Hardest Movements for Middle School Athletes appeared first on SimpliFaster.
