Pick a set, master the movement, then add load
Think of this page as a menu, not a meal. You do not need to do everything here in one session. Pick a strength set for your lift day, a speed set for a field day, and a core circuit to finish — or grab one of the conditioning circuits when you want to build your engine. The sample 3-day plan at the bottom shows how it all fits together.
Every rep range here starts at the beginner end on purpose. Your job in the first few weeks is not to lift the most weight in the room — it is to own the movement so well that adding weight later is boring and safe. Form first, load second, ego never.
If a movement causes sharp or joint pain — not normal muscle effort — stop and check your setup or scale it down. Soreness the next day is fine; pain during a lift is a signal. Not sure of the difference? Read soreness vs. pain
Full-body strength set
Five patterns cover almost everything an athlete needs: squat, hinge, push, pull, and carry. Run them in order as a circuit-free workout — finish all sets of one before moving on. Rest 60–90 seconds between sets. Start with bodyweight or light dumbbells and add a little only when every rep looks clean.
Goblet Squat Squat · 3×8
- Hold a dumbbell at your chest, feet shoulder-width.
- Sit back and down like reaching for a chair behind you.
- Knees track over toes; heels stay planted.
- Drive through the floor to stand tall. Scale: bodyweight to a box.
Hip Hinge / RDL Hinge · 3×8
- Soft knees; push your hips straight back, not down.
- Keep the weights close to your legs the whole way.
- Back stays flat — feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
- Squeeze glutes to stand. Scale: hands on hips, no weight.
Push-Up Push · 3×6–10
- Hands under shoulders; body in one straight line.
- Brace your core so hips don't sag or pike up.
- Lower until your chest is a fist off the floor.
- Press all the way up. Scale: hands on a bench.
One-Arm Row Pull · 3×10
- One hand and one knee on a bench, flat back.
- Pull the dumbbell to your hip, leading with the elbow.
- Squeeze your shoulder blade at the top; don't twist.
- Lower slowly. Scale: band row or backpack.
Farmer Carry Carry · 3×30 sec
- Pick up a moderate dumbbell in each hand and stand tall.
- Shoulders back, ribs down, eyes forward — walk slow and even.
- Don't let the weights pull you into a lean or a waddle.
- This builds grip, core, and posture all at once. Scale: lighter weight, shorter walk.
Spend your whole first month here, bodyweight or light. We walk through exactly what to expect in your first month lifting
Speed & agility set
Speed is a skill you practice fresh, not tired. Do this set early in a session, fully warmed up, with long rests so every rep is high quality. If your form falls apart or your times slow way down, you're done for the day — junk reps just teach slow habits. Always run on a flat, safe surface with good shoes.
Accelerations 6×20 m
- Build from a jog to near-full speed over 20 meters.
- Lean slightly, drive the arms, push the ground back.
- Walk back to recover — full rest between every rep.
Ladder Quicks 4×2 patterns
- Use a real ladder or chalk lines. Stay on the balls of your feet.
- Two feet in each box, then "in-in-out-out." Quiet, fast feet.
- Prioritize clean footwork over speed at first.
5-10-5 Shuttle 5 reps
- Set three cones 5 yards apart. Start in the middle.
- Sprint 5 yards, touch, 10 the other way, touch, 5 back.
- Plant low and hard to change direction. Rest 60+ sec.
Sprints and cuts on cold muscles are how strains happen. Run a dynamic warm-up before this set every time. Here's a good one: the warm-up that actually works
Core & stability circuit
A strong core isn't about visible abs — it's about a trunk that doesn't leak power when you sprint, cut, or get bumped. Run these four moves back-to-back as a circuit, rest one minute, and repeat for 2–3 rounds. Quality over crunch count: slow and controlled beats fast and floppy.
- Front plank — 30 sec. Straight line from heels to head, glutes and abs squeezed. Don't let the hips drop.
- Side plank — 20 sec each side. Stack your shoulders and hips; lift the bottom hip up off the floor.
- Dead bug — 8 each side. On your back, press your lower back flat, then slowly extend opposite arm and leg.
- Bird dog — 8 each side. On hands and knees, reach opposite arm and leg out long, keep your hips level, pause, return.
Holding your breath during planks makes them harder and shakier. Breathe slow and steady — if you can't talk a little, you're bracing too hard.
Conditioning circuits
Conditioning builds the engine that lets you stay sharp in the fourth quarter. Pick one of these per week to start — they're spicy. Both are scalable: cut a round or stretch the rest if you're gassed. Stop if your form gets sloppy; tired-and-sloppy is where injuries live.
Option A — Bodyweight EMOM (10 minutes)
EMOM means "every minute on the minute." At the top of each minute, do the listed reps, then rest for whatever's left of that minute. Faster reps (with good form) = more rest. Alternate the two movements each minute for 10 total minutes.
Odd minutes
10 air squats + 5 push-ups. Move with control, full range. Scale push-ups to a bench if needed.
Even minutes
20 fast feet (running in place) + 5 reverse lunges each leg. Keep your chest tall and knees soft.
Option B — Hill or tempo conditioning
If you have access to a hill or a track, this builds aerobic power with less pounding than all-out sprints. Pick one:
- Hill repeats: Find a moderate hill that takes 20–30 seconds to run up at a strong (not sprint) effort. Run up controlled, walk all the way down to recover, repeat 6–8 times.
- Tempo intervals: On flat ground, run 3–4 reps of 2 minutes at a "comfortably hard" pace — you could say a short sentence but not chat — with 90 seconds easy jog or walk between.
Hard conditioning needs hard recovery. Cap intense sessions at 2–3 per week and never two days in a row for the same system. Adaptation happens when you rest, not when you grind.
Sample 3-day-a-week plan
Here's one clean way to combine the sets above without overdoing it. It leaves room for your team practices and a full rest day. If you play a sport in season, treat practices and games as your conditioning and just keep the strength days light.
How to progress safely
Progress is small and steady, not dramatic. Once a movement feels easy for all your sets with clean form, change one thing: add a couple reps, add a little weight, or slow the lowering phase. Don't jump everything at once.
The athletes who get strongest aren't the ones who go hardest one week — they're the ones who keep showing up for twenty.
If you're sore for more than two or three days, extra tired, or your performance is sliding, that's a sign to back off, not push through. Build the habit first; the gains follow.
- Master the five strength patterns — squat, hinge, push, pull, carry — before adding load.
- Train speed fresh with long rests; quality reps build fast habits, junk reps build slow ones.
- Core work is about a trunk that doesn't leak power, not crunch counts.
- Pick one conditioning circuit per week to start, and protect your rest days.
- Progress one variable at a time and keep showing up — consistency beats intensity.
Where to go next
Training home
The big picture on getting stronger, faster, and more explosive as a teen athlete.
Running training plans
Structured run workouts and weekly plans to build your aerobic engine.
Recovery & injury
How to bounce back between sessions so all this work actually sticks.
Got the moves down? Build a full weekly approach on the Training home page