Personal Trainer for Teens (12-17)

Is it safe for a 12-17-year-old to lift weights?

Yes, with a coach, when the load is progressed gradually and the emphasis is on technique. The National Strength and Conditioning Association's position statement on youth resistance training (2009) and the 2014 international consensus published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine both conclude that properly supervised, well-designed resistance training is safe for children and adolescents and improves strength, motor skills and bone health.

The old worry about growth plates came from unsupervised, poorly loaded lifting, which is the thing a coach exists to prevent.

Two conditions. Your teen should be cleared by a doctor if they have asthma that is not well controlled, a heart condition, a recent injury or surgery, or any diagnosis a doctor has asked them to manage. And the coach should stop any session for chest pain, dizziness, breathlessness out of proportion to the effort, or joint pain that does not settle. This page is general guidance, not medical advice.

How active are Singapore teenagers?

Less active than the guideline asks. The World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents average at least 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity.

In the national Student Health Survey of 2015, 23.7% of school-going adolescents aged 13 to 17 reported meeting it, according to the 2022 Active Healthy Kids Singapore Report Card, published in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness by NUS researchers with the Health Promotion Board and Sport Singapore.

The report card graded overall physical activity C- and sedentary behaviour C-, while organised sport scored B- and community and environment A+. The survey figure is self-reported and is the latest the authors could obtain, so treat it as a baseline rather than this year's number. In practice it means many teens arrive with little strength training behind them, which is why the first block below starts with technique.

What should the goals be for a teen's first block?

Form first, for eight sessions. A 12-14-year-old learns the squat, hinge, push, pull and carry with bodyweight, bands and light dumbbells, and the coach adds load only when the movement looks the same on rep 10 as on rep 1. A 15-17-year-old usually moves through this faster, but the order is the same.

Progress in this block is measured in quality of movement and in reps, not in kilograms. A teen in a school team who needs training around a competition season is better matched through our strength and conditioning coaches.

Can training fix a teen's posture from screen time?

It can change it, if the plan trains the muscles that hold the shoulders back and the hips upright, and if the teen keeps doing it. Telling a 15-year-old to sit up straight lasts about a minute.

Rows, face pulls, band pull-aparts and hip hinges twice a week change the resting position over a couple of months because they change what is strong. The phone is not going away, so the work is about building the muscles that offset it.

1. 01Upper backBand rows, dumbbell rows, band pull-aparts, done every session.
2. 02HipsGlute bridges and hip hinges to undo hours of sitting through PSLE or O-level revision.
3. 03Neck and shouldersChin tucks and wall slides as a warm-up, not as punishment.
4. 04HabitsA laptop stand for study, and a walk around the block between revision blocks.

How should a 16-17-year-old prepare for NS and bulk up?

Do both at once, over 12-24 months, because they use the same training. Male citizens and PRs register for NS at 16.5 and are enlisted at the earliest opportunity after turning 18, according to CMPB, so a 16-year-old has time. The NS-prep part is push-ups, sit-ups and the 2.4km run, the three IPPT stations, plus the pre-enlistment NAPFA if it applies.

The bulking part is progressive strength work three times a week and eating enough protein: for a growing teenager that is mostly more real food at each meal, not powders. Our IPPT and NAPFA coaching and how to build muscle pages cover each half in detail.

A word on PES status: the pre-enlistment medical decides the PES grade, and a coach cannot change that. What a coach can do is send a 17-year-old to Tekong already able to run 2.4km comfortably and do 30 push-ups with clean form, which changes how the first weeks of BMT feel.

Can you choose the coach's gender, language or age?

Yes. Parents ask for all three, and we match where the roster allows. Coaches do not list languages on their profiles, so for language we ask on your behalf. A female coach for a daughter is the most common request, and you can ask for it on the female personal trainer page.

Language matters when a teen is more comfortable in Mandarin or Malay, or when the parent watching the session is. Age is about rapport: some teens respond to a coach in their twenties who has just done NS, others to someone older and calmer. Tell us what you think will work. We would rather know.

How do home sessions work with a parent around?

A parent or another adult is present in the home for a minor's session. That is our rule, not a preference. The session runs in the living room, the condo gym or the void deck or a nearby park, and we confirm what kit the coach carries beforehand.

For the first two sessions we suggest sitting in so you hear the coach's reasoning. After that, being in the flat is enough. Most teens train better without an audience. What the coach needs from you is a clear space, a water bottle and the schedule. The format is the same as any home session.

What should the parent expect after 8 sessions?

Better movement, more confidence and a teen who knows what to do on the days the coach is not there. You should not expect visible muscle at 8 sessions. That takes months and, for a 13-year-old, waits on growth. What you can check is below.

1. 01MovementThe squat and hinge look controlled, and the teen can explain what a good rep feels like.
2. 02ConsistencyTwo sessions a week kept, and one or two self-led sessions from the coach's plan.
3. 03PostureShoulders sit a little further back at rest. The coach can show you the before and after.
4. 04Test numbers, for 16-17sA first timed 2.4km and a push-up count to build on.
5. 05AttitudeThe teen wants the next session. If they do not, tell us and we may help you move to another coach where reasonable.

Rates are the same as adult coaching: most 1-to-1 sessions are S$80-S$130, each coach publishes their own, and on the pack ladder most coaches use, packs of 5 sessions are at the full rate and packs of 10, 15 or 20 sessions take 5%, 10% or 15% off. Two teens, siblings or friends, can share a session at the buddy rate. See buddy training.

Stop a session and see a doctor for pain in a joint rather than ordinary muscle soreness, for chest pain, breathlessness, dizziness or fainting, or for pain that keeps returning in the same place. A teenager should not train through joint pain, and a coach who encourages it is the wrong coach. Tell us and we change the plan. This page is general information and not medical advice.