Meanwhile in Costa Rica …
9 year old Hugo Bermudez squats 110kg for 11 Reps.
On the one hand I love that he is squatting heavy weights at that age, but on the other, I think no child should ever be obese. How do you feel about it?
Update: Casual Lurker makes good points in the comments.
One may think stupidity, idiocy and -on top of all- IGNORANCE has some limits, when it comes to sports training. Well, this is what happens when uneducated fools think that just beacause they lift some weights they are “Trainers”. They have never heard a thing about Phisiology, about Training Methodology, about Sensitive Periods, about Growth, or about something different than “C’mon! You can do it! Go for it! One more! Gooooood…”. And so they take a 9 year old, and start putting him some huge axial load, not caring about his bone development, his ligament development, his cartilage development, or his motor learning. Furthermore, they don’t care if his form (his technical skill) is truly awful, as long as they can say “Say, bro! I’ve got a 9 y.o. kid in my gym who squats 140kg!!!”. I would care less for him being obese, than for him squatting such weights. Have you never herd of Stages in weightlifting training? A quick reminder, First, this kid is in his Forming Stage, and he (his trainers) should wait before moving on (at +/- 14 y.o.) to the Competitive Achivements Stage. Second, in this ages there should not exist a Training Program, but a Teaching Program, where the kid develops his foundations on technique; it will be harder for Hugo to unlearn that shitty technique in the future, in order to re-learn the correct technique. And third, at Hugo’s age the emphasis is in the Multilateral Preparation (that is the armonic, integral and hollistic development of his Conditional and Coordinative Capacities), and in his General Fitness, with a pedagogical and didactical orientation (yes, that is PLAYING).
Let’s see what Hugo is doing ten years from now. Let’s wait for then to evaluate his health. I feel sorry for that boy.
And again, as my comments on the “Hip Clean” videos from CalStrenght, I shall repeat: Look and read about Training Theory and Methodology from the russians, cubans, germans, swedish, french and chinese. Don’t try to create or invent new methods without having a solid knowledge of the previous “tried-and-true” ones.
110kg Front Squat
Strong, but obese! It’s a shame parents are letting their children look like this. I find it much more impressive when I watch people like Chigi who, at ~125 kilos, lifted about as much as all the other extremely large men … and wasn’t fat. It’s hard to weigh the accomplishments of those very large men, say Salimi, against that of Chigi. At one point, they were only separated by (if I remember correctly) a kilo on the snatch and a couple for the total, yet Salimi weight over 30 kilos more! It’s a clear advantage, but it’s MUCH more impressive to see a lighter, in shape athlete.
Well he’s a lot better off than your average obese kid playing xbox all day. If he got his diet in check, he’d lean out really fast.
he can’t get in deep squat position…
unflexible, younger and weaker version of chingiz mogushkov. those parents deserve to be thrashed
He’s fat as fuck. I honestly can’t stand fat guys who lift and use their fatness as an excuse “coz it makes me stronger bro”. Be strong, be in shape.
So kudos to him, he’s strong. He’s probably also outta breath when he walks a flight of stairs. I rather have my kid be able to run without dying, than have him squat 110kg for reps.
Despite the complaints, he might just grow in to his weight. He’s only nine, so I doubt he’s really hit puberty yet.
he looks like a future heavyweight powerlifter.
One may think stupidity, idiocy and -on top of all- IGNORANCE has some limits, when it comes to sports training. Well, this is what happens when uneducated fools think that just beacause they lift some weights they are “Trainers”. They have never heard a thing about Phisiology, about Training Methodology, about Sensitive Periods, about Growth, or about something different than “C’mon! You can do it! Go for it! One more! Gooooood…”. And so they take a 9 year old, and start putting him some huge axial load, not caring about his bone development, his ligament development, his cartilage development, or his motor learning. Furthermore, they don’t care if his form (his technical skill) is truly awful, as long as they can say “Say, bro! I’ve got a 9 y.o. kid in my gym who squats 140kg!!!”. I would care less for him being obese, than for him squatting such weights. Have you never herd of Stages in weightlifting training? A quick reminder, First, this kid is in his Forming Stage, and he (his trainers) should wait before moving on (at +/- 14 y.o.) to the Competitive Achivements Stage. Second, in this ages there should not exist a Training Program, but a Teaching Program, where the kid develops his foundations on technique; it will be harder for Hugo to unlearn that shitty technique in the future, in order to re-learn the correct technique. And third, at Hugo’s age the emphasis is in the Multilateral Preparation (that is the armonic, integral and hollistic development of his Conditional and Coordinative Capacities), and in his General Fitness, with a pedagogical and didactical orientation (yes, that is PLAYING).
Let’s see what Hugo is doing ten years from now. Let’s wait for then to evaluate his health. I feel sorry for that boy.
And again, as my comments on the “Hip Clean” videos from CalStrenght, I shall repeat: Look and read about Training Theory and Methodology from the russians, cubans, germans, swedish, french and chinese. Don’t try to create or invent new methods without having a solid knowledge of the previous “tried-and-true” ones.
Thanks CL, I added you comment to the post.
Thank you, Gregor. You’ve got a great place here for us all, weightlifting fans and practitioners. Great posts! Keep them coming!
I’ll agree that technique wise he isn’t deep enough on most of those reps. But he holds his back in full extension and is getting a proper bounce off the hamstrings out of the hole in a few of the reps. So what if he’s fat, he’s 9. Some kids are fat kids…some grow out of it, some don’t. I’m smart enough to not criticize ANYONE else’s parenting technique. I also agree, a rigorous training schedule for a 9 yr old is tough to believe because most 9 yr olds have nowhere near the maturity and fortitude to stick with it mentally and emotionally. Who is to say this kid even trains?…maybe he is just a baby Hercules and walks into the gym every once in a while and lifts big weights. There are examples of kids who trained their asses off as young kids and went on to become the best in the world…ie Tiger Woods. Maybe this kid is the next Rezzazdeh. Kids need space, leadership, and encouragement to grow not internet experts doling out UN-ASKED FOR advice. I’m excited to see a kid who wants to lift a lot of weight. It is not settled science that training early causes any of the physical problems you mentioned above.
LOL, you’re weaker than a 9 year old.
Hey Jim, please keep the comment level above YouTube levels next time and try to add value to the discussion.
Where are the lifts… Technique over strength especially at 9…
I’d have been more impressed by crisp technique with a bar or a nominal weight like 60kg CJ.
I would like to know what the people hating squat.
The fact of the matter is that you don’t know:
How long he had been training.
What his training is like
Who is training him and what their knowledge is like.
So all in all stop bitchin he’s awesome, and until you know the facts then just be quite. By the way I haven’t seen any research on weight training and children but until I see some then I can’t really comment. If you have any or know of any please link it.
Not fat… Just bulking…
Just got back from a week vacation in Greece. Now i see 9 year olds squatting 110kgs.
I have to back off the cocktails.
Wow unbelievable assumptions being made by people in this comments section. I have zero respect for someone who’s only desire is to see the faults I’m another persons effort regardless of age. Those squats were more correct, safe and consistent then 99% of most full grown adults. So before anyone goes on a rampage about how squatting destroys your passive structures and growth plates turn the mirror on yourself. None of your had the chance to work with a child like this. What would you do if you knew this child could squat challenging weights? Have him play soccer? From my standpoint he does not need max effort lifting just yet and the training economy he MIGHT have used to get stronger could have been out elsewhere, and that he may need some nutritional guidance. How anyone can get that critical and excited over this is pathetic! Please tell me where the bio mechanical errors are here. If there were i would be denouncing this just like any video of poor movement. He obviously has prepared for such an effort because his form is consistent and he is mentally confident. If I was his trainer I would expose him to many opportunities to express his strength and not drive the squat forward aggressively, but then again I have never prepared a 9 year old for world level strength! And neither have any of you! Please have some humility people.