A snip from a seminar on the introduction of sports conditioning from a coach in Philippines about the ages to begin strength training.
He saw a 9-year old boy compete in a national powerlifting event.
Watch the full seminar at https://wafsu.org/course/introduction-to-sport-conditioning-and-nutrition/.
- See if you can ace the five question quiz.
Episode #07: How Young is Too Young? Lifting Perspectives from the Philippines
Now this one’ll make you pause — and maybe re-think your dryland timeline.
In this episode, we hear from Coach Enoc Francisco from the Philippines, talking about strength training for young athletes. He’s seen 2-year-olds snatching barbells... and 9-year-olds competing at the national level in powerlifting. Yeah — nine.
We talk lifting form, start ages, national team prep, and how international standards (like the IPA rules) shape youth development. It’s a cultural perspective that challenges the typical U.S. “wait-until-high-school” mindset.
Why queue it up? Because as swim coaches, we’re in the performance business — and this episode gives you an eye-opening look at how the rest of the world is training... sometimes way earlier than we are.
Want more? Check out the full seminar at wafsu.org — and take the quiz to test your strength science IQ.