If you’re a youth quarterback stepping into the weight room for the first time, this is for you. Your body is still growing. Your coordination and strength are developing. The goal isn’t to hit heavy lifts right away; it’s to learn how your body moves, build confidence under load, and establish proper technique. With the right foundation, you’ll be in a much better position as you head into high school and college.
Research shows that when youth athletes properly learn strength training with supervision and good form, the benefits are significant, including better strength, better movement, and lower injury risk.
For a quarterback, strength training is about learning how to drive from the legs, hinge at the hips, brace your core, rotate efficiently, sequence well, and stabilize during movement. These movement skills matter as much as strength.
Key points from youth-strength research:
For young QBs, that means you’re not chasing max squats or deadlifts in month one. You’re mastering movement, learning what your body can do, building coordination, and developing strength that can transfer into throwing, scrambling, and overall athleticism.
Before diving into heavy lifts, here are foundational movement patterns you should learn and practice. These carry immense value for the quarterback position.
The hip hinge is where your glutes and hamstrings drive movement. This pattern teaches you to push your hips backward, maintain a neutral spine, and then drive forward. It’s the basis of throwing power from the ground, and also necessary for movements like deadlifts, RDLS, and hip-thrusts.
Drills to try: body-weight hip hinge (hands on hips, push butt back, knees slightly bent), kettlebell-deadlift with light weight, glute-bridge, and RDLs with PVC pipe.
Quarterbacks often plant one foot during games. That means your body must be able to stabilize and produce force from one leg. Unilateral (single-leg) squats or lunges teach balance, control, and sport-specific stability.
Drills to try: bodyweight lunges (forward/backward), iso-lunge holds, single-leg box step-ups.
For youth athletes, bodyweight training is critical for building the control, coordination, and movement literacy your body needs to support later lifts.
Exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight squats, hollow holds, and farmer carries build strength and stability without a heavy load.
Here’s a safe intro program (2 days/week) for a youth QB just getting started in the weight room. Focus heavily on form. Use light loads. Stop if form breaks.
Warm-up (5–10 min):
Session A:
Session B (on separate day):
Notes:
