Welcome to the Floor

A first gym class that teaches teenagers the big movements, the gym's unwritten rules, and that this place is theirs too

Strength & conditioning
Teens 13–17
45 min
Works for 6–16
1 instructor
Effort 3/5
Studio floor or small hall
teens
beginner
technique
special-population
games

The ClassPlans programming teamLevel 3 group-fitness qualified · 10+ yrs teaching

Kit: Mats, light dumbbells, 8 cones, a bench or box, a basket for phones, a timer. Nothing heavy enough to be a dare.

Warm-up8 min

Names & Games

RPE 3–4

Setup: Before the class exists at all: signed parental consent and a health questionnaire for every under-18 on file, and you know about asthma, inhalers and anything flagged — inhalers live at the side of the room, not in bags in a locker. House rules set in the first minute, warmly and only once: phones in the basket (they time the class, you time the phones), nobody lifts to show off, and the difference between muscle burn and pain gets taught tonight — burn is welcome, pain in a joint means stop and tell the coach, no drama attached. Cones out in a 10-metre square.

How it works: Straight into a game — teenagers warm to games and freeze at lectures. Two rounds of cone tag inside the square: one catcher, tagged players do five air squats to re-enter. Then rock-paper-scissors squat battles in pairs — loser of each throw does two squats, winner celebrates modestly or does them anyway. Learn every name during the games and use each one at least once before block two; a named teenager behaves like a member, an anonymous one behaves like a visitor.

What to say

“Phones in the basket — the group chat will survive 45 minutes, I checked.”
“Muscle burn is the good stuff; anything sharp or in a joint, you stop and tell me — that's strength, not weakness.”
“Nobody here is impressive yet and that's the whole point of a first class.”
“Tag with your hand, not your shoulder — we're warming up, not trialling for the county.”

Easier

Walking tag; squats to a high bench.

Harder

Shrink the square each round; squat battles go best-of-five.

Workout12 min

The Big Three, Taught Right

RPE 4–5

Setup: Semi-circle of mats facing you, dumbbells still racked — today's iron is mostly imaginary and entirely on purpose. Growth-spurt honesty before the first rep: bodies in this room grew four centimetres over a summer and are re-learning where their knees are; wobbling is normal, mocking it is the one thing that gets someone benched. The rule of the block, said once and enforced forever: technique unlocks weight — nobody maxes anything today, this term, or in this class, ever.

How it works: Teach three patterns in ten-rep sets with games hidden inside. Squat: feet planted, sit between the hips, stand tall — then 'statue reps', where you call freeze mid-rep and correct the statues, which they find hilarious. Hinge: hands sliding down thighs, hips to the wall behind, flat back — partner checks with a rolled mat balanced along the spine. Push-up: from knees or hands-elevated on the bench, one straight line — partners count each other's honest reps and honesty is the scored part. Rotate teaching, practising and checking so nobody listens for more than 60 seconds at a stretch.

Common mistakes

Racing a mate's rep count — redirect to 'slowest perfect rep' contests, which they attack just as hard.
Teens hiding pain to stay in the group — ask 'burn or pain?' individually, not across the room.

What to say

“Screw your feet into the floor like you're opening two jam jars — feel everything switch on.”
“The mat stays on your back if the hinge is right — it falling off is feedback, not failure.”
“Knees-down push-ups are the correct first push-up for almost every human — rungs, not shame.”
“Checking your partner's form IS the exercise — coaches' eyes, kind mouth.”

Easier

Squats to the bench; hinges with hands on thighs the whole way; push-ups on the wall.

Harder

Goblet squats with the lightest bell for anyone whose ten bodyweight reps look identical — the bell is a certificate, not a prize.

Workout10 min

Their First Circuit

2 laps × 4 stations × [30s work / 30s rest]RPE 6

Setup: Four stations in the corners of the room: squats, bench push-ups, mountain climbers, and a light suitcase carry between two cones. Groups of three or four per station — split the messers across different groups now, cheerfully, as if it were random.

How it works: Two laps of 30 seconds work and 30 seconds rest — long rests on purpose, because quality is the product and gasping teenagers stop listening. Lap one at learning pace, lap two allowed to hum. You float the whole time doing one-name-one-fix coaching, and you catch people doing things right at least as often as wrong — a teenager praised for a flat-back carry will hinge properly for the rest of their life.

What to say

“Thirty seconds of your best moving, thirty of actual rest — that rhythm is the whole sport.”
“Carry tall like you're walking out of school on the last day of term.”
“Climbers: shoulders over wrists, steps small — speed is next month's business.”
“Rest means rest — hands off the dumbbells, breathe, wind each other up quietly.”

Easier

One lap; 20 seconds work; carries empty-handed with the same tall-posture scoring.

Harder

Lap two runs 40/20 if lap one stayed clean — announced as earned, not automatic.

The rest of this class plan is free — along with 3 more this week.

ClassPlans programming team

Free on ClassPlans — new class plans weekly.