Hello,
Ive been lifting weights for a while, recently I purchased alot of equipment for a home gym. My son is always wanting to lift with me and I always tell him no since ive heard it could be unhealthy for him (he's 11 going on twelve, but big for his age,not fat)
Is lifting weights while he's still developing dangerous and why exactly???????
And
Would it be safe/better for him to do body weight exercises instead????
thanks
I highly doubt lifting weight is dangerous provided he is supervised and maximum lifts are avoided for a few years. People drop weights etc on themselves more often than one may imagine so this is why he must be supervised.
Obviously bodyweight exercises are a form of weight lifting and such exercises are generally recognized as beneficial. Lifting with weights in conjunction with bodyweight exercises would, IMO, be most efficient and recommended.
The old concern was that weightlifitng would cause the bone growth platelet (sp) to close prematurely thereby stunting growth. I suspect this is a myth. However, to be on the safe side, it may be best not to encourage maximum lifts until he is in his later teens.
Most, however, not all, anabolic steroids - those that aromatize - will cause premature closer (mentioned above), so do not even think about having your son take steroids. Once he hits puberty and he is lifting, I think you will see remarkable strength and lean tissue gains from incorporating weight training into an overall fitness regime.
"The old concern was that weightlifitng would cause the bone growth platelet (sp) to close prematurely thereby stunting growth. I suspect this is a myth. However, to be on the safe side, it may be best not to encourage maximum lifts until he is in his later teens."
Exactly this is what I was told and was worried about. Thanks bro
LOL, Im not going to give my 12 year old any sterioids
When I have a son or daughter, my plan is not lifting wieghts... if they are intersted it will be more calistenic workouts. (spelling) Pushups, situps, chinups, jump rope, running, bagwork, squats without wieghts, swimming. I plan to make a game of it... competition... see if you can beat dad. Also stretches. I dont know really anything official about it, but it just seems that while a kid is young, and minimul testosterone is in the body, the muscle tissue wont recuip as fast for wieght lifting. Tendons are still immature too. Again its speculative, and based on nothing except a very brief nursing rotation on human development and my own gut feeling on training kids.
if he does bodywieght type stuff and calestenics and just simple kid play, he will have a great knowledge of bodymechanics that will help him become a great athlete down the road
I think as long as it's light and fun, weightlifting shouldn't be a problem, but also agree on doing lots of cal's and bodyweight stuff too, ie. pullups, pushups, burpee's etc, but I would recommend that stuff for people of any age as well.
interesting thread on the subject can be found here:
http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/20/14183.html
There is nothing wrong with kids lifting, NSCA actualy had an article on teaching kids the oly lifts.
Even maximal lift are in theory okay for a kid, Running creates joint reaction forces equal to about three time your bodywieght. Therefore if you can get your kid to squat double his bodyweight it is still going to be less stress on the bones than running.
Also the growth plates are still active past the age of 18, and it would be retarded to tell a high school kid into sports not to lift weights.
OLD SCIENCE=DUMB SCIENCE
Don't have him lift maximally.
Work on form and technique.
My little bro has had 12 sessions. He is learning to OL. I gurantee his technique is always going to be better then 95% of people on here. He works technique and does reps and I and my coach coach him.
He Snatches 17Kg for 3reps x 4 sets @ 38Kg bw. His technique is pretty awesome for his age.
He lifts lots of reps between the 10-15rep range for exercises. He can lift heavy later and has many years to go.
Koing