Weight lifting and kids????

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greenmm1980
greenmm1980 Posts: 86 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My 10 yr old son wants to start lifting weights. He sees me and wants to exercise to. Is this safe? How much weight should he lift and how many reps? He just bought himself a straight weight bar and 6 2.5 lb plates. Any advice would be great!

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  • Alphastate
    Alphastate Posts: 295 Member
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    My cousin's kids do crossfit and they are younger than that! I'd definitely let him start, under supervision (I dropped a steel 10lb DB on my toe when I was 8 and the nail fell off) and with light weights. I used to jump on my dad's machine when I was a kid too!
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
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    I would run this by your pediatrician just in case, but aside from that I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to join you. Just make sure he's using proper form at all times.
  • pittbullgirl
    pittbullgirl Posts: 341 Member
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    I wouldn't have him use weights. I would suggest just cardio and body weight exercises. Everything I've read said that kids shouldn't lift due to their growth plates. I'd check with the Pedi as well.


    Great job momma for providing a healthy example :D:flowerforyou:
  • aelunyu
    aelunyu Posts: 486 Member
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    I realllllllly don't think this would be an issue. Though I didn't start until i was about 16. Safety first, though. safety.
  • Julesbait
    Julesbait Posts: 190 Member
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    How funny. I'm in the same situation with my 10 year old right now. He started to pop in a DVD tonight and asked which weights he should use. I went with my gut and told him not to do anything using weights. 10 seems awfully young to me.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Your 10 yr old goes shopping on his own? At sporting goods stores?

    Impressive.

    Seriously, a 10 yr old can lift and lift safely. However, they require supervision and IMO, are going to get tired of the structure pretty quickly. Kids think "exercise" is fun, but what they really want to do is play. When they find out that lifting weights isn't "play" they often lose interest.

    Our fitness center spent a bunch of $$ on supposedly "kid sized" equipment and other accessories. The idea was to attract younger families (since the average age of our membership is similar to that of the average Fox News viewer).
    It was a total disaster. Out of the 50 or so kids 12 and under whose parents put them on their memberships, probably 3 still come regularly. Much of the equipment is being dumped into a hallway next month to make room for some new stuff.

    If you really want a younger child to lift, you need to be actively engaged (not just have them mimic what you do) and you need to include lifting activities that are more like play than exercise.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    How funny. I'm in the same situation with my 10 year old right now. He started to pop in a DVD tonight and asked which weights he should use. I went with my gut and told him not to do anything using weights. 10 seems awfully young to me.

    As long as they are not goofing around or doing maximal overhead lifts, there is nothing physically unsafe w/a 10 yr old lifting weights. As per my comments above, however, they usually don't have much sustained interest--that's where the goofing around starts.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I wouldn't have him use weights. I would suggest just cardio and body weight exercises. Everything I've read said that kids shouldn't lift due to their growth plates. I'd check with the Pedi as well.


    Great job momma for providing a healthy example :D:flowerforyou:

    Just FYI, the "growth plate" fear has been greatly overstated. All professional organizations -- NSCA, Academy of Pediatricians, etc--support the idea of resistance training for children --- with appropriate oversight and a few age-appropriate guidelines.
  • VeinsAndBones
    VeinsAndBones Posts: 550 Member
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    Am I lifting children? AWESOME BRINGETH ME THE YOUNGLINGS!
  • bonniecarbs
    bonniecarbs Posts: 446 Member
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    When I see my 11 year old grand daughter lifting, I have to make her tone it down a lot. I sneaked up on her one day and she was lifting 70 pounds. Told her I would slap the bojangles outta her if she did it again. She started lifting dumbells at an early age, why she wanted to I don't know. She will whine that what we let her lift is not heavy enough! We explained about the youth thing, that she didn't need to lift any more than we let her. Now she is in love with Tracy Anderson's workout. (so am I)
  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
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    I wouldn't have him use weights. I would suggest just cardio and body weight exercises. Everything I've read said that kids shouldn't lift due to their growth plates. I'd check with the Pedi as well.


    Great job momma for providing a healthy example :D:flowerforyou:

    Just FYI, the "growth plate" fear has been greatly overstated. All professional organizations -- NSCA, Academy of Pediatricians, etc--support the idea of resistance training for children --- with appropriate oversight and a few age-appropriate guidelines.

    yeah i agree - dunno what you are reading but the growth plate fear is vastly overstated

    there is no physiological reason that lifting weights would ever stunt growth in a child
  • runzalot81
    runzalot81 Posts: 782 Member
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    My 7 year old loves to exercise with me. He's not allowed to touch any weights without adult supervision. He gets tired pretty quick but he kills me on the burpees and running :frown:
  • godsgrl33
    godsgrl33 Posts: 307 Member
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    I asked my pediatrician this same question, because we used to supervise the high school gym after school, and our kids were with us. They wanted to lift weights, too. At the time, he was 8, and she said no bigger than a pound or two, but suggested that he do exercises against his own body weight (push-ups, sit-ups, etc.), so he wouldn't hurt himself.
  • phjorg1
    phjorg1 Posts: 642 Member
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    you realize his bodyweight is far greater than 1 lbs right? so if his restriction is 1 lbs then how does a doc say doing body weight mmany times greater than that is ok?

    or maybe that doc is a dumbass and lifting is fine for kids.
  • Lumen1505
    Lumen1505 Posts: 77 Member
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    When I saw this thread I thought you meant lifting my children - I was like hell yes !! I lug around a 21lb baby most of the day, a three year old for around 20 minutes a day (30lbs) following various falls/bumps & grazes and a 5 year old (30lbs) when he wants a mega hug!
    Hmmm wonder what all of that lifting would be classed as lol x:yawn:
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
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    So long as they are taught proper technique, safety, and are supervised, I don't see why they shouldn't lift weights if they want to.
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    I'm not sure I'd let a 10 year old lift weights to be honest but I'm not sure if it causes stunted growth at that age. Bodyweight exercises, gymnastics, yoga, sprints and rowing would be beneficial to them.

    This video might be useful when your kids reach 13+
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QBE4VB6X8E
  • GrendlStig
    GrendlStig Posts: 55 Member
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    Ask your pediatrician. There iS such a thing as being too young to lift weights, due to growth plates in the bones that have yet to fuse. Heavy lifting while the growth plates are soft can cause permanent stunting and deformity. My kids were 12 before they got clearance (by the MD and the gym personnel) to use the weights at the gym - but the treadmill/bikes and exercise classes were fine at age 10. If you question the clinical expertise of your child's MD, you need to find a new one.

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