Weight lifting for 13 year old

AngInCanada

Hey everyone. My 13 year old son has decided he wants to do a round of Body Beast with me. He started weight lifting at school about 6 months ago and has fallen in love. Wants a more structured program so he knows exactly what he needs to do. Is there anything I need to be concerned about or watch for that would be different for an adult? Thanks!

cathipa

That's awesome! I would think if he's doing it in school there shouldn't be any difference in doing body beast.

DancingMoosie

Start light and use good form. Does body beast use heavy weights? Hopefully he's learned proper form at school...

Chieflrg

As long as he doesn't ego-lift I wouldn't be too concern, I started a little younger than that and fell in love with it to now 35 years later.

AngInCanada

Body beast uses a variety of weights and i think I'd be more worried about him lifting too heavy at school than at home. Probably gets a bit cocky around friends.

riffraff2112

I work with teenagers that are just beginning training. Recommend a safe rep range (8-12) and keep them away from one rep maxes (you are right, they tend to these at school trying to impress!). Good form is critical. Remind him to work the main muscle groups and not just focus on biceps for example. Some kids tend to want to focus on one or two exercises that they are good at and stay away from ones that they are not. This can lead to strains, and unbalanced development ...another road to injury

Gallowmere1984

Mentally prepare yourself for his natural steroids (puberty) to make him eat you out of house and home, and for his gains to blow yours out of the water.

Karen_can_do_this

My 15 year old son is doing StrongLifts with me. We both love it.

Azdak

The main thing with teens is safety. They can get caught up goofing around with friends, and without knowing proper form, get into trouble. You also want to avoid maximal overhead lifts.

Learning proper form, learning about your body, learning the discipline of following a structured program, gaining self-confidence from becoming stronger--these are all great things for a 13 yr old to learn.

mcraw75

Remember, your 13 year old is still growing and lifting heavy could damage growth plates. I would consult his pediatrician before starting. It's great he wants to lift, but do it safely.

tcunbeliever

Beast is 15/12/8 reps or 15/15 reps depending on which workout you are doing, so as long as he doesn't increase his weights insanely fast and listens to his body he should be fine. I would make sure to add additional stretching either at the end of the workouts or something like yoga several times a week in addition to the program - there is not enough stretching in it and being young he really should preserve that flexibility

_incogNEATo_

riffraff2112 wrote: »

I work with teenagers that are just beginning training. Recommend a safe rep range (8-12) and keep them away from one rep maxes (you are right, they tend to these at school trying to impress!). Good form is critical. Remind him to work the main muscle groups and not just focus on biceps for example. Some kids tend to want to focus on one or two exercises that they are good at and stay away from ones that they are not. This can lead to strains, and unbalanced development ...another road to injury

This would depend on his goals for lifting at school. There is nothing inherently wrong with 1RM training at school either. A lot of schools have powerlifting teams.

OP I'd like to reiterate the fact that form is of paramount importance. Learning proper technique from the go will be much easier than fixing technique down the road. I'm not sure what all is required with body beast, but the same goes for that as lifting at school.

mreichard

mcraw75 wrote: »

Remember, your 13 year old is still growing and lifting heavy could damage growth plates. I would consult his pediatrician before starting. It's great he wants to lift, but do it safely.

I read up on this a bit when my teenage son started lifting. Apparently pediatricians used to caution against kids lifting for this reason. When the science was actually investigated, this widely accepted conventional wisdom was found to trace back to a 1920s study of child labor in China. The kids in that study were undernourished and lifting huge loads for hours every day. Current guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (I think that's the name) is that strength training is OK (assuming caveats about safety, form, etc.)

CipherZero

mreichard wrote: »

mcraw75 wrote: »

Remember, your 13 year old is still growing and lifting heavy could damage growth plates. I would consult his pediatrician before starting. It's great he wants to lift, but do it safely.

Current guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (I think that's the name) is that strength training is OK (assuming caveats about safety, form, etc.)

The usual recommendation I've heard is a linear progression program (think stronglifts, starting strength, etc.) can't be effectively done in male suntil they reach Tanner Stage 4 as they won't be producing sufficient testosterone to fuel the muscle size & strength gains.

Z_I_L_L_A

My nephew wrestles, plays football and power lifts. He wanted to workout with us, so around 10 we made him his routine. Hi reps light weight, knowing that he is too young for heavy one rep max. By the time he was twelve he wanted to enter PL comp. We worked him up to a single by the time the meet came. He broke state record in bench, squat and overall in 148 lb class for his age group. Today he is a 9th grader (14) weighs 160, benched 185 for 10 the other day.

mreichard

Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »

My nephew wrestles, plays football and power lifts. He wanted to workout with us, so around 10 we made him his routine. Hi reps light weight, knowing that he is too young for heavy one rep max. By the time he was twelve he wanted to enter PL comp. We worked him up to a single by the time the meet came. He broke state record in bench, squat and overall in 148 lb class for his age group. Today he is a 9th grader (14) weighs 160, benched 185 for 10 the other day.

Question for you: where would you say your nephew is relative to peers in terms of physical maturity (e.g. not shaving yet/ full beard, voice changed at 10 or at 13)?

Z_I_L_L_A

mreichard wrote: »

Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »

My nephew wrestles, plays football and power lifts. He wanted to workout with us, so around 10 we made him his routine. Hi reps light weight, knowing that he is too young for heavy one rep max. By the time he was twelve he wanted to enter PL comp. We worked him up to a single by the time the meet came. He broke state record in bench, squat and overall in 148 lb class for his age group. Today he is a 9th grader (14) weighs 160, benched 185 for 10 the other day.

Question for you: where would you say your nephew is relative to peers in terms of physical maturity (e.g. not shaving yet/ full beard, voice changed at 10 or at 13)?

Normal voice, no facial hair, the body of a 18-19 year old. Muscle definition and striations very noticeable. Wrestling coach wanted him to drop 10 lbs to a lower class, I'm like he's around 3% BF what's he got left to lose? Not a very good coach in my opinion. Made weight but was real weak. So finally back to normal weight and winning matches.