my 13 year old son

sunman00

will be 14 in March,

he's become very keen on fitness & getting in shape,

he does 150 pushups per day, loads of tricep dips, sit ups etc & he plays for his school rugby team & has fun taking down kids twice his size

we have a new dumbbell set at home with a bench which the whole family is using; he's very strong & is keen to increase his weights, and I wondered if you had any knowledge or thoughts on teenagers working out?

wife & I do 6x4 or 5x5 4 days per week, he joins in for 2 sessions as he does a lots of sports at school & rugby training/ matches.

I let him do the same sets we do but am reluctant to let him come down to 5-8 reps. I've got him doing 12-15 as I'm conscious that his body is still developing & the bits of research that I've read support that, but the research refers you 'young' and 'adolescence' rather than a specific age group.
eldest son is 16 so I'm more prepared to 'let him go' but he's not that interested, he just likes to play football which is great.

any thoughts?

neandermagnon

best time to start, with adolescent boy hormones in his system (i.e 2x the testosterone of a grown man, if he's hit that stage of adolescence). Arnold Schwarzeneger started training pretty young, maybe not quite as young as 14

the stuff about lifting heavy harming growth or development AFAIK there's no scientific evidence to back it up. So long as he's eating enough to support the exercise he's doing and to grow as well I don't think there's an issue. Also of course it's vital to have good form and that he's using weights that are not too heavy for him, same as for adults but I wouldn't expect a 14 yr old boy to have the emotional maturity of an adult, so less able to recognise when a weight is too heavy, or less able to resist the temptation to lift too heavy weights to show off etc (although you know your son's personality, not all 14 yr old boys are the same in this respect, he may be super-mature for his age).

you could always check with a doctor who knows sports regarding this.

stumblinthrulife

Get him a barbell and put him on a beginner program like starting strength, stronglifts or Wendler. At this age he's positively full of testosterone and this is time to give him a head start on physical development. Stop restricting him to endurance rep ranges and let him build some maximal strength and muscle. Even the smallest fly half is going to be strong and pack a lot of muscle for his size.

SideSteel

I haven't come across anything credible that would make me concerned about a young teenager lifting in strength rep ranges provided proper technique is maintained.

haroon_awan

At his age I wouldn't be against taking him to a very good CrossFit gym if you can afford it in order to get him accustomed to doing compound exercises with the barbell. Local gyms normally suck unless they have great trainers and equipment and personally I would love to have gone to a crossFit gym at 13!

Cranquistador

My son's pediatrician gave him the go ahead to lift at 13. He is now 15...6'3" and doing just fine in the 5x5 range(stronglifts) with slightly higher reps on some accessory lifts.