what age for children to start weight training?

theCarlton

As soon as they're able to hold their heads up on their own.

trailtripper

Ask her Peditrician ...

THIS! and ask then about sports and such! Starting team sports at a young age has many additional benefits beside exercise (team work, common goals and leadership just to mention a few).

DrMAvDPhD

Well I really have no idea about actual weight lifting, I know that gymnastics and ballet can really build up the muscle/strength in young children. Maybe you suggest she get into those?

WendyTerry420

Think about it this way, 100 years ago, children as young as six were lifting heavy things all the time, working on the farm. I don't think it's too young if you are teaching the child correct form. As young as 5, my dad was already helping chop wood and carrying it to the wood pile.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

neandermagnon

thanks for all the replies

I definitely agree with the points about having fun, etc. She has toy dumbbells (hollow plastic, weigh next to nothing) which she uses to do bodyweight exercises like "dumbbell" squats. It probably is just that she wants to be like me. Definitely will try to get her into some kind of organised exercise club, we live in Bahrain so things like that are not so easy to find, plus we're on a budget and have transport issues right at the moment - hopefully to be resolved in the not too distant future but I can't just go and sign her up for any club I would want to just at the moment.

Re bodyweight exercises versus weights - is there a significant difference between a child doing push-ups and bench pressing a similar weight - say for the sake of argument the child is pushing with a force of 100 Newtons when doing a push-up, then is there really a significant difference between that and the same child bench pressing with a 10kg weight (which would require a force of 100 Newtons to push it upwards)? - again this is not for now, I think she's fine with the bodyweight exercises plus toy dumbbells for now, but for future reference. And also, because she wants to do it. I'm all for encouraging kids to be active and sporty, but I also think they should get a choice of what kind of activities they want to do, and if weight lifting is what they really want to do, and if it's safe, then why not that? Yes I will try to expose her to all kinds of other activities within what's available and possible on our budget, so that she is making a choice more than just copying me.

Also I'm toying with the idea of buying 1lb dumbbells, so she has some "real" dumbbells to use for the same kinds of exercises she's doing already, so she feels like she's lifting real weights and doesn't lose her enthusiasm, and I can teach her the correct form, so she can move on to heavier weights when she's old enough (will probably take a paediatricians advice as suggested for what age is old enough for lifting heavy). The one 1lb weights would still be under my supervision, because I know kids can prat about. The hollow plastic ones they have already for playing with, it would be really hard to do any damage to themselves or anyone's property with those lol (hence why I bought them).

delonda1

If you google kids fitness equipment you will find foam bench presses and stuff to atleast start good form and training without hurting self. but honestly if you can get just 3lb dumbbells it wont do damage

neandermagnon

yep both my girls do bodyweight squats with perfect form... I even told the older one that many grown ups can't do this any more because they stopped practicing it as they got older, so they lost the ability to do it. I'm hoping this encourages her to keep on doing bodyweight squats so she retains her good form as she gets older. (same for the younger one when she's old enough to understand)

karrielynn80

I used to compete in the bench press area as a teen - but my coach would not work with anyone under the age of 13/14 - said that they body wasn't develped enough to do so. Mind you - we were lifting heavy (not doing so for sake of health & general maint.) and i'm sure that serves true b/c of some calcium levels or whatnot before you go thru puberty, or something. But i'd assume if it's not OVER stressing the body any age would be good...

then again, you'd have to factor in size & frame, b/c even the standard bars for most lifts are 45 and would be too much for a 6 yr old, i'd think...

BullDozier

Check this out:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/phys-ed-the-benefits-of-weight-training-for-kids/

The conclusion of this article states that the best exercises for kids are body weight exercises. I'd agree with that.

The following is NOT a medical expert opinion, but I did have this conversation with a friend of mine. He is a high school football coach and is the strength coach for the other high school programs. His kids are about my kids age (10 and under, my oldest is 11). I asked when he thought it was safe to start lifting weights. He said he would not encourage kids to lift weights before high school, except for those who are physically advanced, and he would encourage it in 8th grade then. He said kids our age should be working on body weight exercises. Again, he's not a medical expert, but it does seem to go with the general consensus that kids this age should be doing body weight exercises.

Lupercalia

I'm not sure whether it was ok or not, but I was a gymnast as a child and was training in a gym that was turning out olympic gymnasts at the time. This was during the late 70s through the late 80s. They started us lifting weights a couple times a week (mostly upper body from what I can recall) when I was about 9 or 10. Nothing crazy heavy, not olympic barbells. I'm talking dumbbells mostly, and some cable machine type exercises. Strength training stepped up as we got older and stronger, but we did start pretty young back then...and I think it probably did help our gymnastics work. That was also at a time when gymnastics as a sport was going through a big shift--much more power and strength was becoming necessary for women. So that's what we did. I don't know if weight training at a young age stunted my growth--I got too tall and too injured for competitive gymnastics, but I didn't grow as tall as doctors predicted I would as a toddler.

Gymnastics by itself is an incredible way to build muscle, body awareness, coordination, flexibility....I think it's pretty great if you can somehow do that where you live. Alternatively, perhaps work on basic gymnastics movements at home. Handstands, cartwheels, forward rolls, backward rolls, bridges (back bends), etc.

JulesAlloggio

totally agree with this. Children are still developing their bodies. Let them grow and be natural. I would say when Teenage years hit with puberty..then introduce weight training to them.

plynn54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh9950Z5ERg

KatrinaWilke

When they are ready and they want to.

^This!

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Sure somebody has already said this but talk to your child's doctor.

smileitconfusespeople

At my younger sisters school, they have a gym and year 8 (12-13) the girls are allowed to use weight machines without close supervision and free weights on an almost one to one. Not sure if this helps but that is what a high school thinks

bumblebums

There are very young lifters out there. 12-year old girls, etc.

When I was in elementary school PE, they had us do body weight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, climbing rope, sit-ups/crunches, etc.) Those are perfectly safe for a kid. I would imagine that lighter weights are also okay. I would avoid anything extreme though.

WendyTerry420

There are very young lifters out there. 12-year old girls, etc.

When I was in elementary school PE, they had us do body weight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, climbing rope, sit-ups/crunches, etc.) Those are perfectly safe for a kid. I would imagine that lighter weights are also okay. I would avoid anything extreme though.

^^ This too!

Always remember that "heavy" is relative. :bigsmile:

SlickFootAnna

10 months! Make them start working out for that bottle of milk!

BinaryPulsar

I think it is fine to start young, as long as they are not overdoing it. But, I'm really just replying here to read the responses later. If I had weights at home, my kids would start now with my supervision (ages 6 and 8), they are also eager because they know I lift weights. But, I go to the gym and I think they need to be 12 before they could go there (and they seem to have special deals in the summer for the teens). But, now that I think about it, we do have a weight room here at our apartments with light dumbbells, maybe I can take them there sometime to try it out.

I have read that it is a myth that weights stunts growth.

My kids also use 2 pound dumbbells for fun to learn exercises with. They also dance and run and do other play activity. I think those are too light, even for them. Five pounds would be fine.

My six year old gets on my back and I do squats. She often asks me if she can "be my weights".

lizziebeth1028

6 is too young. There are a lot of other kid friendly sports and activities you can get her involved in. If she still wants to lift when she turns 12ish or so then you can make a decision.

WendyTerry420

I think it is fine to start young, as long as they are not overdoing it. But, I'm really just replying here to read the responses later. If I had weights at home, my kids would start now with my supervision (ages 6 and 8), they are also eager because they know I lift weights. But, I go to the gym and I think they need to be 12 before they could go there (and they seem to have special deals in the summer for the teens). But, now that I think about it, we do have a weight room here at our apartments with light dumbbells, maybe I can take them there sometime to try it out.

I have read that it is a myth that weights stunts growth.

My kids also use 2 pound dumbbells for fun to learn exercises with. They also dance and run and do other play activity. I think those are too light, even for them. Five pounds would be fine.

My six year old gets on my back and I do squats. She often asks me if she can "be my weights".

I completely agree. These days, kids are coddled way too much. Many American kids today could never survive a day on the farm.

This thread reminds me of one a while back asking if a kid should be allowed to run. Kids should be allowed to do what their little hearts desire, in terms of growth and development. We should teach them how to do, but let them fly and watch them soar beyond what we ever thought they could!

SanteMulberry

Growing bones require gentler treatment than those of adults. Just because a child WANTS to do something doesn't mean that he/she should. Ballet schools will not put young girls "on point" because they know it will distort their leg and foot bones. Chinese women suffered a hobbling gait for the rest of their lives from the habit of foot-binding. Jacqueline Kennedy became bow-legged from horseback riding. You can do very real damage to the bones of children by causing them to lift weights that are too heavy for their growing bone structure. Lifting their own body weight is probably harmless but using actual progressively heavier weights is, more than likely, asking for trouble. How many children were injured by lifting heavy weights on the farm? Likely a lot. I have a friend whose dad was "doing a man's work" on his family farm from the time he was ten. He struggled with a lot of musculo-skeletal problems (several dislocations, bursitis, rotator cuff injury, arthritis, ligament strains, tendonitis and torn muscles) for the rest of his life. Was it the work that caused it? He thought so.