Teenage daughter wants to "tone up"

She's at the age when many young teen girls lose the desire to just go out and "play", so be happy she's interested in staying fit. I'd have her try several different things (whatever fits your budget and her interests) to help her find something that could become a life-long physical activity. Over the years, my girls took ballet, Irish dancing, figure and roller skating, swimming, and horseback riding lessons. Both of them continued with Irish dance and horseback riding into adulthood.

Just googled it- I'm talking twaddle. Maybe I should have done that first::blushing:

No sweat, I was just curious as to where you got the idea. I know when I was in high school, the guys involved in sports (football, basketball) used the weight room regularly. Stength training can actually help avoid injuries during sports and as long as they're being safe, not pushing through injuries, etc, there should be no problem.

My daughter is 17, 5'7" and weighs maybe 113. She has the tiniest waist I think I've ever seen and a figure that literally makes me ill. lol However, she was not in shape. Unfortunately, she didn't learn healthy habits from her father nor I. So when I started this, I just talked to her about what I'm doing. Before long, she started going to yoga with me (she still goes but it isn't my favorite), getting some cardio, and will sometimes get her strength training moves on with me. Through it ALL, though, we are focused on health. What can we do to make our bodies as healthy as possible. I think as long as the focus is on health and strength, you can't really mess up. My two cents.

M16yr old daughter lifts weights with me every morning.... and heavy ones too.

But if you are not up for or into that, maybe some Cha Lean or Jillian Michaels Dvd's from walmart.

Is that safe!!! Surely her bones are still developing.

I'm confused by this question...care to elaborate?

Weight training actually helps to increase bone density, which is why it's an excellent thing for women to do at any age...and unfortunately that so many women shy away from it in fear of "bulking up". Knowing this mother is a heavy weight lifter, I would assume she eats plenty of calories with a good macro balance and has her daughter do the same.

I might be wrong but I thought heavy weights could cause muscle to pull on growing bone plates. Nothing to do with bulking up. Just isnt the skeleton still being formed at that age?

Probably not an issue at 16.

The growth plate fracture issue exists, but it is not as risky as was thought 15-20 years ago. The guidelines for adolescent strength training recommend no maximal lifts and no heavy overhead lifting. But by "heavy", we are talking 1-5RM.

People have different interpretations of what is considered "heavy", but it's probably best expressed in terms of number of reps. E.g. If a 14 yr old can bench press 100lbs 12 times, then it is not a "heavy" weight for him or her.

When I was that age I loved to do free weights training and really pushed myself. My dad was (and still is at 62) into heavy weight training so I was inspired by him and the various weights magazines he had lying around.

It really made me feel empowered as a female to be lifting weights, I felt different and special but in a good way! I didn't boast about it or anything, it was just my own thing that made me feel good.

I think it's set me up for life, I can easily gain muscle even if I've not exercised for ages, I am regularly commented on about how strong I am (ie. by a Turkish karate champion who told me I had a 'gift' - I think that was a tad extreme!!).

She might think it's a 'boy' thing to do but there's loads of inspirational females who lift weights (without looking extreme!).

I guess you just need to find something that she likes - it might just as well be zumba or gymnastics.

M16yr old daughter lifts weights with me every morning.... and heavy ones too.

But if you are not up for or into that, maybe some Cha Lean or Jillian Michaels Dvd's from walmart.

Is that safe!!! Surely her bones are still developing.

Um...yeah? Thus the reason why most schools offer weight lifting as a class. Honestly, developing a foundation in weight lifting at that time is perfect timing really. With them still growing, the weight lifting indirectly helps strengthen bones as well. It is much slower than muscles but just like the body pumps more blood and fluids to the area to speed recovery, so to does it pump calcium and stuff to the area to aide the body in strengthening the bones there too.

Also, I forgot about that. If she really wants to get into weight lifting and stuff like that, I would look into her school I know my old high school had a weight lifting class as a PE possibility, and they basically do the same thing the YMCA does and helps to develop a strong starting base with proper form, etc... and they are constantly supervised with it.