Is 10 year old too young to exercise?
rosey808
Posts: 92 Member
My 10 year old is a swimmer, she swims 2x a week for 2 hours.
I started Focus T25 3 weeks ago and she's started doing it with me. She only does it 2x a week, and she does the regular workout, not the modified like I do.
Is 10 too young to work out? She's happy doing it, and she wants to build muscle for competitions, I just don't want her to over work herself.
Thanks!
I started Focus T25 3 weeks ago and she's started doing it with me. She only does it 2x a week, and she does the regular workout, not the modified like I do.
Is 10 too young to work out? She's happy doing it, and she wants to build muscle for competitions, I just don't want her to over work herself.
Thanks!
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Replies
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I don't think so. My kids are bundles of energy so working out is just organized movement for them. They're going to move anyway. I don't know anything about T25, though. My boys (ages 4-11) play A LOT of sports and do Crossfit kids (which is a lot of body weight functional exercises and games). The only things I watch out for is that they get enough calories to compensate for the added activity. My kids are SKINNY so calorie intake is very important for them. So far they've stayed the course on their growth charts, but I do watch it.0
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As long as she is getting enough calories and sleep to fuel her, she should be fine.
Edited for typo0 -
Not at all. Exercise is just purposely doing physical activity in order to get in shape or stay in shape, rather than having that activity built into your normal everyday activities. Kids usually get enough activity (or at least should) by their normal running around and playing so they don't generally exercise for the sake of exercising. But if she wants to do it, there's nothing wrong with it. My daughter is 8 and sometimes likes to lift weights with me. I just give her a light bar or dumbbell and she does a modified version of what I'm doing.0
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Not at all. Exercise is just purposely doing physical activity in order to get in shape or stay in shape, rather than having that activity built into your normal everyday activities. Kids usually get enough activity (or at least should) by their normal running around and playing so they don't generally exercise for the sake of exercising. But if she wants to do it, there's nothing wrong with it. My daughter is 8 and sometimes likes to lift weights with me. I just give her a light bar or dumbbell and she does a modified version of what I'm doing.
Thanks, I was trying to figure out a way to say that without sounding condescending
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I exercised young. Weight training is ok too, just be careful. I started weight training ~15 and we did exercise DVD's much younger as part of school (home schooled).
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/is-weight-training-safe-for-kids0 -
I wish my mom had done fun workouts for me to be involved in when I was 10 - I definitely wouldn't be trying to learn how to work out now if that had been the case!!
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ashdawg8790 wrote: »I wish my mom had done fun workouts for me to be involved in when I was 10 - I definitely wouldn't be trying to learn how to work out now if that had been the case!!
This is exactly why we encourage our kids to do it. We are hoping to build healthy habits that will last to adulthood.0 -
My 10 year old is a swimmer, she swims 2x a week for 2 hours.
I started Focus T25 3 weeks ago and she's started doing it with me. She only does it 2x a week, and she does the regular workout, not the modified like I do.
Is 10 too young to work out? She's happy doing it, and she wants to build muscle for competitions, I just don't want her to over work herself.
Thanks!
if she's swimming, she's already working out...so I don't see what the problem would be.0 -
its definitely not too young, especially if its something the child wants to do all of their own volition.
Weight training under the ate of 13 isn't supposed to be good though.
I got to think most if pro athletes and pretty much all Olympic athletes started training in their sport before they were 10.
I used to be on an age group swim team with kids as young as 5 and they did not go easy on them.0 -
My 4 year old regularly joins me in exercising - I think it's a very healthy thing to teach children. If you have grown up with exercising being the norm, then it's hopefully something that you will keep up into later life. 0
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When I was 10 I ran around all day but didn't think of it as exercise. Of course I didn't have cable TV with over 100 channels, computers, smart phones or video games. I had a bike and a ball and friends houses I could run to. I also walked to and from school too, but no exercise.0
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We used to call it "playing outside" Did it often, almost continously0
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When I was 10 I ran around all day but didn't think of it as exercise. Of course I didn't have cable TV with over 100 channels, computers, smart phones or video games. I had a bike and a ball and friends houses I could run to. I also walked to and from school too, but no exercise.
Of course I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but everything you mentioned is exercise even though it was in the form of play and enjoyable.
I guess that's my point when I said as long as the child chooses to do it themselves, what's the problem?0 -
When I was 10 I ran around all day but didn't think of it as exercise. Of course I didn't have cable TV with over 100 channels, computers, smart phones or video games. I had a bike and a ball and friends houses I could run to. I also walked to and from school too, but no exercise.
you forgot the stick and tin can
op: no I don't think it's too early. if she is swimming then she is working out. exercise can take many forms, and her doing the video with you is good bonding time and teaching her healthy habits for the future0 -
i remember that, play in the front garden, back garden or the park. things have changed alot now.We used to call it "playing outside" Did it often, almost continously
my daughter is 7 and comes to my bootcamp class in the park. She tries to do as much of it as she can but mostly she is messing around. i wont force her to to do it though.
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I agree that there is nothing wrong with it. Most play is exercise anyway, be it running, biking, playing sports, swimming, etc. I do wonder about the "building muscle for competitions". IIRC, weight training to build muscle shouldn't start until they hit puberty and they have the hormones flowing. I could be wrong and welcome correction or clarification.0
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I agree that there is nothing wrong with it. Most play is exercise anyway, be it running, biking, playing sports, swimming, etc. I do wonder about the "building muscle for competitions". IIRC, weight training to build muscle shouldn't start until they hit puberty and they have the hormones flowing. I could be wrong and welcome correction or clarification.
this is always what I've heard although I'm not 100% sure of the physiological reasons. I had always heard it was because bones had not fully matured and were prone to damage. Not necessarily breaking bones but it would somehow be bad for them.0 -
My peers and I all grew up on farms....we called it work or chores, but it was in addition to playing or sports. Also used to drag feed bags around, buckets of corn, picking rock, and moving armfuls of syphon tubes around. <-sounds a bit like weight lifting.0
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I think that a certain amount of weight lifting at an early age is fine. When I say a light bar for my daughter, I mean a really light bar. The one in the picture below is one from a beginner's weight set and when I use it I don't count it as any weight. When she uses dumbbells, she's using 5-7.5 pounds most of the time. But I know plenty of kids, especially farm kids, who are hauling around more weight than that while doing their daily chores. I'm not loading up a bar and expecting her to bench 55# (her bodyweight) but reasonable weights are fine for her right now.
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No_Finish_Line wrote: »I agree that there is nothing wrong with it. Most play is exercise anyway, be it running, biking, playing sports, swimming, etc. I do wonder about the "building muscle for competitions". IIRC, weight training to build muscle shouldn't start until they hit puberty and they have the hormones flowing. I could be wrong and welcome correction or clarification.
this is always what I've heard although I'm not 100% sure of the physiological reasons. I had always heard it was because bones had not fully matured and were prone to damage. Not necessarily breaking bones but it would somehow be bad for them.
I know Little League baseball won't let pitchers throw any kind of curveball, etc. because of the potential damage that the unusual movement can do to the arm bones and ligaments.
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I agree that there is nothing wrong with it. Most play is exercise anyway, be it running, biking, playing sports, swimming, etc. I do wonder about the "building muscle for competitions". IIRC, weight training to build muscle shouldn't start until they hit puberty and they have the hormones flowing. I could be wrong and welcome correction or clarification.
I agree with that, but it sounds like she is doing a cardio/body weight based program with her mom (that's what T25 is, right?). That should certainly build some strength and help her swimming. I think it is good that she wants to get better at her sport (without doing anything unhealthy to achieve it).0 -
piperdown44 wrote: »My peers and I all grew up on farms....we called it work or chores, but it was in addition to playing or sports. Also used to drag feed bags around, buckets of corn, picking rock, and moving armfuls of syphon tubes around. <-sounds a bit like weight lifting.
that's a good point, but it doesn't mean there were not any potential draw backs you did or did not avoid.
if its part of your way of life, or your child is that gung ho about doing lifts with almost no weight, your probably not in a whole lot of danger.
I think its more to deter the extreme of going for one rep max every week at 11 years old.0 -
No_Finish_Line wrote: »piperdown44 wrote: »My peers and I all grew up on farms....we called it work or chores, but it was in addition to playing or sports. Also used to drag feed bags around, buckets of corn, picking rock, and moving armfuls of syphon tubes around. <-sounds a bit like weight lifting.
that's a good point, but it doesn't mean there were not any potential draw backs you did or did not avoid.
if its part of your way of life, or your child is that gung ho about doing lifts with almost no weight, your probably not in a whole lot of danger.
I think its more to deter the extreme of going for one rep max every week at 11 years old.
True but we didn't think it was out of the ordinary.
Definitely no one rep maxes! But then I don't think anyone was promoting that.
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I think that a certain amount of weight lifting at an early age is fine. When I say a light bar for my daughter, I mean a really light bar. The one in the picture below is one from a beginner's weight set and when I use it I don't count it as any weight. When she uses dumbbells, she's using 5-7.5 pounds most of the time. But I know plenty of kids, especially farm kids, who are hauling around more weight than that while doing their daily chores. I'm not loading up a bar and expecting her to bench 55# (her bodyweight) but reasonable weights are fine for her right now.
I agree with this too. My boys will do VERY light kettlebell or bar work, but really nothing more than they could do lifting things at home or outside. They are just learning the proper movements and how it feels with a little weight. There is no finding a 1RM or anything of that sort. When I think of no weightlifting for kids, I'm thinking more serious stuff.0 -
Not at all. Exercise is just purposely doing physical activity in order to get in shape or stay in shape, rather than having that activity built into your normal everyday activities. Kids usually get enough activity (or at least should) by their normal running around and playing so they don't generally exercise for the sake of exercising. g.
As you say, they should. Judging by the levels of childhood obesity, it's not happening.
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My 10 year old does gymnastics (so body-weight exercise) basically every day. She's also a typically active kid who bikes/runs/swims etc. She needs extra food and rest when she's unusually active, but otherwise I just let her figure out how much to do (except hiking--that requires a cattle prod. She doesn't find it nearly as entertaining as I do!)
I think as long as you aren't pushing her to do more than she's comfortable with, her own sense of what is "too hard/too painful" will kick in before she risks injury.0 -
When I was 10-11 I was in a PE class in which I was running and doing pushups and pullups. I think these types of exercises are great and safe for kids at that age.0
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Thanks!! I really appreciate all the responses.
My daughter is very athletic and is all muscle. She's very thin and tall (5ft), weighs 100lbs. Doctor said it was pure muscle. She's very competitive and became more so when she swam with one of her teammates that qualified at the Olympic trials, so now that's her goal.
It's kind of funny how easy T25 is for her, while I'm busting my hump doing the modified version.
Anyway, thanks again!0 -
I think it'd be to young to focus on an actual exercise program for her, but if she joins you in yours, that's good. Means she's staying active. My mom actually got the Sweatin' to the Oldies when it first came out and my sister and I would join her because we thought it was fun, we didn't care that it was exercise she was doing to try and lose weight.0
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