Can Kids Use Weights?
I am tired of the misconceptions about youth weight lifting.
Yes, my son is 15 and he has been training with weights regularly for 2 years. He got started at about age 10 with light weights.
Let's end the nonsense right here:
1. Positive outcomes of improved strength in youth continue to be acknowledged, including improvements in health, fitness, rehabilitation of injuries, injury reduction, and physical literacy.
2. Resistance training is not limited to lifting weights but includes a wide array of body weight movements that can be implemented at young ages to improve declining measures of muscular fitness among children and adolescents.
3. Scientific research supports a wide acceptance that children and adolescents can gain strength with resistance training with low injury rates if the activities are performed with an emphasis on proper technique and are well supervised.
4. Gains in childhood strength are primarily attributed to the neurologic mechanism of increases in motor neuron recruitment, allowing for increases in strength without resultant muscle hypertrophy.
5. It is important to incorporate resistance training into physical education classes and youth sport programs to increase muscular strength, reduce the risk of overuse injuries, and spark an ongoing interest in this type of exercise.
6. Certain health situations require consultation with a medical professional before starting a program of resistance training.
Another thing I tell parents is that they failed physics.
"“When figure skaters land, they can experience five to eight times their body weight,” said BYU exercise science professor Sarah Ridge. “And that happens within 50-125 milliseconds, which is not a lot of time for the body to absorb that magnitude of force.” Skaters feel eight times their body weight when they land a jump - BYU News
"The peak forces recorded in gymnasts' landing ranged from 8.2 to 11.6 times the body weight."
"Imagine a linebacker who weighs 240 pounds-mass (lbm) hitting a fullback who also weighs 240 lbm and who is running at 9 yd per second. After the collision, the fullback's final speed is zero. In other words, the force is equivalent to about one-half ton in the negative (backward) direction." Football: Mass, Momentum, and Collisions - injuries - World of Sports Science (faqs.org)
"Elite sprinters often apply peak vertical forces of 3-5 times body weight and average vertical forces of 2-2.5 times body weight during each Ground Contact."
Get someone to teach your child great technique.
Go slowly.
You will see amazing results!
