Too young to lift weights
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| Tue, 04-03-2007 - 9:38am |
I was surprised yesterday when I heard that my 14 yr old nephew was lifting weights. He wants to do it because apparantly everyone in school is and the girls like it. I guess at his age its normal to want to be muscular and to impress girls, but I feel as if he is too young to lift weights. IMO people should start lifting at 18 or maybe 16.
And besides teen boys often have unrealistic expectations of how much they can achieve. Plus I've heard that lifting weights too young can stunt your growth.
I was thinking about telling him to try calisthenics such as pushups or dips. I found this navy seal workout on the internet. Its 18 weeks long, and by the 18th week these guys are doing 400 pushups, 300 dips, 500 situps, and running around 5-7 miles a day or even more.
And its seems to start out reasonably enough.
I've seen people in the military and they're pretty strong. Sure maybe not bodybuilders or pro NFL players, but they are still quite strong and look real good.
And for those wondering why I'm worrying about my nephew, well I helped raise him when he was young so I guess I've come to worry about him like his mother does.
Am I just worrying about too much about all this?

I would be very cautious about giving your nephew any military inspired workout program, those are developed for kids that are 17 at the youngest, and most of the "boots" (basic training folks) are at least 18, and the workout might be too strenuous to be healthy for a 14 y/o. I believe in order to begin SEAL training, guys have to be in their early 20s, which would scare me even more about giving him that program while he's still growing so much.
My DS Z started weight work at 13 with his football coach, though it wasn't very intense at that age, didn't really get intense until about 15. If your nephew works with someone who really understands the physiology of a growing boy and has training in helping teens do weight work, I'm sure he would be fine. I know weight work didn't stunt Z's growth - at 19 he's 5'11" and about 185# - and still growing. He's been working out at the gym for about 3 months now... and the girls are gaga!
Rose
Lifting weights is safe if it's done properly. My SIL is a gym teacher and she said that it can stunt growth if done too fast and if the teens exceed what they can comfortably lift. Lifting will build muscle in time, but for safty reasons a teenagers goal should be tone, not bulk. They should be looking for overall fitness level, not how much they can lift. It's very easy to do some serious damage by lifting too much too soon.
All lifting should be done under supervision, preferably someone who knows and understands weight lifting, and with the permission of the family doctor.
stacy
Rose
Hi. As for the navy seal workout it is quite intense. But it does seem to start out reasonable enough, with 60 pushups, 80 situps and 9 pull ups. It gradually works from there. I thought it might be too intense when I first saw it, but god I hear of teens on the football team benching more than 200 lbs and taking different supplements. The navy workout is his own body weight.
And I don't think the football coaches really focus on their teens health that much. There are teens in there taking supplements, and some even steroids and the coaches seem to turn a blind eye as long as it wins them games. BUt I am going to try to find someone who does understand the teen body and perhaps ask him/her a few things.
" He's been working out at the gym for about 3 months now... and the girls are gaga!"
lol it sometimes surprises me how much teen boys want to impress teen girls. I told my nephew once that he should try to attract girls by his personality rather than lifting weights to look good and well he looked at me as if I was the craziest person alive.
It starts out with 60 pushups, 80 situps and 9 pull ups?? That is definitely a program that is intended for someone who is training very heavy before they even begin this exercise program. When my 19 graduated basic training, after 9 weeks of intense PT every day and additional PT throughout the day, he was able to do that level of workout. I think that is a little too intense for a growing 14 y/o.
As far as football coaches - I think it depends on the school. The coaches here promote a healthy diet that is pretty high in protein, and actively discourage any "juicin'" - one of the starters was kicked off the team for steroid use a couple of years ago.
I think just about ALL younger teens have a tendency to over train when they first start. They want results unrealistically fast, and it just doesn't work that way.
If he follows a plan designed by a trained individual, specifically geared for his level of physical development it can be a rewarding experience for him.
As long as he understands no amount of grunting and straining are going to get those Hulk Hogan biceps and 6 pack abs in three weeks.... :-)
D