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WEIGHT TRAINING

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My young athlete patients are working out and many parents have been asking me multiple questions.

My 13 year is doing bench press. Is that safe and will it stunt his growth?

This is one of the biggest myths in pediatric sports medicine.

Weight Training does not stunt a child’s growth.

If done correctly, weight training is a perfectly safe and beneficial physical activity, especially for the young athlete.

This myth stems from the following:

If a child did a maximum Olympic lift (clean and jerk) and injured the growth plate in his knee, then the injured leg could possibly end up shorter. I have not seen this happen in 25 years of sports medicine practice.

Weight training can be used interchangeably with resistance training. Weight training implies using machine weights or dumbbells. Resistance training implies using bands, cords, or one’s own body weight.

Benefits-

Improved strength and coordination
Increased muscle endurance
Improved sports performance
Increased bone density
Improved bone strength/ bone density
Reduced risk for injury
Improved self-image and self-confidence

Risks:

Weight Training only carries a moderate risk of injury. Football, soccer, and female cross country carry the highest risk. The risks include blunt trauma such as a weight landing on foot, muscle strain, or muscle tear.

What age do you recommend weight training/resistance training?

We typically recommend resistance training as young as age 12.

A child under the age of 12 often cannot perform resistance/weight training exercises with proper form/technique. At age 12 or 13 the strength gains achieved are through enhanced motor efficiency or neuromuscular control. Once puberty sets in, there is muscle hypertrophy (muscles become larger) due to the influence of testosterone.

When done under the appropriate supervision, here are some parameters to look at:

Form/Technique,

Repetitions,

Frequency.

Form/technique is the most important from an injury prevention perspective. When starting out, form should be observed by a fitness professional (sports medicine physician, athletic trainer, physical therapist, certified strength and conditioning specialist). This is a good way to learn proper technique. It is beneficial for a young athlete to video himself/herself performing the exercise. One should start out without weight and ensure proper technique; ideally, this should be done one to three times per week.

Repetitions should be 3 sets of 10 per body part 2-3 times per week. For example, bench press should only be performed 2-3 times per week. Weights should be chosen such that the 9th and 10th repetitions are challenging and somewhat difficult. One should not do a weight where the last 5 repetitions are a struggle, where the athlete is grunting and becoming red in the face! If an athlete experiences fatigue in any way, then form/technique suffers. The athlete may then end up placing more stress on joints which would then lead to injury.

Frequency – Resistance training/weight training should be done only 3 times per week. This gives the muscles and bones 24-48 hours to recover from a workout. Young athletes often run into trouble when they do workouts back to back days, or worse yet, 5 days in a row! Also, and this is an important point – every 6-8 weeks, young athletes should vary their workouts. This prevents a plateau in strength and performance. Reaching a plateau means the inability to lift a higher weight or inability to do more repetitions. You also do not want to become bored with your workout. It’s possible that when a young athlete becomes bored with the workout, they might slack off on technique, which as you know leads to injury.

3 upper body exercises that are good to start with are bench press, bent-over rows, and lateral arm raisers. 3 lower body exercises include lunges, squats, and step-ups.

In summary

weight training/resistance training is a safe exercise in children as young as age 12. With the proper form/technique, frequency, and repetitions there are many benefits (improved sports performance, decrease injury rate) and minimum injury risk.

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