Does weight training stunt the growth of young boys?

My son is in ninth grade and his friends asked me to write about this subject. Apparently, some parents still believe that lifting weights at an early age can stunt a young boy’s potential height.

It was an intriguing question to ask a visiting fitness expert from the US. For the fourth time in one year, RIP60 suspension training creator Jeremy Strom visited Manila to impart knowledge to local personal trainers. ACE and NASM-certified, he is an IDEA author and presenter, his latest topic being “Correcting Dysfunction Through Intrinsic Biomechanics.”  

We asked Jeremy about his thoughts on the subject, including specific exercises. Too much, even of a good thing, can be bad. The most important thing is to seek the guidance of a fitness authority and maintain some balance. Excerpts:

Philippine STAR: Does weight training at an early age stunt the growth of a boy?

JEREMY STROM: No. It is a common myth that weight training stunts the growth of young boys. In fact, if you look at any playground, you will see boys doing pull-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, jumping off tires, jumping off swings, etc. This would certainly be considered weight training. The one consideration is compressive forces on growth plates from exercises like loaded heavy squats, loaded heavy bench press, etc.

When should a boy start weight training?

Most boys begin weight training unsuspectingly —they start picking up rocks, throwing rocks, and so on. As they get bigger, the rocks get heavier and weight training begins. From a developmental standpoint, boys could start weight training during puberty as the hormonal change will provide support for this new muscle tissue. Body weight training should start as soon as they crawl.

Why should a boy start weight training early?

Boys should start body weight training at an early stage because it creates important motor learning and coordination. They should start loaded weight training at puberty to assist in the usage of new testosterone and other energy-based hormones. Starting at a young age also provides them a strong foundation of strength for a long life of fitness.

How does early weight training encourage a boy to take up sports?

Weight training generally lends itself to sport as a means of testing the boy’s strength, speed, power, and general athletic ability. It also brings them together with like-minded boys and they’re more susceptible to joining their friends in sports and athletics.

What exercises can help a boy develop speed, agility, and stamina for sports?

Up until puberty, general jumping, running, sprinting, push-ups, and pull-ups on monkey bars will increase a boy’s speed, power, endurance, and general strength. This will lead to more organized training and sport-specific weight training, such as functional weight training, Olympic lifting, kettle bells and resisted speed agility, and quickness drills.

As a father, how did you encourage your own son to exercise early in life?

I have found that our lifestyle of fitness has strongly influenced our children in their fitness. When they were babies, I ran with them in a stroller and pulled them behind my bike. I hiked and paddled with them on my bike or in the front of my board and they naturally wanted to join in and be like Dad. I supported them at a young age in the racing triathlon and stand-up paddle, and invited them to train me in their sport to greater influence their commitment and joy of moving and training.

Plyometrics is a buzzword for a lot of parents who want to help their children be excellent in their sports. What is your take on this?

There is a big trend for youth athletes to train HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and plyometrics to increase vertical jump, sprint speed, and power. The challenges with just training in this style are that it causes imbalances in the musculoskeletal and fascial systems. Most professional athletes in the US have a well-rounded regimen of balance, coordination, flexibility, stability, mobility, strength, endurance and then power, and power endurance. This ends with power/plyometrics, which is the shortest phase in most periodized training plans because it is so taxing on the body and causes overload on the connective tissue, creating imbalances and a greater potential for injury.

Mayo Clinic also promotes strength training for kids. “Done properly, strength training offers many bonuses to young athletes. Strength training is even a good idea for kids who simply want to look and feel better. In fact, strength training can put your child on a lifetime path to better health and fitness,” the clinic staff noted.

“For kids, light resistance and controlled movements are best — with a special emphasis on proper technique and safety. Your child can do many strength training exercises with his or her own body weight or inexpensive resistance tubing. Free weights and machine weights are other options,” they explained.

“Don’t confuse strength training with weightlifting, bodybuilding or powerlifting. These activities are largely driven by competition, with participants vying to lift heavier weights or build bigger muscles than those of other athletes. This can put too much strain on young muscles, tendons, and areas of cartilage that haven’t yet turned to bone (growth plates) — especially when proper technique is sacrificed in favor of lifting larger amounts of weight,” they warned.

“As early as age 7 or 8, strength training can become a valuable part of an overall fitness plan — as long as the child is mature enough to follow directions and practice proper technique and form.  If your child expresses an interest in strength training, remind him/her that strength training is meant to increase muscle strength and endurance. Bulking up is something else entirely — and most safely done after adolescence,” Mayo Clinic concluded.

Livestrong.com also cited that Dr. Avery Faigenbaum of the University of Massachusetts dismissed concerns about weight lifting stunting the growth of children and adolescents as outdated and misleading. Dr. Faigenbaum said “that eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly allow you to achieve your maximal height, with inactive, unhealthy eaters more likely to have stunted growth.”

New research even reveals that rather than stunting your growth, weightlifting when you are young may allow you to grow taller than you would without such exercise.

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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.