Teens and weightlifting good or bad

[SJC]

This might be quite a biased place to ask this but here goes. In your opinions is it advisable for teens age 14-17 to train with very low reps 1-4 would this be placing to much stress on the skelital structure? Any comments apreciated.

[cnosaj]

In my opinion yes its fine, but i wouldnt recoment many supps beside protein

[irishpowerhouse]

i would say stay on the 8- 12 reps side of things until you are 15, after that you can go heavy and you will be ok, just use good form and have a spotter. Try to take calcium pills and cod liver oil!

[scottish05]

id say that teenage lifting is the best time to lift since your testosterone levels are naturally so high plus when ur fully grown u have a great base to keep building on

[JoeDirtBody]

the problem with lifting weights as an early teen is that ur growth plates might be compromised, with a injury in the weight room. I believe that is the only problem. tendon strength might be hurt as well as ur body is still growing. alot of teens will get great results using body weight exercise (pushups, one legged squats, back bridge, handstand pushups, crunches, lunges, pullups) to allow a smoother cross over to the wieghts.

that being said i started lifting weights when i was in 7th grade, at the age of 12. i still grew from 5'5 to 6'1 and have added 75 pounds of muscle from a pudgy 130 to a solid 205. body weight exercises are extremely fun to do however, and they help with muscular endurance and keep u in touch with ur body, and allow for better balance and cordination.

if i could do it all again i would have laid a better foundation with body exercises, but it really didnt hurt my gains or my body much.

i would stay away from heavy heavy lifting however

[SJC]

im 16 i havnt grown much recently and probably havnt got much more to grow maybe an extra inch or 2 i wanst particuarly asking for myself its just something i read in beyond brawn said it wasnt advisable for younger teenagers to use low reps (but he also seems biased towards high reps, he advises 20 rep deadlifts)

[EliteRightist]

There's nothing wrong with training with heavy weights as a teen as long as you are using the proper form. So far I have never seen proof anywhere that it can put too much stress on the skeletal structure. Anyone who says this is probably a biased opinion. Also, as teens you will not lift as much as say you would in your 20s or 30s. It takes a while to lift truly huge weights. So if teens are lifting 200, 300, or 400lbs., it's not really that much pressure as compared to say 600 or 800lbs. But as long as the lifts are performed properly, the risk of injury is greatly reduced and I believe that people greatly underestimate the ability and strength of the human skeletal structure, even as a child or teen. This article you are referring to advising 20-rep deadlifts is actually much more likely to cause injury, since you will be much more tired and less likely to use proper form with that many reps, especially when you are still starting out and don't have much experience, increasing the risk of injury.

[Erks]

there's a thin line between whats good and bad, so i dont bother thinking about it

[irishpowerhouse]

i have been bodybuilding since i was 14 and im now 16. when i started i was 5 8" and now i am 6 1 "so training young must be good it didnt do me any harm

[BballBuilder]

I wouldn't do heavy power lifting, but weight training is a fine and useful way to develop discipline and determination in an age where both are few and far between

[sholiz]

I started at 13 years old going heavy ... nothing bad happened to me.

I hate listening to people who say "don't lift weights or you won't grow". I know 50+ kids who have been lifting weights since they were 6th-7th graders and they are mostly over 6', which none of them were that back in 6th-7th grade.

I'd like to see all these claims that say you won't grow, you'll f--k yourself up, blah blah blah. And proof of these claims, not just some magazine article in Woman's World saying that your son weight training is bad.

[bohr800]

I have been lifting for closing on a year, and i have had no injuries, (which is far better then the people who play rugby or football in comparison), and i found it has really helped me health-wise. However, i've always wanted to ask, would you recommend squats for a 15 year old? I do them every week, but i just want to know what you people think of it.

[footballplaya37]

Probably the best overall exercise you could do. For sure the best for legs. Keep doing em

[PatsFan75BC]

Its good as long as you dont over do it

[stvn42088]

Good if you know what you are doing, learn technique and form, and be smart about your training.

Bad if you are an idiot, have a big ego and lift huge weights before you even have the form down, and are too stubborn to listen to people that know what they are doing.

[T-Baby]

Teen BBing is great. It's even better if you buy the superb products from the BB.com superstore to enhance your results.

Good luck!

[progressive]

I started working out at age 13 I guess. I've always heard in the gym and from coaches that when you start getting armpit hair your body is ready to lift. I don't know.

[keepemseparated]

I started working out at age 13 I guess. I've always heard in the gym and from coaches that when you start getting armpit hair your body is ready to lift. I don't know.

if that was true, then i could have started lifting when i was 11 years old.

[harshbanga]

ages 16 and over are leagally allowed to workout in our area. I think thats about right.

[footballplaya37]

Never heard of that.

[Z06]

It seems to me like this would be the equivalent of going to the sex forum and asking if it's ok to have sex. Of course they'd tell you yes.

[keepemseparated]

Never heard of that.

i don't think it's a law, i think they just won't let you go to a local gym. they do that here, too, and i just workout at home.