Do Squats Stunt your growth ?

[Romeo15]

Guys, my dad is on my ass all the time because he thinks that squats that i want to do with my new barbell are going to stunt my growth. Is there any medical proof I can use to prove to him that squats are actually good and won't stunt my growth ? OR do they ?

BTW : Stats : 15 yrs old, 5'10", 170lbs

Peace

[Superman]

squats don't stunt your growth. They can lead to a possible low back injury but they aren't going to stunt your growth. Just go light at first and gradually build up so that your body can adapt and there shouldn't be a problem with squats

[BigAssDeltoids]

HOw many people are going to ask this friggin question?

The answer is squats can SLOW your growth and, assuming a worse case senario, take about an inch or two off of your final height.. the most important things that will determine your height are: nutrition, ethnic background, parents heights, and how much SLEEP you get...

[Big H]

Yes. Squats have the potential to stunt your growth, assuming you go below parrellel with a lot of weight. If you stay above parrellel until you are done growing, you shouldn't have a problem.

[Overtrainer]

Uhhh Big H I really fail to see HOW going below parallel on an exercise is gonna close your growth plates!! I suppose perhaps you have some kind of documented medical EVIDENCE OF THIS. Because I think this is total BS!!

[BigAssDeltoids]

well maybe going parallel puts more stress on your knees?

[Big H]

Yes overtrainer.. Bigass is right. It puts undue stress on your knee joints, which could seal off the growth plates.. Yes, read a goddamn medical dictionary and you will get proof

[Overtrainer]

thats ridiculous.... give me a reference... I mean YOU DID READ THIS IN A MEDICAL DICTIONARY didnt you? post a little bibliography on here!

[Big H]

LOL my sports doctor told me that.. Even though a lot of them can be wrong, it makes since.. A lot of weight at an awakward position would potentially cause damage to a not fully growen growth plate..

[DominikRyan]

Unless you go insanely heavy and squat with bad form you should be at very low risk of injuring your epiphyseal plates. Your growth won't be stunted unless you crush, displace or break epiphyseal plates. Epiphyseal plates can however really be damaged in training-related accidents. Such accidents are not common but they definitely do exist. Of course, every accident causing broken bones can also cause growth plate injuries. But from this perspective, skiing or climbing trees are just as dangerous as weight lifting. Also, 85% of epiphyseal plate injuries heal without any lasting effect. The other 15%, however, will cause some issues. The bone will either stop growing or grow incorrectly. It's not that bad though, I myself broke my right metacarpus' epiphyseal plate (distal end) when I was 15. It never healed correctly but the only lasting effect is that my pinky's movement isn't very fluid, it pops back and forth slightly.

[XsroKhan]

Guys, my dad is on my ass all the time because he thinks that squats that i want to do with my new barbell are going to stunt my growth. Is there any medical proof I can use to prove to him that squats are actually good and won't stunt my growth ? OR do they ?

BTW : Stats : 15 yrs old, 5'10", 170lbs

Peace

Holy crap it's been 15 years

[Starley]

Its all bull**** man keep squating

[tomundrwd]

Lol dude the guy who posted this is 30 now it's from 2002