How do you feel about this.

[jtunderdog]

My son is in 6th grade and his pe coach has them doing squats, deads, bench presses and pushups. I don't have a problem so much with the pushups but it kinda bothers me that he has him doing big compound movements and maxing at 12 years old. Do you think Im overreacting? His growth plates are mega open and that just bothers me. I also wanted this to be something we shared and had no idea and never saw a permission slip for this. I kinda always planned on him starting at eight grade summer personally.

 

[mike ross]

way too early for compound movements IMHO. Use pullups, chins, pushups and walking lunges...no extra weights...12 is too young...the coach thinks he is probably helping the kids and he's only going to rush them into puberity and stunt their growth

 

[NAIR]

JT,cmon man! To young for compound movements? Are kidding me? Too young for AAS yes, but standard strength training sessions that include...my oh my compound movements (scarrrrry) are not only safe but likely very healthy. Considering the kid is healthy, and he's not putting in 2 hours a day 5 days a week, he'll be fine!

And since he's probably only doing PE once or twice a week for an hour at most this most especially an overreaction.

I think it's really cool you have a PE teacher there with some balls who's teaching the kids how to train properly. You should be thankful!

IMO...

 

[NAIR]

way too early for compound movements IMHO. Use pullups, chins, pushups and walking lunges...no extra weights...12 is too young...the coach thinks he is probably helping the kids and he's only going to rush them into puberity and stunt their growth

Really? Don't you think you should first consider length, duration, and the intesity of the training before you make that kind of judgment? I don't know buddy, seems like a bit of a leap :nope:

 

[Metal85]

I kind of agree with boith of you bc on the one hand im sure its alright to do those movements with light weight, on the other hand u said 'maxing' which I would probably not want my 12 year old son to do either

 

[Ox 51]

I think it's way to early. He hasn't even hit his growth spurt yet. I have bad knees just from catching during my early teenage years and all the squatting up and down. And that is without weights.

 

[glycomann]

I nderstood decades ago that weight training at that age is really rough on the joint tissue but some say otherwise. Here's some guy's paper.

http://www.fitwize4kids.com/articles/StrengthTraining.pdf

 

[big in vegas]

I don't think it's too early for the movements, but it might be kinda early to max out. I don't see anything wrong with doing some weight to get used to the movement and learn how to properly lift at that age. Look at all the high school kids who come in a gym and do things all the wrong ways, those are the guys that hurt themselves. so learning ealy isn't a bad thing, but doing a max weight, might be if he's not carefully watching them.

 

[MMX2]

I don't think its early for the movement provided that proper form is being shown and they are not maxing out.

 

[mike ross]

Really? Don't you think you should first consider length, duration, and the intesity of the training before you make that kind of judgment? I don't know buddy, seems like a bit of a leap :nope:

NO I SHOULDNT. Any kid, less than 14, should not be touching weights with the intention of maxing out. Sorry, it ruins them later. the coach thinks hes doing the kid a favor and hes not. Yes it can induce puberty early too. Early puberty means can mean a person does not grow as tall and alter their metabolism also.

You wanna turn your kid into a beast. Follow the herschel walker workout when he was young. Didnt touch a weight til college...Too much emphasis on max this and that. I work with a few college athletic programs. Maxing is not crucial to many of the strength coaches i work with. Hence why max a kid out at 12

Teaching proper form and movement, well i can go along with that...sorry guess i should have clarified my original post

 

[Chris-Winfield]

Ive read a few years back about high rep training releasing more growth hormone , while lower rep training releases testosterone. I do not know how much merit the article had and Im not bothering looking for it.

However , being so young I think most kids unless they are motivated and its something they want to do. Do not do the movements correctly and thats a high risk of injury at a young age due to that. I think they should be doing stretching , and learning about the movements , proper nutrition , proper execution..

I would lean towards high rep training for kids but I have no idea on the negative impacts it could hold.... repetitive movements , bad for joints etc... Maybe the spikes in growth hormone levels may stunt growth also I dont know just throwing it out there cause maybe it would promote growth without prematurely closing the plates.

 

[jtunderdog]

Like I said I am more nervous about him hurting himself. He showed me his form for a squat and it was horrible. He was leaning forward but then said the coach did fix it. I do think maxing is totally ridiculous. I mean what is it going to prove for a sixth grader. The one funny note was a kid who failed 3 times has the class record of 175 in sixth grade. Considering he should be in 9th its not as impressive.

 

[Presser]

he shouldnt Be anywhere near a bench or squat rack at his age, its too young by a good 2-3 years.

 

[Presser]

he shouldnt Be anywhere near a bench or squat rack at his age, its too young by a good 2-3 years.

 

[NAIR]

It's funny the wide range of opinions here. I really don't think there's much of a problem as long as things are kept reasonable.

To mike ross:

I actually don't disagree with your main claim so long as it's qualified adequately; As you initially stated it, I disagree with you because you fail to qualify your conclusion. That is, you make a wide sweeping claim without regard to the specific conditions. If the kids trains light, with proper form, and once a week, will he be shuttled into puberty, his growth stunted, and never develop to his genetic capacity? Does this change if he tries to lift as much weight as he can ("Max out") once in a blue moon? If you believe that is the case without exception, it is my contention that you are wrong. That, in my opinion, is a leap.

If instead you think, given those details, that it will LIKELY lead to what you have claimed, I'd be very interested in seeing some science on the matter. Because given those circumstances it would seem, to me, that a kid could train under those conditions and not ruin his/her body.

Now, if they were maxing out with regularity we'd be on the same page. Does that clear things up? I think you make a valid and very reasonable claim based on common knowledge yet I think that, given the low frequency with which these kids are lifting (assuming the conditions I named are accurate), than I believe I must agree to disagree.

Either way, no hard feelings...

 

[NAIR]

he shouldnt Be anywhere near a bench or squat rack at his age, its too young by a good 2-3 years.

Booooooooooooooooooo!

 

[NAIR]

I kind of agree with boith of you bc on the one hand im sure its alright to do those movements with light weight, on the other hand u said 'maxing' which I would probably not want my 12 year old son to do either

yea buddy! It took a few weeks but you can finally somewhat agree with me on something. This is casue for celebration :lurk:

 

[mike ross]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. The science is not absolute for sure. I can agree with you on that. But we and other trainers i know would never work with a kid that young. Not doing those movements. But thats just us.

I would rather not chance anything with kids. And dealing with parents is a headache as is sometimes.

Let me ask this question in regards to this topic and im not implying you think this at all. Hypothetically, what age is too young then? Should i introduce 10 year olds to proper form, etc. I just dont see any point in working with a 12yr old in that capacity.

Cheers buddy...finishing up the weekend

 

[Boomer]

If you dont think children should be training like that once a week then Here's a question for you..

Would you say it's ok for a 12 year old to be playing contact sport such as football, wrestling and so forth?

So many children do yet noone seems to have an issue with that... Trying to wrestle requires to lift and use your maximum strength. To tackle hard requires to use so much strength... So why is it different when the kid uses the same strength to lift a bar?

I think is all hog wash... If u don't want your kid to get injured don't let them play any sport... I heard Playing chess is pretty safe.

 

[Metal85]

If you dont think children should be training like that once a week then Here's a question for you..

Would you say it's ok for a 12 year old to be playing contact sport such as football, wrestling and so forth?

So many children do yet noone seems to have an issue with that... Trying to wrestle requires to lift and use your maximum strength. To tackle hard requires to use so much strength... So why is it different when the kid uses the same strength to lift a bar?

I think is all hog wash... If u don't want your kid to get injured don't let them play any sport... I heard Playing chess is pretty safe.

hahaha nice Boomer
lol Kind of yeah, but on the other hand alot of the ppl I know that wrestled since they were young have jacked knees or backs, and they are all healthy, they lift and stuff, prolly depends on God given genes too. Is it bad that if I have a son, I want him in those junior MMA classes they have now? lol bc thats goin down for sure