[quote]KingCLee33 wrote:
When should a kid start lifting “heavy” per se. There was this one kid in my weightlifting class (he’s a freshman) and I’am a senior (graduated) that was concerned about stunting growth. I told him it was fine to lift heavy but he didn’t believe me. So in regards to this topic Does heavy lifting lead to stunted growth in later years?[/quote]
Lifting heavy does NOT lead to stunted grwth.
I thought this myth was done with
Awesome enthusiasm - just please do her a favor and don’t teach her to do sit-ups when she’s this young. You can blame old school PE teachers for a host of back problems thanks to crazy amounts of sit-ups at young ages.
[quote]Buttered_Corn wrote:
I agree. Unless you have a young Nadia in your house, I see training for the 10 and under club as more of a what is fun for them time.
My 7yr old daughter is “working out” with me these days. She loves to bring down our water bottles and stop watch and “work out”. She sees ole dad get on the bench and she wants to get on the bench. I have told her that right now she gets to do these really “cool” exercises instead. I have shown her sits-ups, lunges, jump rope and some running exercises and she is eating it up. Now, my normal timed and meticulous 54 minute workout circuit now takes 90 minutes with the new added “talking intervals”, but it’s fun having her so engaged right now with me. My 5yr. old son is also getting into the mix. He makes up some kind of oriental travel circus moves and asks me, “how’s dat dad” and then begins with the sponge bob laugh that still is an unnerving today as it was the first time I heard it.
I really believe that our kids follow our lead even when they aren’t trying to. Obese parents usually have obese kids. Health conscience parents usually have health conscience kids. There is a proverb that says, “Train up your son in the way he should go, and when he’s old he will not depart from it”.[/quote]
Get your kids involved in sports! I probably played every sport there is (ok-that’s an exaggeration) and loved every minute of it. Don’t push specialization unless they really gravitate towards something and what to do it to the exclusion of all else. Let them get exposed to lost of different sports. Up until sophomore year of high school, I doubled lettered a lot of seasons until I wanted to really hone in and reach my full potential by focusing on track and soccer. And later cross-country. I ultimately took it to the college level. I think getting kids involved in sports is one of the best things that can be done for them for a host of reasons: the sheer fun of competition, exercise, health, socialization, time management, etc… I definitely want to encourage my kids to try a lot of different sports when I have them someday. I think age-appropriate weights work and resistance training is fine as everyone’s said. But it’s probably not necessary until late middle school/beginning of high school. By that time, if they’re pursuing sports at a high level, their coach will probably have them on a good program that’s optimal for their sport. And if not and their interests don’t lie in that direction, then they can turn to bodybuilding as their sport!
[quote]Chris Shugart wrote:
No nutrition questions or comments? I guess most T-Nation readers know this stuff, so no problem there. But here’s something interesting…
I’ve found two studies/surveys so far that say that kids who are given strict, treatless diets grow up and often rebound later in life and get overweight. (One study was only on girls; I can’t remember the details of the other.) So it appears that a diet a little too healthy may backfire.
I admit I was too harsh on my daughter at one time. And sure enough I once caught her hiding and eating some junk food her grandmother had given her (damn grandparents!) That’s when I knew to loosen up. The old “eat your dinner first and then you can have a little dessert” rule is pretty good actually.
I do try to keep her away from excess sugar, especially sodas. And when I can, I substitute healthy choices: natural PB instead of Skippy, sugar-free jellies and syrup, etc. She loves her little Low-Carb Grow! shakes too.
And again, the “provide the opportunity” trick works well. Fill the kitchen with healthy stuff and not many treats and your kids will choose the healthy stuff more often. Common sense really. But most kids have no choices except junk foods. Still, high activity can go a long way in battling this. Kids can often beat bad diets with high activity, at least when it comes to fat gain. Adults usually can’t. [/quote]
I think this is a pretty interesting thread. I’m not a parent, so I don’t really speak from experience. But I think you have the right approach. Teach kids what healthy is and keep healthy food around, and explain to them the downsides of poor eating. But let them have some treats when they choose. Most of the girls I grew up with who are now in their early 20s whose mothers were excessively controlling of their diets are either fat or have eating disorders.
I just came across this while searching for something else and thought I’d add it to the discussion (Faigenbaum is the authority on resistance training in children).
[quote]
Pearson, D Faigenbaum, A, Conley, M, Kraemer, WJ. The National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Basic Guidelines for the Resistance Training of Athletes. 2000. Natl. Strength Cond. Assoc. J. 22:(4)14-27.
Resistance Training for Children
Even with the large number of children participating in youth sports, many are not conditioning their bodies for the physical demands and rigors of the sport. If a child is capable of participating in a youth sport, she or he is capable of participating in a resistance-training program designed to condition the body to meet the demands of the sport and help prevent sport-related injuries. It was previously believed that resistance training-induced strength gains during preadolescence (defined as a period of time before the development of secondary sex characteristics) were not possible because of insufficient concentrations of circulating androgens (2). However, current findings clearly indicate that children can significantly increase their strength above and beyond what is accounted for by growth and maturation, provided that the resistance-training program is of sufficient duration and intensity (8, 14, 16, 58, 71). Strength gains of roughly 40% have been observed in children following short-term (8?12 weeks) resistance-training programs, although gains of up to 74% have been reported (15). Further, positive changes in motor fitness skills, sports performance, and selected health-related measures have also been observed in resistance-trained youths (8, 14, 58). Interestingly, preliminary evidence indicates that resistance training may also increase a child’s resistance to sports-related injuries (5).
One of the traditional concerns associated with youth resistance training is the potential for injury to the epiphyseal plate or growth cartilage. Although epiphyseal plate fractures have been reported in young weight trainers, most of these injuries involved improper lifting techniques or the performance of heavy, overhead lifts in unsupervised settings. An epiphyseal plate fracture has not been reported in any prospective youth resistance-training study that was appropriately designed and competently supervised. If children are taught how to resistance train properly (e.g., adequate warm-up, correct technique, and a gradual progression of training loads) and if close and competent adult supervision is present, it seems that the risk of an epiphyseal plate fracture while strength training is minimal. In general, it appears that the risks associated with youth resistance training are not any greater than those in other sports and recreational activities in which children regularly participate (40). However, the potential for a serious injury is possible if youth guidelines and safety precautions are not followed.
The goal of youth resistance-training programs should not be limited to increasing muscular strength but should also include teaching children about their bodies, promoting injury prevention strategies, and providing a stimulating program that gives children a more positive attitude toward resistance training and exercise in general.
When introducing children to resistance training, it is always better to underestimate their physical abilities and gradually increase the volume and intensity of training than to overshoot their abilities and potentially risk an injury. There is no minimum age requirement for participation in a youth resistance-training program; however, all participants should have the emotional maturity to accept and follow directions and should understand the risks and benefits associated with resistance training. A medical examination is recommended for children with known or suspected health problems; however, it is not mandatory for apparently healthy children.
A variety of resistance-training programs have been developed for children, and different types of equipment have been safely and effectively used in these programs (14, 58). Although extra pads and boards can be used to modify some types of adult equipment, child-size resistance-training equipment is now available and has proven to be a viable alternative to adult-sized machines. Free weights, elastic tubing, and body weight-resisted exercises can also be used. Although youth resistance training has the potential to be a pleasurable and valuable experience, it should be only one part of a total conditioning program that also includes cardiorespiratory, flexibility, and agility exercises.
Typically, children should participate in a periodized program using loads that will allow a 6- to 12-repetition range. In addition, programs are typically lower in volume and may be performed using a lower frequency (2?3 days per week) but can adhere to many of the same principles as adult resistance-training programs. It is important that youth resistance exercise-training programs do not attempt to just implement adult programs because the physiological stress will be inappropriate (14, 58). [/quote]
My boy is officially ready to train!
He’s 11 years old and small for his age (4’7" & 78 lbs.), so he wants to get stronger and be better at baseball…pretty basic goals, but they’re his goals, so I’m gonna do whatever I can to help him.
Luckily his PE coach is also the high school football coach here in our little CenTex town and he is getting really good conditioning training in the form of drills, track and field, and competition games (45 mins. every day). He actually loves PE for the first time!
Through a little experimenting, I came to the conclusion he isn’t ready for traditional weight training. He lacks the basic coordination and balance needed to control the weight very well if at all. (let me finish before anyone reams me for not understanding how hard it is for beginners to get the “groove” of lifting…BTW, I do remember how hard it was when I started)
It turns out, through more experimentation, that he seems to excel at kid size versions of strongman type stuff and loved trying it (who’d a thunk it?). He flipped a 145 lb. tractor-trailer tire 3 times, drug a tire with rocks in it (about 60 lbs) 160 feet and then pulled it to himself hand over hand another 20 feet. Looks like I found his workout style for the time being.
Yesterday I built him a sandbag and I already have the above articles as well as a pallet of various size rocks, chunks of wood, mini sledge, wheelbarrow, chinning bar, and a climbing rope.
I figure I’ll let him workout twice a week to start and see how things progress. I’ll keep ya posted.
I have a nutrition question and concern. I have a 3 year old son who since birth has had a high level of lactose intolerance, which has us feeding him soy based “milk” products. We have tried to change him to lactose free milk products but he doesn’t like the taste and will not drink them.
Are there any concerns about his development that I should have with his consumption of soy based milks? I want him to grow normal, big and strong of course but will the soy based milks really have a high impact on his hormone levels?
He seems to be developing great and growing fast. I asked this on another thread but only really was advised to change him to milk based or rice based milk products.
I gave the little animal his first workout yesterday, it went as follows:
Tire drag foreward 80 feet down with 20 foot hand over hand pull at end, then 80 feet back with 20 foot hand over hand pull to finish.
Tire drag backward same way as above.
Removed some rocks from inside tire to reduce weight and then ran dragging tire with right hand 80 feet and ran back dragging with left hand 80 feet.
Sandbag carry - bearhug grip 210 feet.
Sandbag cradle carry 160 feet.
Sandbag shoulder carry - 140 on right and 140 feet on left.
He tried cleaning and pressing the bag, but only managed to get 2 reps…his grip was fried so we stopped there even though he wanted to do more.
The whole workout took about 15 mins.
I want to have him workout again Friday, but we will be going on a Boy Scout campout that afternoon, so Thursday will be tire flipping and mini sledge work.
Little boys can make progress, too.