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Children's Strength training
- Thread starter JIMguy
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JIMguy said:
I started at 13 and am now 16 and have had no stunt growths, i was somewhere in the 5's but now i'm 6'1. What i've read many times over and over is that if they lift with correct form, they will not get injured, if they have horrible form with max weight on, they might. just keep it lighter and perfect form then go up the weight. they have 7 year old girls in china that clean and jerk 135 i think ahaha
Cynical Simian
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anotherbutters
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This is from the wichitafalls website before it disappeared: Josh Robinett's 25kg snatch. I think it's pretty damned inspirational! From what I can gather, he's 10 years old. Take a look at the kid behind him just stood there holding the bar, lol. So cute!
Protobuilder
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anotherbutters
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Ah, it's moved. It used to be a .com site. I didn't know about the above. Cheers PB!
PB, the site also shows Becky Kudrna squatting 107kg x 5. It looked PR heavy, so that's probably during the progression you posted about a few weeks ago. I wonder if that's Glenn's voice. I love what he says at the end
PB, the site also shows Becky Kudrna squatting 107kg x 5. It looked PR heavy, so that's probably during the progression you posted about a few weeks ago. I wonder if that's Glenn's voice. I love what he says at the end
glennpendlay
New member
thats my voice. our new site is officially wfwclub.com, but wichitafallsweightlifting.org and wichitafallsweightlifting.us are both redirected there, so you can get there with any of the addresses.
as far as kids and training, if you train them right, there is no problem. i have started them as young as 6 or 7 years old. several of my best lifters that are now in their mid to late teens started between the ages of 8 and 10 years old.
as far as kids and training, if you train them right, there is no problem. i have started them as young as 6 or 7 years old. several of my best lifters that are now in their mid to late teens started between the ages of 8 and 10 years old.
anotherbutters said:Ah, it's moved. It used to be a .com site. I didn't know about the above. Cheers PB!
PB, the site also shows Becky Kudrna squatting 107kg x 5. It looked PR heavy, so that's probably during the progression you posted about a few weeks ago. I wonder if that's Glenn's voice. I love what he says at the end
BiggT
New member
I hope Glenn catches this as well.....I know Mark Ripptoe is in favor of kids lifting weights as long as they are emotionally/mentally mature enough to follow direction (I think Glenn takes this stance too)......I agree with this stance.
I don't see how weightlifting can harm growth plates, steroids can of course, but weightlifting promotes bone density and health and I actually think it would be beneficial.
Weightlifting is actually less traumatic to the joints than gymnastics, football, and soccer, activities that parents don't even think twice about getting their kids involved in.
Kids really aren't strong enough to hurt themselves at a young age to be honest either, it isn't like an 8 year old boy or girl is back squatting double bodyweight. If correct form is used, I can't see any dangers.
In my opinion, when to start a kid depends on their interest and maturity level, if they show an interest, why not ge tthem involved?? I am not a fan or forcing an activity down a child's throat though, that will surely backfire. Again, the emotional/mental maturity deoends on the kids.....some 8 year olds can follow direction and focus their attention and some 15 year olds want to play with Yugi Oh and sleep in South Park pajamas....it all depends on the kid.
I don't see how weightlifting can harm growth plates, steroids can of course, but weightlifting promotes bone density and health and I actually think it would be beneficial.
Weightlifting is actually less traumatic to the joints than gymnastics, football, and soccer, activities that parents don't even think twice about getting their kids involved in.
Kids really aren't strong enough to hurt themselves at a young age to be honest either, it isn't like an 8 year old boy or girl is back squatting double bodyweight. If correct form is used, I can't see any dangers.
In my opinion, when to start a kid depends on their interest and maturity level, if they show an interest, why not ge tthem involved?? I am not a fan or forcing an activity down a child's throat though, that will surely backfire. Again, the emotional/mental maturity deoends on the kids.....some 8 year olds can follow direction and focus their attention and some 15 year olds want to play with Yugi Oh and sleep in South Park pajamas....it all depends on the kid.
glennpendlay
New member
I already gave a bit of input above, but ill certainly give some more.
first of all, let me say that i am totally, 100% against the opinion that somehow pushups or pullups or gymnastics type moves, or even plyo type stuff (jumping on and off boxes) are appropriate in a situation where weight training is not.
think about it... a pushup is basically a bench press with a percentage of bodyweight, but a percentage that cannot really be changed. take a 7 or 8 year old, that can do maybe 5 pushups. about the same thing as giveing them a bar that is so heavy they can only do 5 reps with it, and having them do it with no warmup.
now, at that age they are extremely unlikely to be injured either way, but still... can anyone find ANY reasonable explanation why there would be more harmfull forces on the body of a 10 year old who weighs say, 110lbs, from doing bench presses with 50lbs or from doing pushups? doesnt make sense.
one of the great things about weight training as a fitness activity is that it is infinitely adjustable. you can use 3lbs or 300lbs. this makes it ESPECIALLY appropriate for those of very small physical ability, like kids!
I made my son a wooden copy of an olympic bar when he was 18 months old, just from being in the gym with me and copying the older kids he saw, by the time he was 4 he had done thousands and thousands of snatches and clean and jerks and squats with that little wooden bar that weighed 3 or 4 pounds. ill guarantee this was less "stressfull" on his body than all the other things he does each day, running and jumping, wrestling, falling down, etc.
now he is almost 5, and has a 5kg aluminum bar. he still comes to the gym with me, and still "trains" his little heart out on that aluminum bar. and has a great time doing it.
ive coached quite a few kids who are in the 7 to 10 year old age catagory. they are all fine. funny how it is somehow ok for a gymnastics coach to have the kids doing handstands, backflips, etc, at this age, but give them a tiny little barbell weighing 10lbs and your going to hurt them.
my best example of early training for kids is sammy nichols. she started at 8 years old. at age 12 she attempted the schoolage american record in the clean and jerk (61kilos, or 134lbs, and schoolage is 17 and under, so a schoolage record at 12 years old is kind of crazy) cleaned it, and jerked it to arms length overhead only to lose her balance on the recovery from the jerk and lose it. she weighed about 80lbs at the time, and was very tall and thin. right now she just turned 14, and has won 5 national schoolage championships in a row (won her first at age 9), she weighs around 125lbs standing around 5 foot and 7 or 8 inches, and is very, very physically capable at anything else she does. so capable, in fact, that were she to enter into her middle school track meets herself, doing everything from the pole vault to the shot put to the hurdles and sprints, she could probably outscore any of the other middle school teams around here. and oh yeah, just to compare to some of your lifts, this little girl will clean and jerk over 200lbs really soon.
first of all, let me say that i am totally, 100% against the opinion that somehow pushups or pullups or gymnastics type moves, or even plyo type stuff (jumping on and off boxes) are appropriate in a situation where weight training is not.
think about it... a pushup is basically a bench press with a percentage of bodyweight, but a percentage that cannot really be changed. take a 7 or 8 year old, that can do maybe 5 pushups. about the same thing as giveing them a bar that is so heavy they can only do 5 reps with it, and having them do it with no warmup.
now, at that age they are extremely unlikely to be injured either way, but still... can anyone find ANY reasonable explanation why there would be more harmfull forces on the body of a 10 year old who weighs say, 110lbs, from doing bench presses with 50lbs or from doing pushups? doesnt make sense.
one of the great things about weight training as a fitness activity is that it is infinitely adjustable. you can use 3lbs or 300lbs. this makes it ESPECIALLY appropriate for those of very small physical ability, like kids!
I made my son a wooden copy of an olympic bar when he was 18 months old, just from being in the gym with me and copying the older kids he saw, by the time he was 4 he had done thousands and thousands of snatches and clean and jerks and squats with that little wooden bar that weighed 3 or 4 pounds. ill guarantee this was less "stressfull" on his body than all the other things he does each day, running and jumping, wrestling, falling down, etc.
now he is almost 5, and has a 5kg aluminum bar. he still comes to the gym with me, and still "trains" his little heart out on that aluminum bar. and has a great time doing it.
ive coached quite a few kids who are in the 7 to 10 year old age catagory. they are all fine. funny how it is somehow ok for a gymnastics coach to have the kids doing handstands, backflips, etc, at this age, but give them a tiny little barbell weighing 10lbs and your going to hurt them.
my best example of early training for kids is sammy nichols. she started at 8 years old. at age 12 she attempted the schoolage american record in the clean and jerk (61kilos, or 134lbs, and schoolage is 17 and under, so a schoolage record at 12 years old is kind of crazy) cleaned it, and jerked it to arms length overhead only to lose her balance on the recovery from the jerk and lose it. she weighed about 80lbs at the time, and was very tall and thin. right now she just turned 14, and has won 5 national schoolage championships in a row (won her first at age 9), she weighs around 125lbs standing around 5 foot and 7 or 8 inches, and is very, very physically capable at anything else she does. so capable, in fact, that were she to enter into her middle school track meets herself, doing everything from the pole vault to the shot put to the hurdles and sprints, she could probably outscore any of the other middle school teams around here. and oh yeah, just to compare to some of your lifts, this little girl will clean and jerk over 200lbs really soon.
Iggy- said:
Protobuilder
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glennpendlay said:
I feel like I've just been kicked in the nuts. LoL
glennpendlay
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well, i didnt want to make anyone feel bad!!! sammy is a special girl, i expect her to go far in weightlifting, or any other sport she wants.
the cool thing is, I have an 8 year old and an 11 year old girl now, both of whom have the physical talent to be even better than sammy. we will see if they have the mental drive she has. the 8 year old snatches 23kg, and clean and jerks 32kg, with even better form than sammy had at her age. if she has similar mental gifts as sammy had, i expect her to be breaking records by age 11 or 12.
the cool thing is, I have an 8 year old and an 11 year old girl now, both of whom have the physical talent to be even better than sammy. we will see if they have the mental drive she has. the 8 year old snatches 23kg, and clean and jerks 32kg, with even better form than sammy had at her age. if she has similar mental gifts as sammy had, i expect her to be breaking records by age 11 or 12.
Protobuilder said:
Protobuilder
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Seeing your kid toy w/ bars and "train" must make you feel pretty damn excited/proud. It's also got to be difficult trying to toe the line between encouragement and coercion!
anotherbutters
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Glenn, I think you've got one of the best jobs in the world, helping and watching these kids develop over the years. I bet you wouldn't swap it for anything.glennpendlay said:
In addition to the practical (i.e. research in action), here's a nice body of pure research studies on the specific topic: http://www.weightliftingexchange.com/we1791.html
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