Resistance Training: Not Just For Adults Anymore!

Tony Gentilcore

November 2007

Every so often I get a concerned parent who approaches me asking me whether or not their child should take part in resistance training. Many parents are still under the assumption that weight training prematurely closes the epiphyseal growth plates in children; forever stunting their growth. It’s gotten to the point where putting a barbell on a child’s back and having them do a few simple squats is apparently more dangerous than having them drive a car blind folded with a rabid dog in the back seat.

Note to parents: RELAX

This popular fallacy is not supported by research or clinical findings. The late and renowned exercise physiologist and biomechanist Mel Siff has noted on several occasions that force plate analysis shows that even fairly heavy squats (exceeding body mass) do not impose as a great a load on the body as fairly casual running or jumping, which can impose joint loading which is greater than six times bodyweight! Thus, if resistance training is to be eliminated to promote growth plate safety, then all children must be forbidden to run and jump.

To put it simply, it’s a gross error to say that resistance training is “bad” or dangerous for adolescents. Many parents are reluctant to have their kids lift weights, but will have them at skating or gymnastics practice every weekend thinking it's no harm at all to the child. Both of these activities put a great deal more stress on the joints compared to resistance training. In the end, carefully controlled progressive resistance training can actually improve muscle and bone strength significantly in children.

Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is no valid reason to single out a properly administered resistance training program as being dangerous. If we were to do that, then we would also have to accept the fact that many other activities such as soccer, football, basketball, gymnastics, and ballet are far too dangerous as well.

(Dr. Gwenn's 2cents: If you are interested about having your child start a weight resistance program, Tony advises waiting until kids are 10-11 years of age and opting for a true program with a trainer as opposed to a home based program. I would agree with this path to avoid injury and to be sure that what the kids are doing is appropriate for their bodies. Keep in mind that both girls and boys can lift weights. And, for girls, weight resistance can become an important part of developing strong bones over time which can help ward of later osteoporosis.)

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