Is Weight Training Safe for My Child

I think back to the day when my son Keegan was only 18 months and just able to walk. I was sitting watching TV when I heard his little voice say "Ball Dadda". I looked over and there he was with my 15lb bowling ball in his arms. The weight of the ball was about 60% of his bodyweight. At first I was afraid of him hurting himself by dropping it on his foot but the more I looked at him the more I wondered how he got the strength to pick it up. Much to my wife's dismay I took the ball from him and rolled it across the floor for him to pick up again. To Keegan this was a game of rolling the ball with daddy. He would walk over to the ball, performed a squat like you would see a strongman do when picking up 300lb stone boulders and would pick it up and start walking. I knew then this was the making of a strength machine and to this date he is still as strong as a bull.

Every year for the past 4 Christmas's Keegan has asked for weightlifting equipment as a gift. For 3 of them, I like many parents and coaches in America had resisted allowing him to weight train due to his age and the concern that lifting prior to puberty was unhealthy and could cause injury to under developed muscles. Then I started Grapplers Gym and I wanted to provide information to wrestlers and athletes of all ages and this meant gaining as much information on training for all ages even our K-8 kids. What I learned was that with the proper supervision and program design young athletes as young as 7 can weight train and not damage to their bodies.

Much research has been done on this topic and the results show that boys and girls can show a strength increase as a much as 74 percent in only 2 months of training. This is possible because strength development is associated with a variety of neuromuscular factors and does not solely depend on hormone levels. Exercises should consist of 13-15 reps for one set and training should be conducted 2-3 times a week. If the child is in an after school sports activity then training should only be conducted twice a week. Weight training should be conducted only under strict supervision of a "trained" coach or parent with slow movements and minimal weight until proper form is demonstrated for reps of 15.

So to get back to the original questions "Is weight training safe for my child" well the answer is YES.

Michael Fry is the owner of Grapplers Gym and http://www.grapplersgym.com Grapplers Gym is the home of advanced training and conditioning for today's combat athletes.

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