Should Children Strength Train?

In my years of coaching, I've heard it all. Won't they get hurt? Will it stunt their growth plates? All valid questions for a parent worried about their young child. There is not that much to be worried about. That is why I am here to educate you about why strength training isn't dangerous for your child and the benefits for your child of strength training.

Can your child get hurt strength training? Yes, Will they? Likely not. Here is why not. Children are just as likely, if not more likely, to get injured playing sports. Running, jumping, and changing directions quickly can lead to injury, but we still want children to play sports. Sports are good for their cognitive and physical growth, and so is strength training. With obesity among children growing: children need to be active from a young age and learn to stay active.

My former athlete Wes and his daughter after her first powerlifting meet.

 Adult sports leagues are scarce. Many adults do not have the time to commit to adult sports because of work. They must turn to the gym for their health and fitness needs. The gym is an intimidating place for many. They are afraid of looking like they do not know what they are doing. If these adults become more comfortable with the gym as children, this would not be a problem.

A concern I hear from parents of young athletes I work with is that they are worried lifting will stunt their child's growth. This concern originated from Japanese people stunting growth from micro fractures in growth plates from manual labour. Upon study, this was shown to not occurring lifting even at heavy loads. Children learning strength training from a coach likely are not putting their bodies under loads heavy loads if they are focused on learning proper technique. These fractures would be more likely to occur from contact sports like football or basketball but we do not see it in these sports either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HXIw75JFlE

Here is a great video from Jeff Nippard explaining why children’s growth wont be stunted from resistance training. Jeff does a really great job of backing this up with studies.

Strength training also provides immediate and delayed benefits to youth. Benefits include decreased injury risk while playing sports, improved mental and physical health, better mental clarity in school and decreased health risks.

My Client Kaylee and her daughter. Athena has been exposed to her mom strength training around her and has naturally been intrigued by the weights around their home and even has her own play set of dumbbells. When parents workout around and with their children the children naturally become more interested in it and feel more comfortable with it.

Why is strength training seen as dangerous for our youth? A lot of people do not understand strength training and generally see it as dangerous. Videos of people getting injured have many more shock factors and are spread on the internet more than videos of people not hurting themselves. People also associate general strength training with Powerlifting and Olympic lifting. These are the most extreme forms of strength training. Like a youth football player won't be hit in football as hard as an NFL player; A child strength training in the learning phases won't be squatting 1000lbs. The danger is less than what we see in the media. Children lifting should be focused on learning proper technique, not maximum performance, eliminating most of the risk.

           Risk is present when lifting is performed improperly. Often teenagers enter the gym and don't follow a program or lift with proper technique. This is where injuries occur. If we lived in a world where teenagers had already learned proper technique and lifting habits as children, fewer injuries would occur among the gym population. Throwing around dodgeballs was fun as a kid. However, it did not teach me much for life skills. Teaching children proper lifting techniques should be a higher priority in schools. More teenagers and adults would know-how leading to them being less afraid of the gym and less likely to get injured. The issue here is not that lifting is dangerous for kids Its that kids are lifting dangerously. If we educate and train them how to do it properly, we fix the issue.

           Benefits of strength training in youth are better mental health management, better sports performance, and less health risk.

           Childhood can be hard. Personally, in my childhood, I struggled with depression, anxiety and bullying. Many people experience the same. The developmental years of our lives can be confusing. Often children lack the coping skills of adults. Lifting for many serves as one of these coping skills. Strength training and physical activity are shown to improve mental health. This may not be the coping skill every child needs. For many, this will be the skill they need better to manage their mental health in their early life. Additionally, these skills will be useful in adult life as well. Lifting can be an escape from the stressors of life and a chance to focus on improvement in how your body moves. Improvements in technique over time is the positivity many children need and may lack in other areas of life.

Many children participate in sports from a young age like soccer, football and basketball. Many great life lessons like teamwork can be learned from sports at a young age. Sports can also open doors for children to earn sports scholarships. Your child may not ever be a professional athlete. However, strength training can improve sports performance. This can increase their chances of taking their sport to the next level. More importantly, it can teach them the valuable lesson of hard work. Learning to go above what is expected of young athletes in practice can teach them the value of putting in the effort to get results. Strength training to complement sports is an excellent way to show children the value of working hard and improving themselves.   

            Strength training can also help resolve movement pattern issues like knee valgus. By teaching athletes to squat deadlift and lunge without knee valgus its less likely to occur during running, jumping and cutting in sports. Fixing this can help reduce risk of meniscus injury.

Example of knee valgus.

Obesity rates are constantly rising among North Americans. With obesity comes increased health risks. Habits learned as a child often leads to obesity. Children are increasingly becoming less active and consuming more sugary foods. Being in a gym environment surrounded by other people working on their health can help children learn better habits. It shows them being active is okay and fun. Children who work with a personal trainer at a young age to learn proper strength training and better nutritional habits will have fewer health complications later in life.

           A gym is a place that causes people anxiety. Children learning to feel safe in the gym will help them not feel anxious about the gym later in life. This will help people be healthier mentally and physically. The gym is more than a place for gym bros and heavy lifting; it's a place for everyone to get healthier and work on themselves.

In conclusion Children should strength train under the caveat that they learn to do it properly at a young age to reduce risk of injury not only immediately but throughout their entire life.

What can you do as a parent?

1.) Workout and be healthy to show your children that working out is good for them and not scary

2.) Don’t be forceful in making them workout but be encouraging a supportive when they show interest.

3.) If you have the income to afford it hire them a trained professional to teach them proper form and technique.

           Thank you for Reading. If you have any further questions about children and strength training or general inquiries about training, email me at maxwell.hall6573@gmail.com. Reach out to me to receive a free movement evaluation over zoom for you or your young athlete.