How young is too young?

Hi guys,

In the body building/strength training world we all know their is a hell of alot of mythology and old-wives tales. One I'm sure we're all familiar with is that weight training when you are young will stunt your growth. What is the truth in this and what is just fluff?

Is it really ok for say a kid who has just turned 15 to be doing SS or Stronglifts by the book? What about body building in general?

Thanks in advance!

It's fine. What stunts growth is damage to the growth plates at the end of bones, that's where bones grow from. So a severe fracture during childhood or adolescence can lead to that limb's growth being stunted. Conclusion? Try not to fracture your limbs during weight training.

Collision sports are far more dangerous, funnily enough no-one tells kids not to play soccer, football or rugby.

Pre-pubesent kids aren't interested in resistance training.
I think we become more interested after we hit puberty as we tend to want to improve the way we look.
Considerations are;
the child must be supervised
body weight exercise first, biuld a base.
Dumbells more than barbell work.
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Well basiclaly a kid doing resistance trianing will increase testosterone and more tetsosterone during puberty = larger penis.. Problem is you get interested in this after you have gone through puberty. Notice how all the girls were attracted ot the footy players sports people? Yeah more tetsosterone bigger gear more alpha male.. Its just genetic..


I think i have read more regarding th effects of oestrogen on stopping growth as opposed to test directly.


Chinese teach olympic lifts to children that is when there trianing starts.

I know my kids will be doing it..

honestly there is no such thing as too young. If they can perform the action with proper technique, then they are fine to go. Just don't let them go over the top.

There a cycling coach near me who coaches a 13 year old girl who who was two times state champion in track cycling.

She's 13 and can squat 90kg, probably one of the strongest 13 year old girls going around and the results speak for themselves.

Pretty good advice there fellas.

All I can add is....

Let the kid fall in love with the iron. After a brief introduction to the weights, I never went out and bothered my 15yo. He went out and trained alone, and soon we couldnt keep him out.

At 17, he is reaping the benefits of being allowed to discover and fall in love with weight training.

My 15yo younger son is following the same path. Trains alone, when he wants.

TGM said:

She's 13 and can squat 90kg,

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Hi Guys,

First time post. The most damage a 15 year old could do is training improperly like most young guys do. Doing some bench, some more bench press a bit more bench press and finish it off with some bench press. You dont want to start to ruin your posture at a young age. Everything else is pretty much the same as a normal lifter. You really need to emphasise taking it easier (as we all should have when we first lifted) don't move to low reps until they have matured physically and have had a lot of experience in traing and have a great base. If you have them balanced and working effectively and safely then it should not be a problem.