help!!what age do you recommend my son starts training

[steggs]

my son wants to start training but I'm unsure what age to start him he is 11 at present and plays rugby so needs to get his strength and size on the up ,but i dont want to start him to early for obvious reasons..any help would be welcome.thanks in advance

[getpumped24]

i've always heard 14 was a good age to start light lifting. no creatine or supps. until 18 tho. no heavy lifting til 18, muscles & tendons still doing a lot of growing.

[steggs]

thanks i heard the same but have to check ,he will not be having supps thats for sure but a good proper diet at his age is as anabolic as the gear....what i would give to have the test levels of a teenager

[Othello]

I guess 14-15 would be a good age...thats when I started...never regretted it...

One thing that bothers me is what to do if my son (I have 2) ever comes to me and says he wants to go on juice...hopefully in 20 years time things would be different than today with safer/better drugs...but then...what can I tell him...no dad dont do that stuff coz its bad for u?

[timtim]

i've always heard 14 was a good age to start light lifting. no creatine or supps. until 18 tho. no heavy lifting til 18, muscles & tendons still doing a lot of growing.

your kidding right? 18? so how do these teens playing division 1 sports make the team if they shouldnt lift heavy before 18? this is really bad information, its actually complete misinformation. i dont know where you are from but high school football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and wrestling are huge in my area and the kids get the trainer before high school starts. i've had freshman playing at nationally ranked high schools benching 110 lbs. db's for sets of 5. one of my graduating seniors just did a 505 lbs. deadlift and he is 17, 205 lbs..

you could start him right now with no issues. avoid isolation exercises and work compound movements focusing on core and joint stability. start him with db bench, squats - db or trap bar no bb, deads, step ups, walking lunges, chins (have him hang for as long as he can and slowly move into chins), db rows, db shoulder presses, and 1 bi/tri exercise each. keep the weight lower and the reps moderate. have him perfect his form and then increase the weight. having the kid wait till 14 or 15 to lift is like making him wait till he's 9 or 10 to start reading, wasted time.

stunted growth and all those issues are myths from the long ago. sports science is way advanced and training pre-teens is a big money business. i've seen 8 and 9 year olds hitting the weights with no negative effects. makes them more stable when running, jumping, and playing whatever sports they maybe into.

[mamias20918756]

you could start him right now with no issues. avoid isolation exercises and work compound movements focusing on core and joint stability. start him with db bench, squats - db or trap bar, deads, step ups, walking lunges, chins (have him hang for as long as he can and slowly move into chins), db rows, db shoulder presses, and 1 bi/tri exercise each. keep the weight lower and the reps moderate. have him perfect his form and then increase the weight. having the kid wait till 14 or 15 to lift is like making him wait till he's 9 or 10 to start reading, wasted time.

stunted growth and all those issues are myths from the long ago. sports science is way advanced and training pre-teens is a big money business. i've seen 8 and 9 year olds hitting the weights with no negative effects. makes them more stable when running, jumping, and playing whatever sports they maybe into.

Do u Have any scientifical proof of all that claims?
Cause i remember my biologists in school to warn us how bad was lifting weights for the bone structure development and the tendons especially squats,deads,and every compound movement that involves hadling weight while standing.

[magic32]

Do u Have any scientifical proof of all that claims?
Cause i remember my biologists in school to warn us how bad was lifting weights for the bone structure development and the tendons especially squats,deads,and every compound movement that involves hadling weight while standing.

START HIM RIGHT NOW!

He can begin regular sessions of resistance training today. The posts above and many of the responses you'll receive are in relation to iron weight lifting, where as mine is regarding body weight training.

You can start him on routine (regular) training program of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups immediately. This will develop his primary muscles (minus legs) and give him a substantial foundation on which to build when he approaches the mid-teens.

You’ll be quite impressed, as will he, with the physique that can be crafted from the employment of these exercises when coupled with running (hills & sprinting) and a moderate protein diet.

I applaud you for such an active interest.

M.

[mamias20918756]

START HIM RIGHT NOW!

He can begin regular sessions of resistance training today. The posts above and many of the responses you'll receive are in relation to iron weight lifting, where as mine is regarding body weight training.

You can start him on routine (regular) training program of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups immediately. This will develop his primary muscles (minus legs) and give him a substantial foundation on which to build when he approaches the mid-teens.

M.

Ditto!

[Homeguard]

Under these circumstances I can say that he will be able to start Strength Training. But the weight he can use is at most 5 Kgs. He should strictly restrict his training to 3 days a week & perform 3 sets of 8-12 Reps per exercise. He should start it slowly and the first day he must workout without weight and then gradually increase the weights.
Why I am recommending him not to use heavier weights is because of his young age, he is a beginner and using them so suddenly can actually injure him. He should start with a full body workout and later on he can split up the routine.
He can infact start a routine tomorrow if he has enough motivation. Perform Wt Training without weights on Week 1.
Do the Compound Exercises first impacting larger muscle groups. Be careful not to overstrain the muscles and perform Streching before and after each session.
He should start with Bigger, Faster, Stronger when he is atleast 14.

JMHO

[timtim]

mamias, your profile says you have 3 years of on and off training experience. in a non-asshole way, i wouldnt listen to anything you had to say about training because you have no real world experience. sorry. not trying to be a dick but your responses are comical. do me a favor and produce 1, just 1 journal that proves that training young children is dangerous and why. not guesses, but proof.

Do u Have any scientifical proof of all that claims?

yea, over 5 years of hands on experience with athletes ages 7 up to college level plus nearly 18 years of working on myself.

Cause i remember my biologists in school

maybe you should research sport science and not your local high school biology teacher. you want examples of hardcore training from athletes 13 and up, and this is hardcore westside principle training, check out www.defrancostraining.com. go tell joe that his super business of training young athletes is wrong. and he only takes 13 and up i believe. check out that training style. and these athletes at the age of 13 are chosen because they are ready to train at that level. how do you think a 13 year old becomes ready? by sitting at home and waiting. no way, hittting the gym early with the properly trained personel.

reread what i said in my post. why cant a 12 or 13 year old who has perfect form and complete core and joint stability (which we will create through the proper implementation of exercise and resistance at the correct timing during his younger years when he/she should NOT be lifting heavy weight) be able to lift heavier and more progressive? if you have no clue as to why please dont guess and give the wrong information. the answer is he/she should because they are prepared. obviously we dont start a kid hard and hope he catches up without injury. start from the bottom. i would ahve my 5 year old carrying groceries in the house and carrying med balls around the yard so he can foster proprioception and core stability early on.

the field of sports science and youth training is extremely advanced now. i think its ridiculous that people still have their head in the sand making outlandish claims about growth plates and tendon development. if you dont know, dont guess. i've made alot of money training these age groups that people think shouldnt be touched.

and again i will use my example: how the hell do division 1 athletes get recruited and play big time ball by the age of 18? do they start training when they are 14 or 15? not the super stars i have seen!

[timtim]

this is from joe defranco, from his top 10 training myths: it's #2!

Myth #2: Strength training will stunt the growth of children.

It still amazes me that parents won’t hesitate to get their young children (6-7 years old) involved in sports such as football, gymnastics, basketball and soccer, yet they feel that participating in a strength-training program is damaging to their children’s bone health and will stunt their growth. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The fact of the matter is that running, jumping and tackling can create loading on a child’s body which is up to ten times greater than most strength training exercises. In other words, the physical demands on a child’s body are far greater on the athletic field compared to the weightroom. Parents who don’t let their children participate in resistance training are actually increasing their children’s risk for injury on the athletic field.

There have even been position stands by such organizations as the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that children can benefit from participation in a properly designed and supervised resistance training program. Position stands recommend that prepubescent children shouldn't lift maximal weights; they should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form.

Strength training in this manner can be the most potent exercise stimulus for bone growth and development. In fact, research has shown that young weightlifters have greater bone densities than individuals who don't lift. Thus, the positive benefits of resistance training for bone health, injury prevention and improved athletic performance are far greater than the risks.

theres my "proof".

[anaBROLIC]

id say 14, 15 would be a good starting age. good age to learn the basics. if i could go back i woulda started when i was a freshman in HS rather then when i did as a Senior.

[spywizard]

it's about what age he starts puberty, producing his own testosterone ... and if you can keep his attention during this transition time, that will keep him going in the correct direction, and will keep him from getting that 14 yr old girl prego..

[one8nine]

i started light liftin when i was 10 and got heavy at 15 i am in great shape and never had stunted growth i started creatine and protein and glutamine at 15 and i hit 6'3" at the age of 14 and when i was 10 i was about 5'9". i just did small upper body lifts never legs, curls dumbell press tricep extention rows with low weight and ive been gettin better sense i started and i feel great today at the age of 23

[mamias20918756]

[QUOTE=timtim]mamias, your profile says you have 3 years of on and off training experience. in a non-asshole way, i wouldnt listen to anything you had to say about training because you have no real world experience.

I train since 14 years old but i don't take that as serious BB workout. I have been lifting consistently for the past 4 years and i have no need of you listening to what i am saying.

sorry. not trying to be a dick but your responses are comical.

You are allready beeing a dick timtim by making such comments to someone who doesn't gve advises like you are without propably knowing the consequences

do me a favor and produce 1, just 1 journal that proves that training young children is dangerous and why. not guesses, but proof.

I guess that's your responce when i asked you to back up your statements huh?


yea, over 5 years of hands on experience with athletes ages 7 up to college level plus nearly 18 years of working on myself.


Well done bro, i hope you make your training years up to 100, but i don't intend on criticising other peoples training experience or what so ever..You are.

maybe you should research sport science and not your local high school biology teacher.

Biology is a science bro and if it wasn't for that you wouldn't know what a muscle looks like n the first place, i'm not saying that you should relly on that only.

you want examples of hardcore training from athletes 13 and up, and this is hardcore westside principle training, check out www.defrancostraining.com. go tell joe that his super business of training young athletes is wrong. and he only takes 13 and up i believe. check out that training style. and these athletes at the age of 13 are chosen because they are ready to train at that level. how do you think a 13 year old becomes ready? by sitting at home and waiting. no way, hittting the gym early with the properly trained personel.


You are right timtim, but i would not like to see a 13yo kid train like a demon and performing dangerous excersises like the ones you proposed earlier (squat-deads,etc). Oh and i don't give a f*ck about joe's super business of training young athletes. Just because someone makes money out of it, it doesn't mean that the right thing to do is to train kids like pros and by that making the possibility of a serious injury or underdevelopment of those kids bodies greater.


if you have no clue as to why please dont guess and give the wrong information.

That's right i don't have a clue, neither do you so don't try to be a smart ass giving the wrong answers to a guy that takes very seriously what you say..It's a great responsibility to advise..So use it correctly and only when you're absolutely sure on what you say.


i would ahve my 5 year old carrying groceries in the house and carrying med balls around the yard so he can foster proprioception and core stability early on.

I agree on this one, so that makes your suggestion comical, right??


and again i will use my example: how the hell do division 1 athletes get recruited and play big time ball by the age of 18? do they start training when they are 14 or 15? not the super stars i have seen!

Never said that the possibility of an injury or an underdevelopment of tendons or bones is certain, just had to point out that this possibility exists.


Timtim we had some interesting disputes so far, but you don't need to get personal everytime someone has another point of view, maybe sometimes different than yours.
I've seen a lot of your advises in the past and i must say that you certainly know what you're talking about, but this doesn't mean i don't have some diff views on issues.
Please excuse my english

[SwoleCat]

Can you guys please STFU and take this to pm's?

No one wants to hear you bitch, seriously. (not so much timtim, but mamias, or mama, whatever!)

Point is, this thread was to help out a member, not to showcase how you can't spell and reason worth a shit. Do not p.m. me whining please, I'm not even going to open it to read it.

Suspensions to follow if you don't comply.

Period.

~SC~

[Bigmax]

Can you guys please STFU and take this to pm's?

No one wants to hear you bitch, seriously. (not so much timtim, but mamias, or mama, whatever!)

Point is, this thread was to help out a member, not to showcase how you can't spell and reason worth a shit. Do not p.m. me whining please, I'm not even going to open it to read it.

Suspensions to follow if you don't comply.

Period.

~SC~

LMAO!!!

[getpumped24]

he should start w/ movements using own body weight resistence only, push ups, pull ups, sit ups, etcl high rep- low weight once he starts using weights. my dad was a bodybuilder when i was that age and he had me do those kind of movements. heavy weight will do bone, muscle, and tendon damage. could also stunt growth probably. anybody seen little hercules, he started at 5. who knows what damage was done to him. it looked like he was on juice. thats my boy in my avi, buff isn't he.

[timtim]

mamias, your right, i did sound like an ass. my bad.

i've been in the training business a long time and i have seen and read what works. its the year 2006, everyone should have their kids training EARLY. anyone can disagree and that is 100% cool. i'm just glad i know what works and will continue to try and refute all the misinformation out there.

i have gotten in shouting matches with parents about the correct training protocols for their children and i still find it confusing how people will use logic from the 1970's as a basis for their arguments in 2006. do you know the best period in life to have a child exposed to higher order thinking? ages 3 through 7. why in world would you want to expose a young child to different languages and abstract math at such a young age? because it builds the learning tools necessary to learn more later at a faster and easier pace. same with training. i would never put a 9 year old under a squat bar and say go BUT i would have a 9 year old who can db squat with 20 lbs. db's in each hand in a trap bar and say lets begin! for example, i had a nationally ranked 9 year old sprinter (who was running in the 12 and under category) for 3 years before i left that job. when he was 11 he could trap bar deadlift 245 at a bodyweight of 75 pounds and could do 20 yard walking lunges with perfect form with 25 lbs. db's in each hand. he is going to be a freshman in high school this year and he has the choice to go for free to any of the super powerhouse private football schools in my area. the sky is limitless and its because his dad believed in me, the other trainers, and our mission. dont lose out on time, your only holding the kids back.

i apologize for the attitude and tone of my post.

[getpumped24]

mamias i totally agree, but timtim i also respect your opinion. i don't even agree w/ h.s. coach's having their players 1 rep max out. just asking for trouble. until bones and tendons r fully grow they r not strong enough to handle a lot of weight. i watched a kid (16) tear a bicep tendon doing to much weight. its not pretty seeing a bicep roll up into your shoulder. parents aren't holding their kids back, just keeping them safe. i've been around weightlifting and bodybuilding my whole life. i have be learned a lot and seen a lot, what to do and what not to do.

[MAXIMA5]

START HIM RIGHT NOW!

You can start him on routine (regular) training program of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups immediately. This will develop his primary muscles (minus legs) and give him a substantial foundation on which to build when he approaches the mid-teens.

M.

ABSOLUTELY.

I don't see a problem with stretching and leg curls/extensions/calf raises for speed training either.

Just keep him away from the leg sled and squat rack for a while

[Moe-mentum]

my son wants to start training but I'm unsure what age to start him he is 11 at present and plays rugby so needs to get his strength and size on the up ,but i dont want to start him to early for obvious reasons..any help would be welcome.thanks in advance

Easy, as soon as he wants to.
Yep, anyone who has ever fallen for the myth that some how training with resistance will somehow short circuit a humans ability to function normaly (grow taller) is.....well, naive.

I would like to see scientific eveidence that somehow resistance equates to short circuiting growth in humans.

The level of stress that would have to be placed on the individual would have to be above and beyond what the individual could place upon oneself through ones own will.
Espeacialy at such a young age.

I cant believe how many people have just blindly accepted that myth.
Defintely one of the worst ones out there.

[toofatbuilder]

i started lifting when i was 13. torn some sh*t in my back....but that was my bad. i was lifting too hard.

[timtim]

injuries happen when athletes are pushed too quickly to "max out". i never said anything about max effort training. there is no logical reason why a young athlete cannot progress into heavy lifts when taught and supervised properly.

not having a child lift heavy can put them at more risk of injury. look at a running back in football. they are running top speed and 2 athletes of bigger stature collide on top of that runner at the same time. i would like to see an undertrained athlete take those hits. right there the load on that athlete is more than double their weight. alot more dangerous than proper resistance training.

in younger athletes the muscle required to decelerate from a sprint are vital. why are there so many acl tears in pre-teen and teen female soccer players? because their vastus medialus oblique (the muscle on the inner half of the quad which stabilizes knee rotation) is completely untrained and bam, a major injury all because of a weak muscle which allows the knee to drop inward when it should stabilize out and up. this is just one sport for a specific gender.

anyone who thinks differently should really research this topic. the facts are out there, you can see for yourself.

my opinion: a strong athlete is a safe athlete.

meathead training does not apply here. this is sport specific training which is completely different.

[Maldorf]

I started out when I was 14. I did squats and deadlifts from the start, as heavy as I could manage in the rep range of 6-12. I hit puberty fairly early, cant remember what age, and I do believe this would be a factor when considering when a boy should start lifting. I cannot speak at all for girls, I would like to hear some feedback on that. I am with timtim on this one. Not letting your child athlete lift is going to make them more likely to get injured, not less. A good stretching program should be adhered to too.