"Doing more exercise with less intensity,"
Arthur Jones believes, "has all but
destroyed the actual great value
of weight training. Something
must be done . . . and quickly."
The New Bodybuilding for
Old-School Results supplies
MUCH of that "something."
This is one of 93 photos of Andy McCutcheon that are used in The New High-Intensity Training to illustrate the recommended exercises.
To find out more about McCutcheon and his training, click here.
So has your son maxed out the weights on all your machines yet at what five years old? The reason I thought about this is because I saw a man bring his six year old son to the gym yesterday who did 18 strict chins and 25 strict dips with what looked like ease.
What's amazing is the six year old already looks cut and vascular with little to no training what so ever. It was really something to see a child train with more intensity than all the adults combined.
I'm all for strength training and keeping fit and healthy. More so than I can express in writing. That said, I can never understand why anybody under the age of 15 would want to strength train.
Surely the most important things to teach children about is eating and drinking habits. These have far more impact on a persons health than lifting weights will.
I do not see a benefit in strength training for young children either. They are very fluid, learning, and open. Why get them tight, muscular while they are still so plastic and growing? Six is way too young.
Physicians would give more medicla reasons, but plain common sense says no, too young. I assume we're talking about a normal developed child, not one with a disability that strength training of some kind helps with a disability?
While 6 is way too young, there is no reason to wait until 15 either. It's really a question of temperment. If a kid is a good listener and is interested in lifting, there is no reason not to start them at 10 or so. Properly supervised lifting is much safer than baseball, football or even tennis. But the kid has to have their own self-contained interest in doing it.
The problem with kids and weight lifting is that their long bones are still growing (femur, humerus, tibia, etc.). So the ends of these bones which support the joints are soft.
Also, their spine is still elastic to a much greater degree than yours or mine. Both of these things can make injuries complicated and require strict adherence to good form.
That said, properly supervised lifting is much less likely to cause growth plate injuries (those soft areas at the ends of the bones) than are sports which require explosive movement like those mentioned above, and add to that list soccer, skateboarding and pretty much anything else kids do outside.
So long as you don't let the kid go hog wild and try to deadlift 3 times their body weight, it's actually very safe. And just as women don't commonly have to worry about getting too bulky by lifting, neither do pre-pubescent boys. Their testosterone making machinery is not in full production yet. Until they hit the adolescent growth spurt, excessive bulk is unlikely.
HSDAD wrote:
And just as women don't commonly have to worry about getting too bulky by lifting, neither do pre-pubescent boys. Their testosterone making machinery is not in full production yet. Until they hit the adolescent growth spurt, excessive bulk is unlikely.
That is why I think 15 would be a good age to start. At that age they may see some development. At 6, what is it going to give them?
Besides, unless the kids shows an interest in lifting I wouldn't worry. You can't force them to lift if they don't want to.
I do agree that kids are far more likely to be injured playing sport or falling off a bike or skateboard.
I agree with HSDAD. There are some silly rumours that get around about strength training being dangerous for kids. Consider the lower back muscles, or the vastus lateralis that receive no direct stimulation during activities of daily living.
Although most kids don't have a problem from this, without direct strengthening exercise, these muscles will atrophy. Thus, despite a lack of testosterone, certain muscles will still be receptive to growth.
Granted, possibly not essential, but certainly not undesirable, and a stronger child is much less likely to get injured.
My son, Tyler, who is 5-1/2, responds very well to strength training. Yesterday, he weighed 62 pounds and is 4'1" tall. He can do chinups and pushups with ease -- and I'm talking about dozens, not a few.
Problem: He doesn't like to train. I have to really get on him for him to exercise with intensity. But when he trains, he's simply amazing. On my Nautilus machines, he does the leg press, rowing, and decline press.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, sooner or later, he becomes motivated.
spud wrote:
I'm all for strength training and keeping fit and healthy. More so than I can express in writing. That said, I can never understand why anybody under the age of 15 would want to strength train.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, sooner or later, he becomes motivated.
Ellington
In my experience, it would be best to wait for that interest to come from the little fella' independently. Otherwise you might end up with a teenager of your enviable genetics who prefers quilting to strength training. The kid has arguably one of the best examples of the benefits of lifelong weight training living under the same roof as him. And he's genetically preprogrammed to idolize you @ this point in his life. Just have patience when he prefers to reenact the destruction of the Death Star with his toys and he'll come to strength training on his own eventually from your example. And he'll have much more zeal for it as a result.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, sooner or later, he becomes motivated.
Ellington
In my experience, it would be best to wait for that interest to come from the little fella' independently. Otherwise you might end up with a teenager of your enviable genetics who prefers quilting to strength training. The kid has arguably one of the best examples of the benefits of lifelong weight training living under the same roof as him. And he's genetically preprogrammed to idolize you @ this point in his life. Just have patience when he prefers to reenact the destruction of the Death Star with his toys and he'll come to strength training on his own eventually from your example. And he'll have much more zeal for it as a result.
I think waiting and keeping your fingers crossed are not any different in practical terms.
Call me clairvoyant, but I don?t think Dr. Darden is the hardass, Great Santini, type father. My guess is one little whimper and dad runs to the rescue and the boy gets all the necessary coddling.
Drew, I see what you are saying about sport and you are right.
As far as girls are concerned I'd try and work on the kids self esteem, self confidence and his social skills. In the long term, that will get him further with the girls then "Slightly bigger biceps than the other 12 year olds."
People make it sound as if they are trying to hurry their children into taking up strength training, for fear that if they don't, they will miss an opportunity, and have lost out on the benfits of strength training forever.
It sounds like Tyler Darden is already interested in strength training.
Let's say that he continues to do his chinups and pushups for a while but then decides that he can't be bothered and he quits training altogether. He would rather read, learn a musical instrument, and perhaps he would prefer to draw or paint pictures and watch films.
Imagine he doesn't train again for about the next 13 and a half years.
Then one day when he is 18 he all of a sudden, after talking with Dad gets the strength training bug. He begins to train in earnest and by the time he is 21, he is massive, ripped and buff ;-)
Do you see what I mean?
People make it sound as if "Unless my child starts strength training at the age of 4 or 5, he/she will never start.
Bollocks.
They may show no interest for years, perhaps decades and then go on to become a very successful bodybuilder/model/trainer/lifting enthusiast.
If my future wife and children want to lose fat,build muscle, or just look better in a bathing suit, they will be encouraged to strength train HIT style as opposed to body pump, aerobics, steady state cardio, thighs, bums and tums, boxercise, tae bo and all the other bullshit.
However, I will not make them do it. If they are not interested, then I will leave it alone.
I will make sure that my children know what sarcopenia is and the role that HIT can play in protecting their health when they are old and I am long gone.
All we have here is some kids doing bodyweight exercises. Great, and I really mean it.
I have been training kids as young as twelve. They are into sports and want to be able to perform at a high level.
I think that young girls should be training long before 15 if they want to get into sports. The reasons for this are myriad, not the least of which is young girls are sooooo much weaker (generalization) than younger boys. The sooner the better, I say.
