Parents often approach us with concerns about the appropriateness of weight training in their children’s routines. The detrimental effect on growth plates and ongoing development in particular is often raised. So let’s take that topic on in today’s blog!
Weight training is the development of skeletal muscle by increasing resistance. Muscles adapt and are built up as we ask them to work, or overcome the resistance in other words. This type of training can come in many forms; body weight exercises for instance, and strongman, barbell and dumbbell exercises are all common examples.
The growth plates in children and adolescents are the softer tissue segments found around the ends of their bones, and it determines the future length and shape of the ‘mature’ bone. In the latter stages of adolescence, these growth plates close up and become solid. Just like any tissue, a child’s growth plates can be damaged or stunted by poor diet, a direct knock, a lack of exercise, or through incorrect movement of the body (e.g. a bad squat pattern). But a correctly prescribed weight training regime won’t do any of this, and will actually promote growth. The myth however does have a basis in fact, coming from studies where the subjects were asked to lift dangerous weight levels and were already exercising badly. So choosing the right help and training regime is critical!
Weight training for a child should therefore of course vary from how we see adults performing in the gym. The emphasis is not on getting stronger, but on promoting the correct movement patterns that will encourage good posture and injury prevention throughout their lives. If a child is able to learn the correct way to bodyweight squat for example, (hips falling backwards, weight distributed on heels, and knees not travelling further forwards than their toes), then they can strengthen the hamstrings, glutes and quads in a safe manner, and minimise the risk of knee pain later in life.
This basic squat pattern was natural for us all when we were young, (look at a toddler comfortably squatting whilst they play), but as we adapt to modern life, sitting at desks and reclining in our chairs, we lose this naturalness, which is when we start complaining of knee and back pain!
Similarly, a child can be taught the correct technique for a bodyweight press up that promotes good shoulder stability and chest strength, helping prevent shoulder pain later in life. This exercise also increases the secretion of the growth hormone from the pituitary gland, promoting growth in adolescents.
So yes, here at BBG, we think children can weight train in a supervised and safe environment, giving them the opportunity to strengthen their joints and re-learn those basic movement patterns. The correct tuition early on is the best preventative action to take, especially compared to letting them hit the gym at 18, where they may be inclined to load weight onto unstable joints that haven’t learnt, or worse forgotten, how to function properly!
Sevenoaks Personal Trainer
Blackheath Personal Trainer
