Good age to begin working with weights?

[splashangel]

Can my 10 year old begin working with weights. I have Let him fool around with the bar and some light dumb bells.

[Boss Man]

No, because it might cause an issue with his Bones moreso than muscle.

A bit of bodyweighted stuff might be okay and certainly some Cardio.

[splashangel]

Thanks. I may have created a monster!

[BondJamesBond]

Yes, bodyweight only!

[splashangel]

Hey everybody. Quick update. My son is now jogging with me. Yep, and NOW husband is lifting with me. Geez, it took forever to get him interested. My son loves to go in the weight room with either or both of us. We do let him play with the 5 lb. ones but not "work out". I still have the same question though. He has ask me when. His Dad has ask me when. All I can tell them is not yet he's to young and it could mess him up.So.... He is 11 now. What do I tell him?

[Boss Man]

Ideally it's preferable to wait until he's around 16, but 14 at least. Muscle responds okay to it when people are young, but bone is not so forgiving, unless you go very light and probably never exceed around 75% of a muscle groups tolerance, whatever that would be.

Too much could affect the way bones continue to progress and as skeletal finishing does not occur until 17, there could be potential affecting of that process before completion, if someone was loadbearing to maximal levels or not far off them.

I would suggest he may be able to attempt some kind of bdoeyweighted structure, but with absolutely no added resistance at all, not even a couple of books or very light weight.

This might be sonething for him to do.

2 sets Squats, 10 reps.

2 sets Lunges, 10 reps.

2 sets Good Mornings, 10 reps.

2 sets Vertical Pec Flyes, 10 reps.

2 sets Bent Over Rows, 10 reps.

2 sets Shrugs, 10 reps.

2 sets Leg Raises, 10 reps.

All these are using absolutely 0 resistance, but are using limb weight only, but he needs to be properly warmed up first, so I'd give it 5 minutes at least, of some stretches like scissor and pulls, windmills, hip rotations, knee raises, etc and perhaps a bit of jogging on the spot for 2-3 minutes beforehand as well. Get a bit of heat going and circumlation, before doing the dynamic stretching.

I would supervise this though, don't let him potter about doing this whilst you're training, so you know he's doing it right and can monitor how he feels, ot make sure he avoids issues and if he experiences any you can be aware of them and assess if he's okay to continue or may need a few days off.

[splashangel]

O.k. then. I will see if I can get him interested in the non- weight bearing excercises you suggested. I really appreciate your help here. He's come a long ways huh,Boss Man?

[Boss Man]

You all have that's the great thing. You were someone worrying about your kid and not 100% certain what to do regarding yourself.

You're a darn good mother Angel and it's great to see, that with the right adaptations to the nurture aspect of motherhood, you're building on the good work you started putting in years ago, so now your son can be interested in your activities and you can come across as an even better rolemodel than you already were.

I'm proud to see people like you make it work, because I like to see people like you, being rewarded in life for what you put in.

Keep up the hard work and as always, it's great to hear from you .

Kenneth is a lucky kid to have such a terrific family environment to thrive in and you can be very proud of the part you play in that .