Today I go over a few reasons why your child should be grabbing those dumbbells and "pumping some Iron".
Now to start with I will address some very justified concerns "The dangers to growth plates-found at the end of long bones are real," says Michael Meija, C.S.C.S>, Mens Health fitness advisor whom specialises in youth Athletic training.
However, Meija is also quick to point out that any injuries that do occur to youths are due to excessive loads for the exercise and the use of improper technique.
So to summarise this, it appears that youths can lift weight-as long as it is does done safely and correctly.
Now we have established that they can here is why they should.
Reason 1 -keeps your child maintaining a healthy weight
- In the 2018 publication Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health for West Berkshire- the following statistics were highlighted;
-8.5% of children aged 4-5 are Obese
-This Increases to 28.2% of children in year 6 which are overweight or Obese
-59.2% of adults are overweight or obese
With this upward trend in likelihood of becoming overweight, it becomes increasingly important that we provide avenues for youths to learn how to maintain a healthy weight through exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
Where does weight training come into this?
Weight training is a great way to increase the total volume of active muscle in the body by having people move through more demanding exercises than everyday lifestyle demands.
Lifting weights can create an increase in heart rate, and rate of breathing higher than that which a long run could do, this will achieve stronger heart and lungs which if maintained can keep them fitter and healthier for longer.
Reason 2- Stronger Muscles and Skeleton
Elimination of Weakness.
Sorry that sounded like some sort of Hunger games, post apocalyptic movie (my bad-but it made you look)!
If we take a look at the older generations it is likely we know someone who has had a slip, trip or fall which has resulted in a surprisingly severe injury where normally someone may just be bruised. Often the degree of injury will be influenced by how strong (or not) that person is.
By introducing and regularly practising weightlifting not only do we strengthen and build balance and control in the muscles, we also increase bone density. Now bone density typically does not become an issue until later in life, but the most opportune time to build that bone density is during adolescence.
Reason 3- perhaps your child doesn't get on with team sports
I'm not going to get into this one as we are getting outside of my scope as a Personal trainer and exercise specialist. It will be the case that some kids no matter how hard we encourage team sport it just isn't for some kids- and that's ok. We just have to find something else, for them to channel their efforts into.
Often with team sports your child may not feel like they are good at it and so shy away from it. With weight lifting it is different, they only have themselves to beat. If for example in week 1 they do 10 press ups, next week they try for 11. If they return and get the 11 they can enjoy the feeling of success and achievement-with good planning and coaching this can be a weekly achievement.
Reason 4-your child's self worth
When they reach adolescence you may have already seen they are more conscious of what other people think of them and so will begin reacting to that in their behaviour and the decisions they make. With weight lifting and other fitness pursuits they can have a positive influence on how they physically develop which will improve their self worth both in training and beyond.
Reason 5-improve family bonds
As your child gets into their teens you probably feel as though they are becoming more distant, however, if you and your youth both exercise then this becomes something else you have in common. You don't have to exercise together (although it can be a very powerful tool in building strong bonds) but you do have a shared common interest that can be chatted about over the dinner table. This is a great way for you to encourage them in a positive pursuit that you can really get behind.
Reason 6-Exercise reaches beyond the gym
There are many lessons that can be learnt from regular exercise. If your child can stick to regular exercise and see, feel and experience the positive changes it makes to them, those disciplines can carry over into other avenues of life.
I'm not saying exercise will stop the wild teenage partying or the stupid decision making but something that can ground them and give them a physical outlet could reduce their outbursts elsewhere in their lives.
Reason 7-Equal opportunities
Weight training is for everyone. There is no weight class, no height preference and no sex discrimination. In my Teen fitness class, I have tall, short, male, female, fast, slow and any another distinction you can think of.
The way I operate my class, is you all do the same exercises but you beat yourself. The majority of the time I operate on a circuit basis, this means that everyone is doing something different in the moment but at the end of the class they have all done the same work-everyone has accomplished the same.
If you would like your child to become more involved in exercise it will require some input from you
in facilitating their ability to do it, whether it is the funding, the taxiing, googling to fid the activity near you or simply you to say "yes you can do that"
I teach a teen fitness class as well as family group personal training at Accomplish Fitness-Hungerford.
For any further details;
Email; darrencarroll.pt@gmail.com
Web; accomplish-fitness.co.uk
-Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health
