Kid’s and Weightlifting

 

As a weightlifting coach I am often times asked how young is too young to start working out or to start lifting weights. It is never too young to be physically active, push your kids outside, make them hop, skip, run, jump, and roll. When it comes to starting Weightlifting, I would say as long as a child is able to pay attention for an hour of time and doesn’t need a parent around to be told to behave they are able to start weightlifting. I usually find this is around the age of 10 or up; there are children who have the focus to start at 8 or 9 but this is usually not the case.

When children start lifting at this age the focus is placed upon basic strength, and movement patterns. Practice bars and technique plates are used and weight is not put on the barbell until proper movement patterns are learned. Warms ups usually consist of basic strength and skill activities such as crawling, pull up practice, push ups, and sometimes jumping. It is crucial at this age to develop basic levels of strength an example being able to do strict push ups and pull ups. By developing basic movement patterns and a solid foundation of basic strength, children are set up for safety in all of their future sporting endeavors and may even be a head of the curve. The main reason we train using weightlifting is to prevent sporting injuries no child or athlete should ever have to experience. Other positive results from consistent weight training include a boost in confidence, increased focus, and improved resiliency. These concepts are similar to if a child who struggled with the subject of mathematics was to visit a math tutor in the summertime to prepare for the upcoming school year. More practice equals more results.

Written By: Nic Scudamore

Lift heavy, lift often, dream, and repeat.