From what age can you go to the weight room?

2024-03-19 15:42:03

Your teenager is urging you to sign him up for weight training, but have you heard that this sporting activity could stop his growth?

We hear everything on the internet, so what to believe?

There are only a tiny portion of adolescents aged 13 to 17 who practice bodybuilding (0.6%), but this discipline is gaining more and more followers and it seems essential to us to ask ourselves to what extent it can affect their lives of adult.

We take stock here.

Does weight training stop growth?

Where does this idea come from?

In reality, this rumor claiming that bodybuilding could slow down growth simply comes from the fact that the vast majority of ultra-massive men are small.

This is justified very simply by 2 reasons:

Being short has a real advantage in bodybuilding since gaining 20 kg of muscle when you measure 1.60 meters is much more visible and allows you to appear much larger than 20 kg of muscles distributed over a body of 1.90 meters;
Being short and scrawny makes you look puny and unmanly. It is therefore very likely that short men take up bodybuilding more naturally so that these few centimeters less are compensated by more imposing muscles which give them a more protective stature.

Some examples to help us decide the question

Let’s take Tristyn Lee, a young bodybuilder who was already practicing bodybuilding excessively at the age of 15.

Everyone claimed that he wouldn’t grow and we can now see that… it’s true!

In fact, when he comes of age, he measures no more than 1.59 meters.

So is this a generalization or a counter-example?

Let us look at the cases of Richard Sandrak who had the body of a professional bodybuilder from the age of 5 and who nevertheless measures 1.75 meters, or even Malik Triolet who started bodybuilding at the very beginning of his adolescence and who has nevertheless grown a lot since then.

In short, we should not make generalizations!

Indeed,it seems important to us to emphasize that this is only an impression because the average height of Mister Olympia in the open category is almost 175 cm, slightly above the world average.

What science thinks

A study examined the effects of strength training on 18 prepubescent men over 14 weeks, at a rate of 45 minutes per session and 3 sessions per week and compared them to the control group.

Here is what was observed:

They showed a significant gain in strength;
They have a low injury rate;
There is no no impact on the epiphyses (growth cartilage)bones or muscles;
This has not negatively affected their growth, their development, flexibility or motor performance.

It was therefore concluded that strength training for prepubescents does not present no risk to their health or growth.

At what age can a child join a weight room?

Legal age

According to French law, access to the weight room is fixed at the age of 16 ans. When registering, minors must provide:

A Parental authorization ;
And medical certificate of fitness to the practice of bodybuilding.

In the absence of parental authorization, the budding athlete will have to wait until they turn 18.

The recommended age according to scientists

Doctor G. Wandji was interviewed and states that “From a physiological point of view, all physical activities are suitable for everyone.”

So concretely, if a child is in good health, he can practice bodybuilding at any age.

Furthermore, physiotherapist Vincent Roche even explains that strength training can benefit adolescents since this discipline improves:

Joint coordination;
Stability ;
Muscular endurance;
Strength ;
Vascular health;
Bone mineral density.

The risks of intensive bodybuilding among young people

A bad practice

Expert G. Wandji also explains that towards 14 years old, i.e. at the 2nd growth peak, the growth plates of adolescents are in full development and it is therefore important to work:

Body language ;
The technique ;
The positioning ;
With some light loads.

Excessive practice is never goodbut practicing in the wrong way can also be harmful to adolescents who could then injure themselves.

To avoid this risk, it is important to create an educational environment with a sports coach.

Demotivation and weight gain

According to experts, bodybuilding is not the most fun sport there isthe biggest risk is therefore that of demotivation in the long term.

If this activity stops, if it is not quickly replaced by another, there is a strong possibility of weight gain.

To avoid this, doctors recommend crossing activities, because several disciplines can achieve the same sporting objective while accentuating the entertaining aspect.

This solution allows you to practice physical activity sustainably over time.

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