Wassup Strong Beach? I hope you are finding a way to make the best of this rainy season! I would like to wish you all Season Greetings, Happy Holidays, and a Merry Christmas--this is the last column before Christmas! I’d like to thank everyone that came out to my first book signing at Borders Bookstore this weekend to make it a huge success! Thanks for the love—they said I had a greater turn out than any signing they have hosted. This impressed them because I was considered to be “unknown” and self published!
There have been some technical difficulties with our video blog but stay tuned--we have a fun one coming soon featuring one of Long Beach’s finest, Samie Parker.
Today I want to focus on a single question. It comes from a father that has the same question/concern that I hear from many parents. I hope you find this entry a worthwhile read.
Hello Doc,
I have a 13-year-old son who really wants to start lifting weights. I am concerned about [this] stunting his growth. He is about 120 lbs and 5’8”, and wears a size 13 sneaker. Is this a legitimate concern? Am I being overprotective? Many of his friends are already working out. What should I do?
David D.
Thanks for your question David D! I am planning to do a video blog on it. This is a loaded question because it could go either way. I will not make the decision for you, but I will give you some information that will make it easier for you to decide . . . or maybe it will complicate things more for you, who knows?
Typically, we jump into lifting weights for the wrong reasons. Our intent is what can get us in trouble. It isn’t about injury prevention or even simply getting stronger. Most kids start early to gain an advantage on their opponent. We want our kid to get a head start on the others or to keep from falling behind those who have already begun lifting. We try to “keep up with the Joneses.”
This is NOT the recommended motivation. I have been in this industry long enough now to see a child athlete move from high school onto professional athletics. I can tell you with clear certainty that there is really no true trend. I see no pattern that would favor either decision. I have successful professionals in my office as we speak, who never touched a weight until they got to college! Torri Edwards and Carmelita Jeter, both patients of mine, are in the record books as two of the fastest women of all time. Torri did not touch a weight until getting to USC. Carmelita, who is literally the fastest woman alive right now, just told me that she started lifting at the age of 15.
Maybe there’s a more consistent pattern with boys? I was blown away to hear that one of my Olympic sprinters, Leroy Dixon, didn’t lift weights until after college. He said he started at 24, as soon as he moved to LA to train professionally! On the other hand, NFL football players Marcedes Lewis and Samie Parker both started lifting at the age of 14.
Here are a few other clients that participated in this survey and the ages they began weight lifting:
Natasha Hastings - 13
Shana Woods - 15
Jazmine Rhodes - 17
Brianna Glenn - 18
Mikele Barber - 18
Me’Lisa Barber - 18
Andrea Bliss (Jamaica) - 15
Rhonda Watkins (Trinidad) - 15
Crystal Irving - 14
Donovan Warren - 13
Nicole Leach - 18
Isaiah Green - 16
April Phillips - 14
Teddy Venel (France) - 18
Shawn Crawford - 15
Taja Edwards - 12
Akawkaw Ndipagbor - 16
Felix Sanchez (Dominican Repub.) - 18
Tyrone Edgar (Great Britain) - 17
Davon Jefferson - 16
Raphael Asafo-Agyei – 11 . . . he is 6’4”
DeSean Jackson - 14
Google them! They all have interesting stories and are a pretty big deal in their prospective sports. It might blow your mind when you look them up!
One of my athletes, Akawkaw Ndipagbor, won the California State Championship in the girls 400m as a freshman. Do you know she didn’t start lifting weights until two seasons later? Another one of my athletes, Turquoise Thompson, won the California State title from Akawkaw the very next year. Do you know that she didn’t lift weights until the following year as a freshman at UCLA? That year she became the PAC-10 Champion in the women’s 400m hurdles! Trust me, it was way too early for weight training to have paid off at that point.
I look at the patterns and conclude that weights are not necessarily part of the equation for success in youth athletics. The other patterns observed are that the majority of athletes either start weight lifting during their freshman year in high school or freshman year in college. I haven’t discovered any trends in my office as far as injuries to those that have lifted and those that have not. I really find it to be a preference. I see kids that start early because they want to start early. I see kids who are forced to start early because their parents are “pushing them to excellence and athletic scholarships.”
If you want my personal opinion, I say don’t force them to lift if they do not want to. When forced, they are less likely to take pride in their technique and posture. When this happens, they risk a greater chance of injury in the weight room.
If they do, in fact want to lift, let them lift. Let them ease into it slowly. Maybe start out with simple calisthenics. Let them get used to handling their own body weight first. Then get them a trainer. For best results, make sure you choose a trainer that works with the youth population regularly, just as you would choose a specialist for medical treatment. If you needed knee surgery, you wouldn’t just go to any orthopedic surgeon. You would go with the guy that spends 85% of his time working on knees (rather than elbows).
I have two guys that I recommend for youth personal training who I work with:
Preston Rawlings (ParPerformance.com) and Gregg Washington (FitnessImpactOnline.com). Give them a call. Tell them Doc Dossman sent you!
I think lifting will be a good confidence booster for your son. Going into high school at 120 pounds isn’t easy these days. Even if he doesn’t see great results, he will feel big and strong. He will look in the mirror and flex his muscles and feel proud. This is not a bad thing.
As far as your concern about its effect on his growth (epiphyseal) plates, there isn’t much to worry about unless he is doing super–heavy, weight-bearing stuff like squats and dead lifts. At 120 pounds, he will be limited by his own ability to do bodily harm. In other words, he can lift only so much weight at this point, so I wouldn’t worry about it stunting his growth.
In closing, if you take nothing away from this, or if you skimmed all the way down to the bottom because my answer was way too long, know this: I have seen no proof that starting weight training at an early age gives any long-term advantages to the student-athlete nor have I seen any proof that waiting until college puts them at a disadvantage. I know of no disaster stories of premature weight lifting either! The truth is, David, some kids are just more talented than other kids! Some coaches and parents push their student-athletes harder than others. Some kids want to do what their friends are doing!
I think intentions need to be checked and balanced when making this decision. When you do this, you will make the right decision. I hope this was helpful to you as well as many others that have had this question. I wanted to give it full attention and consideration in today’s column. Thanks again!
To visit Doc’s website, click here, and buy his book, What I’ve Learned From Your Kids. Email questions to Doc ataskdoc@docdossman.com.
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