Exercise and Children, What You Should Know

Your child of lets say eight years old tells you he or she wants to start exercising and that he or she wants to start lifting weights. Now you might want to know if this is really a good idea, if it is safe and if it will benefit your child or if it is not something that is recommended for children to do.

The long and short of it is, yes, it is beneficial to your child to partake in a weight training program but here are some things to keep in mind when getting your child into a weight training program.

Children are not miniature adults and so you cannot use the same methods on growing children as you can with adults as children are different from adults anatomically, physiologically and emotionally. Children have immature skeletons. Their bones do not mature until age 14 to 22 years old. In girls, exercise during childhood can have critical effects on bone health that can last for their whole lives.

Children are often vulnerable to growth related overuse injuries such as Osgood schlatter