Training young: What can you start to do in the gym at a young age?
When you start training young there are a number of things that say you can’t. For instance the insurance at a gym won’t cover you or the science shows it will stunt your growth. I believe that training young can have great effects on the body. Not just physically but mentally as well. You learn early to look after your body and how it works which gives you a benefit when your older.
What can you do whilst training young?
If your son or daughter wants to exercise properly then they shouldn’t just go to the gym. You should invest in a couple Personal training sessions for them. So that they know what to start with and how to progress as they grow older. They will have to learn how to perform certain movements without any weights and then once perfected they can start to add weights. The weights should be light but just enough to push themselves. Some body weight exercises can be help under tension using just body weight as a progression. You can’t stop your son or daughter from picking up heavy objects in day to day life. As a young kid I used to pick heavy things up and think nothing of it. It didn’t hurt me, in fact I probably grew taller because go it.
Restrictions and cautions
Training young can have its restrictions and cautions. You don’t want them lifting really heavy weights that are heavier than themselves just because they aren’t built for it yet. Also the neurological pathways of your teen haven’t developed due to the small amount of time they would have been training.
As a parent you should also make sure that they are training correctly. If you don’t know how to guide them, hire someone who does know what to do. This will decrease the possibility of injury and help prevent disappointment.
What is the right age?
The age to start training for health or training for sport is very hard to say. It all depends on the maturity of your child. If they play sports and want to join a conditioning sessions to improve that sport then I believe they should be strong enough to start. The age could be as young as 10. Don’t worry at this age they won’t be doing weights outrageous heavy weights. They will learn about what movements they can do.
And it they want to attend a teen gym or young gym session, there is no hard in them training in the local gym under supervision to learn body weight movements. And as they progress they can start to add weights to the session.
Last note:
At NK Fitness we offer training camps and individual personal training to young athletes as well as young teens who want to learn more. If you are looking for the right guidance for your child we would like to hear fro you.
