Teenagers and Lifting

[hpro]

What do y'all think about lifting as a teen? Should they workout everday, just like adults? Should they do chest 2/3 times a week, instead of one? Etc..etc..I'm trying to get some info for when I become a trainer. :cool:

[cuderbeast]

When i was 13 i played football for the school. We workout 3 days a week and each time was the same routine (bench, military, squat, powerclean) We just didn't go heavy. They told us we just weren't suppose to go heavy and they told us how much to do (it was barely anything) but that was 6 years ago.

[MUbodbuilder]

with teens having the perfect hormonal structure to build muscle i would say train them fairly hard. i trained hard as a teen but there is a line between that and over training. at most a body part 2x a week, id never do 3, thats to much-or your not hitting that group hard enough. id still look to aim for at most an hour in the gym. 5days a week would be a good routine for a teen i think. even teens still do need plenty of rest. its when they are growing the most and you grow when you rest. also eating a lot of good foods is important. i think most teens today eat way to much fast food. getting them away from that as a trainer is a huge step.

[cuderbeast]

What age teen are we talking about? like 13-15 or 16-18 or 18-20

[hpro]

Anywhere from 14-21

[PUREStrength3]

I started working out at 14. All of the rumors about it affecting your growth is ridiculous, im 6'4 right now. :cool: I would try and keep it to a maximum of 4-5 days a week, and training each muscle group only once a week.

[Jester33]

I'm 18 and I train everyday. You would think my coachs were crazy cause we train legs everyday. despite training legs everyday we always are getting stronger. technically us training legs like we do should be over training, but my squat has gone up 80 pounds in the past 5 months. I think that because of our hormonal advantage compared to adults we can train harder and yeild better results. Sure over training can be a problem but i think there is a difference between over training as a adult and over training as a teenager.

[NemisisX7]

Not sure I agree with everyone here. I started lifting when I was about 12 for football and I was doing squats with 315 for 8-10 reps by the time I was a freshman. Guess what, I've had 2 knee surgerys and constant inflammation and pain. My knees also sometimes give out on me. Lifting when you're fairly young is a stupid thing to do. Body weight exercises until you're 16 or 17 depending on your body type. Then start gradually hitting the weights. Trust me, its not worth the shit I go through now.

[Jester33]

Not sure I agree with everyone here. I started lifting when I was about 12 for football and I was doing squats with 315 for 8-10 reps by the time I was a freshman. Guess what, I've had 2 knee surgerys and constant inflammation and pain. My knees also sometimes give out on me. Lifting when you're fairly young is a stupid thing to do. Body weight exercises until you're 16 or 17 depending on your body type. Then start gradually hitting the weights. Trust me, its not worth the shit I go through now.

yea i didn't start until i was 16. I only trained with body weight exercises like push ups and pull ups. I didnt start training hard until last year. I have to addmit though I tried to start working out as a ninth grader with sum of the seniors at my school and I was squating about 365 and a couple months later I messed up my knee. I've never had surgery on it though. Its still messed up though, and because of my knee messing up I cant really squat with proper form so my squat is low. Its only about 265 now. If i didnt have the knee problem i would be squating alot more. Every time I squat now I feel like sumone shoved a knife in my knee.

[NemisisX7]

yea i didn't start until i was 16. I only trained with body weight exercises like push ups and pull ups. I didnt start training hard until last year. I have to addmit though I tried to start working out as a ninth grader with sum of the seniors at my school and I was squating about 365 and a couple months later I messed up my knee. I've never had surgery on it though. Its still messed up though, and because of my knee messing up I cant really squat with proper form so my squat is low. Its only about 265 now. If i didnt have the knee problem i would be squating alot more. Every time I squat now I feel like sumone shoved a knife in my knee.

Exactly. Which is why even now I don't try to do too much weight. I'm back up to 315 squats but only about 4 reps because my knees start to shake. It sucks. Lifting heavy like that when you're young is one of the stupidest things someone can do. PERIOD.

[Jester33]

Yea. When I really think about it i wish i wouldnt have tried weight training til i was 17. Sure hormons are way up and its easy to gain weight and strength but the fact that the bones are still developing is probably f**king the joints up pretty bad. I think 17 is probably the perfect age to start weight training because by then bone growth has slowed down and hormones are still through the roof. At least thats the case with me. So til around age 17 kids probably should only do body weight exercises.

[regrob12]

i have always hear that 14-15 is the safe age for weight training to start. I personal started at 15 and had crazy gains i member bench going from 135 at the begin of freshmen year and by the time spring football came around i was throwing up 220-230 cant member gotta love it!

[cuderbeast]

i think lifting light at 13-15 can be beneficial.. no maxing or high stress lifting... at 16 and up you can begin to lift at a higher pace with more weight and additional stress... but about the growth, im still growing and im just under 19. I still think i can grow another 2-3 inches in the next 2 years.

[NemisisX7]

If lifting that young is beneficial or good I wouldn't be in pain damn near every day or had to have had surgery. I doubt that it stunts anyone's growth but its effects on the joints are pretty bad.

[cuderbeast]

You said at "12" you were squating 315 for 8-12 reps...i cant even do that! i mentioned 13 as a start and lifting very light with high reps... thats how I did it in junior high football, you are strictly supervised, they tell you how many reps and how much weight. You would squat less than 100Ibs and bench about 50-60. I did not start lifting hard till i was 16 and didn't get "supplement educated" and serious on DA till i was 17. Some people mature and have bigger than others so they can do that at a young age but i wouldn't cause yes it can hurt your joints. Thats a BIG feat to squat that much at 12, but at the price i dont think it was worth it.

[NemisisX7]

You said at "12" you were squating 315 for 8-12 reps...i cant even do that! i mentioned 13 as a start and lifting very light with high reps... thats how I did it in junior high football, you are strictly supervised, they tell you how many reps and how much weight. You would squat less than 100Ibs and bench about 50-60. I did not start lifting hard till i was 16 and didn't get "supplement educated" and serious on DA till i was 17. Some people mature and have bigger than others so they can do that at a young age but i wouldn't cause yes it can hurt your joints. Thats a BIG feat to squat that much at 12, but at the price i dont think it was worth it.

I was wasn't doing that much at 12. I just started then. Freshman year is when my squats got good. Nothin but good ole Creatine Monohydrate and weight gainers. ;)

[RisingAgainst]

I feel 15-16 is good. I started VERY young, but like Nem, regret it, I had back injuries my entire high school career, I spent 2 seasons riding the bench because of them. I wish I would have started around 15-16.