At what age can you start weight lifting?

[Littleguy]

I started on my own with nobody and very little knowledge at age 12 by 14 I was actually doing things a whole lot better and I am 56 now sooooooooooooooooo
I say get on it.
Better question is at what age should I start stuffing shit down my kids throat and calling it food?
At what age should he or she start fucking and sucking everything in sight?
At what age should I start letting them participate in drugs and alcohol?
At what age should I allow the schools to indoctrinate them into the sicko fucked up Joe Biden dividing America idealism?
At what age should I allow them to cook their brains with countless hours daily on an electronic device of some sort?
My point being there are a gazillion things that are harmful and ridiculous that your kids are likely participating in and weight lifting would not be one of them.
Just my thoughts
Cheers

PS: reference to Mikes post above, I am 4'9" tall so maybe there is something to that ..LMAO

 

[The other Snake]

So my son is about to turn 13. Is he to young to lift? Researching online I find mixed reviews. I have been having him do situps and push-ups right now. I would like to add in some weights. Nothing crazy. Just show him correct form and go super light. What are your thoughts and opinions?

Perfect! He's not going to be able to do anything with any heavy weights to hurt himself and with you showing him, even less of a chance for injury. My young men all started around 15 but I never pushed it. Having my own gym, the equipment is there when the desire is there.

Just keep it short and keep him moving. No reason to be in there more than 30 min 3x/wk at this point.

 

[genetic freak]

I started on my own with nobody and very little knowledge at age 12 by 14 I was actually doing things a whole lot better and I am 56 now sooooooooooooooooo
I say get on it.
Better question is at what age should I start stuffing shit down my kids throat and calling it food?
At what age should he or she start fucking and sucking everything in sight?
At what age should I start letting them participate in drugs and alcohol?
At what age should I allow the schools to indoctrinate them into the sicko fucked up Joe Biden dividing America idealism?
At what age should I allow them to cook their brains with countless hours daily on an electronic device of some sort?
My point being there are a gazillion things that are harmful and ridiculous that your kids are likely participating in and weight lifting would not be one of them.
Just my thoughts
Cheers

PS: reference to Mikes post above, I am 4'9" tall so maybe there is something to that ..LMAO

Very true.

Not to take this off into a rabbit hole, but it might be a good idea to talk about AAS sooner than later. My son (18) started talking a lot about steroids the last couple years. I would let him just run his mouth for the most part and correct him occasionally. He had no idea I used. Well this year he said some of his friends were using tren and were injecting insulin in the locker room right in front of him before their workout. Before he went out and did something stupid I sat him down, went over my 20+ years of use and told him when it did come time for him to consider AAS (still several years away) I will be there for him. He has not brought it up since.

If you don't think AAS is in your high schools then you are blind. This is rural MO. Not a big school in CA, TX or FL. I couldn't even imagine the use in the big schools.

 

[DieYoungStrong]

Very true.

Not to take this off into a rabbit hole, but it might be a good idea to talk about AAS sooner than later. My son (18) started talking a lot about steroids the last couple years. I would let him just run his mouth for the most part and correct him occasionally. He had no idea I used. Well this year he said some of his friends were using tren and were injecting insulin in the locker room right in front of him before their workout. Before he went out and did something stupid I sat him down, went over my 20+ years of use and told him when it did come time for him to consider AAS (still several years away) I will be there for him. He has not brought it up since.

If you don't think AAS is in your high schools then you are blind. This is rural MO. Not a big school in CA, TX or FL. I couldn't even imagine the use in the big schools.

100%. I graduated high school in the '90s and half my football team was on AAS. I bought omnadren from a shady guy in his 20s who worked at a landscape supply yard the summer before my senior year of football. I was to scared to stick myself though, and used it a year or so later in college.

With the internet and young kids tech capabilities, it's even easier to get now.

 

[BD Cool]

13 is an excellent age to start lifting. As others have said, work light and use excellent form. Lifting is a very underrated form of stress relief and will only provide positives for your son.

 

[myosaurus]

Heres what I know. Some of the strongest and jacked people started early like 12

 

[Bukler]

My son started lifting around 12 too. Mostly messing around but he was doing the big 3 from day 1. Keep it short and simple to help keep him interested. 12 year olds get bored fast so endless workouts with a million sets of a hundred exercises is going to turn him off. Stick to compound movements- squat, deadlift, bench/military press, chin/row, let him throw some curls in to work the gunz, don't neglect abs. Stress form over weight used and keep the reps higher to allow his tendons to adapt for the 1st few months there. Let him keep a log so he can look back on his progress, that was a cool thing for my son and gave him motivation to try and do better. It still does as a matter of fact.

The myths about stunting growth and all that have long been disproven, and evidence even shows that weight training will increase bone mass in growing kids. I had some good discussions with Mel Siff when my son was starting out and his logic convinced me that not only was lifting not bad, it was good for him. He went as far to tell me that lifting heavy isn't bad as long as the form used is correct. Plus the other attributes that will result- mental toughness, discipline, etc.

Good luck, it's a lot of fun to have your boylifting with you. We're at the point now where he can pretty much work in with me and it makes it a lot of fun to have little contests with who can do the most reps or something like that.

 

[woodswise]

So my son is about to turn 13. Is he to young to lift? Researching online I find mixed reviews. I have been having him do situps and push-ups right now. I would like to add in some weights. Nothing crazy. Just show him correct form and go super light. What are your thoughts and opinions?

Start him out on lighter weights for a year or two. Focus on form. If he can keep good form he can probably lift the weight. By the time he is 16, you can probably encourage him to lift heavier. At that point, if he is serious about either body building or power lifting, I would pay a good coach to teach him the basics, so he isn't wasting his time.

When he starts thinking about taking any, probably in a couple of years, he should know steroids can shut down his natural testosterone production and cause serious side effects, like infertility, high blood pressure, kidney damage, heart attacks and strokes. Guys who abuse them often die within 10 years, sometimes less if they abuse them badly. This is not propaganda. It is the cold hard truth. I am not opposed to steroids myself, but think young people need to know the facts about them.

A lot of other things bodybuilders and power lifters are known to take, can cause other side effects.

 

[IronInsanity]

My 17 year old step son has been lifting seriously for about a year. Last night he pulled 475. And he’s 6’3” so not exactly built for deads. He’s got more in him too.

 

[searay]

If you are concerned about stunting his growth, then I’d wait until 15-16. Not everyone stops growing until puberty ends so too heavy training (or just too intense) can force the epiphysial plates in kids bones to close too soon.
My daughter is a gymnast and has been competing since she was 7. I’m 5’8” my wife is 5’ so my kid never had much chance of being over 5’2”. . That said I want to give her the best chance of breaking 5’ she can have.
Stick to body weight work and mastery of moving themselves through space (running, climbing, pull ups, push-ups etc). An athletic well coordinated kid can really make a TON of progress once they turn 16 and have the hormones kicking in and bone growth completed.

I agree, I was wondering when someone was going to bring this up. I'm sure you want your son getting every inch of growth he can. Especially with how tall the girls are getting. Males under 6' will be limited as far as the dating seen cause woman want to look up to there man. As long as he's not lifting to failure, using weights he can get 12+ reps with, focusing on good form, he will be miles ahead as a junior / senior.

 

[woodswise]

I grew up on a farm and I lifted things from the time I could walk. When I was 5 years old I lifted and moved a stone that must have weighed 40 lbs. I carried quarter full pails of water in farmers carries, Initially I carried them a few feet. I, set them down and carried them another few feet, then did it again and again until I had carried them the 100' length of the barn to feed calves at the other end. It took a few months for me to carry them the full 100 feet without stopping. Eventually, after I got tall enough, I carried full pails the full 100'. I moved hay bales and dragged them, until I could carry them. I carried one at a time, until I was strong enough to carry 2 at a time then I carried 2. I threw bales of hay a few feet, then further as I got stronger.

When I was about 12, my dad stepped it up and had me work alongside the older teens and hired men in their 20s and 30's. At first I couldn't do the same work they did, but I wasn't allowed to shirk. I was expected to do my best and I did. There was always the initial muscular soreness in spring, also I remember my bones and joints being sore after an especially long hard day. But every summer after the first few weeks the soreness went away and I started feeling like superman.

By my mid-teens I was as strong as grown men who worked outside. I started lifting weights around then and I was pretty much the strongest person my age for a long time, until I met real weightlifters and strongmen.

I don't think any of it hurt me, and it was definitely good for me. The main thing I would think is to be sure they have good form and focus on steady progress over time rather than going for broke before their bodies toughen up. I would start light the first few months, with a lot of bodyweight exercises, then start adding a little weight. I wouldn't push the limits on weights until they had a couple of good years experience and were using good form. I don't think it matters how young they start. But I would make avoiding injuries a top priority from the start, with proper warm ups, mobility work, etc.

 

[lamarclark09]

As early as 7 or 8 years of age if they show their interest and mature enough to follow the directions.. It's about learning proper techniques so the kid can safely develop the skills, strength and power for their sports.