Hospital for Children

Parent Education - Caring for Kids

Weight Training Recommended For Young Athletes

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Weight training can be safe and even beneficial for children, especially young athletes, if taught by a qualified professional who knows the correct technique.

Jon Ferber, a certified athletic trainer in the sports medicine program at Kernan Physical Therapy, says that working with weights helps teenage athletes improve their strength and overall fitness and helps to prevent injuries, especially in contact sports such as football.

The type of training and amount of weight used depends not so much on the children's chronological age, Ferber said, but rather on how physically developed they are. Two 14-year-old boys can be at very different stages of development, with one boy short and thin and the other tall and muscular.

Professionals who teach weight training to children generally stick to free weights and exercises such as push-ups that use a person's body weight as resistance. The trainers limit the amount of weight so as to prevent injuries to children's bodies, which are still growing, and they focus on the number of repetitions.

Some schools and gyms have exercise machines, but they are not designed for children and could increase the risk for injury. Young athletes should also be cautioned not to pile on the weights to see how much they can lift.

Ferber, who is also head athletic trainer at Mount St. Joseph High School in Catonsville, stresses that young people should be taught proper form and technique by a trained professional and then be closely supervised to ensure that they are lifting the weights properly.

A number of organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association, endorse children's participation in "appropriately designed and competently supervised" weight-training programs.

This page was last updated on: May 23, 2007.

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