| Are you thinking about letting your child | | | | you have them work on their skills and not to |
| athlete move to the next level and begin | | | | worry about weight training until their in |
| weight lifting but you do not know what the | | | | high school. |
| right age for them to start is. This article | | | | |
| will help you to understand when your child | | | | If you are worried about your child getting |
| should begin youth weight training. | | | | injured and want to keep them safe while |
| | | | lifting just follow these tips: |
| You may be surprised to hear that youth | | | | |
| weight training has been found to been good | | | | -Make sure you check all the equipment to |
| for children because it helps to improve | | | | make sure there are no defects on the |
| muscular coordination, bone density, and | | | | equipment before you lift. |
| increases strength. I am of course not | | | | |
| telling you to have your 10 year old child go | | | | -Only let your child lift with a supervisor |
| and begin lifting weights but when your child | | | | who will properly train your child and who |
| reaches an appropriate age it will benefit | | | | knows what he is doing. |
| them to begin lifting. | | | | |
| | | | -You have to make sure you make it fun for |
| What is that age though? That question has | | | | your child. You have to be careful what you |
| been debated over for years and here is the | | | | say as your words will hurt their lifting. |
| answer, when hey begin to produce | | | | |
| testosterone. The reason this is when is | | | | -Make sure there are no distractions around |
| because testosterone is a major part of | | | | them as they lift and they only lift in a |
| building muscle. Children usually begin to | | | | non-crowded area. |
| produce testosterone around the age of 14-17 | | | | |
| which means around the time they enter junior | | | | -If your child is immature in anyway I would |
| high or high school. | | | | recommend they do not join a weight lifting |
| | | | program. Your child needs to be mature enough |
| The important thing to remember is that you | | | | to obey orders when they are given. |
| need to only let your child lift weights | | | | |
| under the proper circumstances. The proper | | | | If your child is mature, in junior high or |
| circumstances means your child lifts only in | | | | high school, and is under constant |
| a well designed program and only under | | | | supervision, it is okay to allow them to do |
| constant supervision. If you are only looking | | | | youth weight training without having to worry |
| to have your child do weight lifting to help | | | | about them. |
| them in a particular sport I would suggest | | | | |