It's been awhile since I have done a post, in that time I have: been married to my lovely wife for all of two months, took part in a weightlifting meet, traveled across the state of Tennessee, studied extremely hard for graduate school, and I have taught my classes at The University of Memphis. It's been a pretty busy schedule to say the least. However, I got the idea for the post one afternoon following the Halloween Holiday (for little kids and candy lovers it is a holiday).
I was asked recently about weightlifting and children; a mother in my class began to ramble one day about how children shouldn't work out. According to her and many others out in the world children would hinder their bodies if they began weightlifting before they were in high school. My answer to that question was not if they have a smart coach. You see an untrained kid plus an untrained "coach" is no different then Ralphie off of A Christmas Story going outside Christmas morning after receiving his most prized toy a Red Ryder BB gun shooting it and nearly taking his eye out. This of course after the entire movie every adult said that he would do exactly that. Now, am I advocating that babies should be pushing around a barbell as they learn to walk? No!
Weightlifting is a sport as well as an activity that has a ton of misconceptions. Most people in our society would paint a terrible picture (and plaster it across every news channel) of a young child straining with a weight until finally their face was purple and they had broken every bone in their body. This typically doesn't happen in Weightlifting, it happens in High School football programs due to uneducated, untrained and uninterested position coaches. The truth of the matter is this Weightlifting has a lower injury rate compared to most sports.
How Can Weightlifting Help?
Children before puberty aren't capable of making great amounts of strength gains due to lack or hormones. Now for those parents out there that are like minded with my student, you will be saying right now "children don't need to be strong". My answer to you is this. What is going to keep your child from breaking something? What is going to keep them safe when they play sports? What is going to keep you away from medical bills? STRENGTH! Studies have shown (Sewall & Micheli, 86; Weltman et al, 86; Servedio et al, 85) that weightlifting allowed for greater flexibility in pre-pubescent boys and girls. Also these studies showed that motor performance can be improved through strength training.
What Age Then?
Typically, the best time to get your child into Weightlifting is eleven or twelve. It allows the individual to increase motor learning flexibility and growth prior to starting any real recreation, or club sports. It is also important because at this age they have very few distractions other than school. Now you don't have to wait until your child is eleven or twelve to get them active. It is very important that your child stays active just like you did. So make them go outside, make them climb trees, get them a bike and teach them to ride.
Food
A lot of parents tell me that their child is allergic to this food or they won't eat that food. The truth is that most children who do not eat health foods originate it from their parents. Parents tend to not force good eating habits onto their children. The best thing is to get your child introduced early to healthy foods and healthy eating habits.
NO CHILD IS GOING TO LOVE GREENS UNLESS YOU MAKE THEM INTERESTING! Add variety to your meals try introducing fruits with treats such as nut butters and dark chocolate. Adding a little bit of salsa or spice to average veggies will help the child get over any bland tastes that veggies normally had.
Key Facts:
1. Get you kid active at an early age:
- The age of six is a good age to get your child into youth league programs. Sports such as Gymnastics, Basketball, Football, Baseball, etc. are good sources of building body awareness. Yes, Gymnastics is a great sport to build not only body awareness but also upper body and core strength that will aid children into adolescence It also gives them great tricks to pull out at parties.
2. Find a great coach for your children to train under:
- This speaks for it's self. You don't want some uneducated, untrained, and uninterested football coach training your child. This is the number one reason Weightlifting gets such a terrible reputation.
3. Teach your children proper nutrition:
- This all starts with you. Your child watches you constantly they watch how you talk and interact with people, how you dress, and how you eat. If you are stuffing your face with a Big Mac, then they will be more inclined to do the same when they grow up. Do not let them grow up to hate fruits and veggies because you never fed them fruits and veggies.
