WILL WEIGHTLIFTING EFFECT MY GROWTH??????????????HELP PLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JGWR82 · Newbie Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

Hi, I am 13 years old and in the 8th grade. I am only 4'8''. I have been doing weightlifting as a class in school for about 1 and a half years. I play football,basketball,and track. I do lift with proper form on bench,squat and power clean. I do 2 sets of 10 reps with the 3 lifts. I heard a rumor that it will effect my growth and bones. should i lifts weights any longer? oh yea, i bench 70 pounds 10 times for two sets, squat i do 105lbs. 10 reps 2 sets, and power clean i do 65 pounds 5 reps 2 sets

araeiq · Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

It all depends on the sort of weights you do. The heavier they are the more likely it will affect your growth. Also the sort of exercises you do can affect your growth. Also the age you start and the level you start when weightlifting can also affect your growth. Now lets deal with them one at a time.

Generally you shouldn't start weightlifting when you are still growing as you are now I'm sure. After about the age 17 years it reasonable to do weightlifting starting slow and gradually building up muscular strenght but more importantly bone strength. Remember that you do not stop growing until the age of about 21. This is when the growth plates you have as kid fuse together in your arms and legs (thats why you stop growing because once they fuse there is no space for the ends of the bone to grow).

Secondly if you do exercises which put stress on your bones so that it is acting along the bone, then that will act to compress the bones resulting in less growth in the bone than normal. If you do it for a long time at a young age that compression can be permanent. Doing exercises which put strain on your spine like military press, squats, dumbell curls while standing, overhead press etc, will also affect your height if you start at a to early age. I suggest you do exercises where you are lying down, or at least sitting in a chair. And even then don't go to more than half your body weight. Sometimes people have defect in the major artery that leads from the heart, the aorta. The problem is that in some people part of this artery is genitically weak and due to blood flowing through it (ie: blood pressure) this overtime balloons outwards. Now under normal conditions this is usually not fatal and is undetected. But doing weights which are more than half your body weight, can cause instant death, because the aorta will rupture. This has killed more people in America in the past year than AIDS has. Most of the time people didnt even know or their doctors that they had this condition.

So generally if you are in year 8 stick to running , pushups, situps, shadow boxing and squats (all without weights). Do these things until you drop, to get a good workout. This way you get the maximum growth and strength out of your body while you are growing. So when u do stop growing then your bones are strong and your muscles conditioned. This way when u start weightlifting u can have great progress, but even then u build up slowly.

I am a medical student myself, and also a weightlifter. I am 19 years olds. I started when I was 17.5 yrs. I do 300 pound bench, 120 pound biceps, 360 pound squats and 1100 pound leg press when i am on form and having a reasonable day at the gym. Also that heart condition is called aortic aneurysms. When u do start weightlifting check yourself out for this condition, before you start heavy weights. Because if it happens it will kill so fast , it is not funny.

I hope this has been useful dude. By the way i am from australia, so we use kilos. and the weights i do seem alot less to me when you convert. Wink

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JGWR82 · Newbie Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

anyone else? Question

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WASSUP...IM 14 YEARS OLD AND I PLAY FOOTBALL. THE POSITION I PLAY IS LEFT GUARD(OFFENSIVE LINEMAN)...AND I LOVE LIFTING WEIGHT.I HEARD A RUMOR THAT IF I KEEP LIFTING, I WILL STAY SHORT AND THAT IS A BAD THING, BECUASE THE AVERAGE HEIGHT FOR LINEMANS IN THE PRO IS 6'2...I BENCH PRESS 225, I SQUAT 245, AND I DEAD LIFT 315 lbs...I WILL APRECIATE IF YOU CAN HELP ME BY GIVING ME AN ANSWER, BECAUSE I DONT WANT TO STOP LIFTING, BECAUSE
I LOVE IT, BUT IF IT WILL AFFECT MY HEIGHT IM GOING TO HAVE TO STOP Sad

THANKS .... Cool

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WILL WEIGHTLIFTING EFFECT MY GROWTH??????????????HELP PLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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