Weight Loss, Diet and Fitness Program

Surprise – kids actually enjoy working out with light weights!
Do you want your kids to grow strong muscles and bones, shed fat and build self-confidence? Are you looking for an activity that will excite an overweight child about the joys of exercise? Strength training could be just the right activity to turn your son or daughter from a couch potato into a slim, trim former spud!

The IDEA Health & Fitness Association asked two fitness experts to sound off on the benefits and possible pitfalls of youth strength training: Wayne L. Westcott, PhD, fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, and an advisor to Nautilus Health & Fitness group; and Avery D. Faigenbaum, EdD, associate professor of exercise science and physical education at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Both pros believe that, with a doctor’s permission, children can improve their bodies and their attitudes toward fitness through a strength-training routine.

Why Should Kids Strength Train?
It’s only natural for kids to take easily to strength training. Children like alternating between brief periods of high-effort movement and longer periods of rest – and strength training lets them do just that. Strength training also provides strong visual reinforcement of their efforts; young exercisers can easily see how much weight they are lifting and how much progress they have made. The many benefits of strength training include stronger muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments; more muscle mass; less fat; a higher metabolism; greater physical capacity; and increased self-confidence.

Another great feature of youth strength training is the success rate that overweight boys and girls experience with it. In most athletic activities – running, jumping, soccer and basketball, for example – extra body weight hampers achievement. By contrast, strength training actually favors larger children and gives them a much-needed sense of physical accomplishment. Heavier kids can usually train with heavier amounts than their lighter peers because the amount of weight lifted is positively related to their current body weight.

Is Strength Training Safe for Kids?
Many people mistakenly believe that strength training is an unsafe activity for kids. Westcott and Faigenbaum personally have not found this to be the case. Both fitness experts have conducted regular strength training classes for children 6 to 12 years old for the past 18 years, and not one of the kids has been injured.

At this time, no serious injury has ever been reported in any prospective study on youth strength training. This type of activity even has a built-in bonus: it could help reduce the number of injuries they get during other physical activities.

Powerlifting, as demonstrated during the Summer Olympics, is one type of weight-training that not recommended by many fitness experts. They explain that when a child goes through a growth spurt, she could become more easily injured because her bones are weaker, her muscles are changing and her tendons could tighten over her bones. Injuries to the lower back and long bones like the femur could also occur.

As with any other weight-loss and/or exercise activity, your children should visit their doctor before they begin a strength training routine. The doctor can let you know if there is any reason that your son or daughter cannot safely participate in such a program at present.