Let me start off by saying I’ve never been opposed to junior high kids lifting weights.  You just need to pay strict attention to form and the progression of your workout plan.  That’s where you can get into trouble by lifting your young-un like an adult.

When I started my fitness business way back when, I made the decision to do basic leg strengthening and core strengthening with kids younger than high school age, but that was it.  A lot of times it was bodyweight stuff until they could handle light loads of intensity.

As the popularity of sports has increased and the desire to be better has also increased, my thought process has changed.

More and more teams, especially football, are introducing junior high athletes with weightlifting and not doing a good job with it.  These kids are treated like their bodies are that of a maturing 17 or 18 year-old and you absolutely cannot do that.

Meaning, they aren’t continually looked after to make sure form is correct.  If they are boys, they get sucked into the male testosterone world of adding on way more weight than they can handle (which then compromises form).  It is just bad all the way around.

So my staff and I started suggesting to some of our junior high parents to allow us to put their kids on a strength program that we monitor.  Let my highly trained staff work with these kids (boys and girls) and focus on the following areas:

  • Technique and Form – This is imperative!  If the technique is bad, this is where they will hurt themselves.  This and this alone is one of the big reasons why I considered doing this with these kids.  Knowing that in high school, not every sport has access to a strength coach, at least if the kids have a good foundation of the lifts you can feel a little better he/she could handle a workout when eyes aren’t on them.

  • Progression of Weight – Weight should not be the emphasis until they are older, but you need to have some intensity to help them work with their form.  Once they are very proficient with a lift, you can then add a little bit of weight.  You aren’t trying to lift a house, but get a basic grasp of how to exercise.

  • Development of Confidence – The junior high years are awkward enough as it is, but if you can start working with the kids on the basics of strength training it could help that.  The more proficient they are at lifting and the stronger they might feel will definitely help their confidence when they play their sport.

  • Injuries Are Kept To A Minimum – If you follow the above guidelines, then injuries will be kept low.  Yes, the occasional injury might happen.  But, the horror stories of stunting your growth will not occur.  As long as you focus on form and not weight, you will be fine.  If you have too much weight and your form is shaky at best, that could be a recipe for disaster.

Look, my daughter will be going into high school soon.  At some point she will not be working out with me as much.  As someone who has run a weight room at a school for several years, my mind will be more at ease if I can teach her how to lift properly.  I won’t have to worry as much about the experience of the coach because my daughter will understand the safety features.

If your kid is a junior high kid, then consider getting some lifting work in prior to the “mandatory” lifting sessions that will begin in high school.  Trust me a lot of these sports have way too many players for the few eyes watching.  At least get the peace of mind your athlete will know the majority of lifts and how to safely do them.

Photo courtesy of Shrivy1+ on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/video4net/