Re: The Benefits of Weight Training for Children

[Guest guest]

Does anybody know why the 1970's researchers found the children to be

abnormally short?

Giovanni Ciriani - West Hartford, CT - USA

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 2:00 PM, carruthersjam <Carruthersjam@...>wrote:

>

>

>

> The below may be of interest (from NYtimes):

> November 24, 2010, 12:01 am

> Phys Ed: The Benefits of Weight Training for Children

> By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

>

> Trisha Cluck/Getty ImagesBack in the 1970s, researchers in Japan studied

> child laborers and discovered that, among their many misfortunes, the

> juvenile workers tended to be abnormally short. Physical labor, the

> researchers concluded, with its hours of lifting and moving heavy weights,

> had stunted the children's growth. Somewhat improbably, from that scientific

> finding and other similar reports, as well as from anecdotes and accreting

> myth, many people came to believe " that children and adolescents should not "

> practice weight training, said Avery Faigenbaum, a professor of exercise

> science at the College of New Jersey. That idea retains a sturdy hold in the

> popular imagination. As a recent position paper on the topic of children and

> resistance training points out, many parents, coaches and pediatricians

> remain convinced that weight training by children will " result in short

> stature, epiphyseal plate " — or growth plate — " damage, lack of strength

> increases due to a lack of testosterone and a variety of safety issues. "

>

> Kids, in other words, many of us believe, won't get stronger by lifting

> weights and will probably hurt themselves. But a major new review just

> published in Pediatrics, together with a growing body of other scientific

> reports, suggest that, in fact, weight training can be not only safe for

> young people, it can also be beneficial, even essential.

>

> In the Pediatrics review, researchers with the Institute of Training

> Science and Sports Informatics in Cologne, Germany, analyzed 60 years' worth

> of studies of children and weightlifting. The studies covered boys and girls

> from age 6 to 18. The researchers found that, almost without exception,

> children and adolescents benefited from weight training. They grew stronger.

> Older children, particularly teenagers, tended to add more strength than

> younger ones, as would be expected, but the difference was not enormous.

> Over all, strength gains were " linear, " the researchers found. They didn't

> spike wildly after puberty for boys or girls, even though boys at that age

> are awash in testosterone, the sex hormone known to increase muscle mass in

> adults. That was something of a surprise. On the other hand, a reliable if

> predictable factor was consistency. Young people of any age who participated

> in resistance training at least twice a week for a month or more showed

> greater strength gains than those who worked out only once a week or for

> shorter periods.

>

> Over all, the researchers concluded, " regardless of maturational age,

> children generally seem to be capable of increasing muscular strength. "

>

> That finding, which busts one of the most pervasive myths about resistance

> training for young people — that they won't actually get stronger — is in

> accord with the results and opinions of most researchers who have studied

> the subject. " We've worked with kindergartners, having them just use

> balloons and dowels " as strength training tools, " and found that they

> developed strength increases, " said Dr. Faigenbaum, a widely acknowledged

> expert on the topic of youth strength training. (His most recent book is in

> fact titled " Youth Strength Training. " )

>

> But interestingly, young people do not generally add muscular power in

> quite the same way as adults. They rarely pack on bulk. Adults, particularly

> men but also women, typically add muscle mass when they start weight

> training, a process known as muscular hypertrophy (or, less technically,

> getting buff). Youths do not add as much or sometimes any obvious muscle

> mass as a result of strength training, which is one of the reasons many

> people thought they did not grow stronger. Their strength gains seem

> generally to involve " neurological " changes, Dr. Faigenbaum said. Their

> nervous systems and muscles start interacting more efficiently. A few small

> studies have shown that children develop a significant increase in

> motor-unit activation within their muscles after weight training. A motor

> unit consists of a single neuron and all of the muscle cells that it

> controls. When more motor units fire, a muscle contracts more efficiently.

> So, in essence, strength training in children seems to liberate the innate

> strength of the muscle, to activate the power that has been in abeyance,

> unused.

>

> And that fact, from both a physiological and philosophical standpoint, is

> perhaps why strength training for children is so important, a growing chorus

> of experts says. " We are urban dwellers stuck in hunter-gatherer bodies, "

> said Lyle Micheli, M.D., the director of sports medicine at Children's

> Hospital Boston and professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard University,

> as well as a co-author, with Dr. Faigenbaum, of the National Strength and

> Conditioning Association's 2009 position paper about children and resistance

> training. " That's true for children as well as adults. There was a time when

> children `weight trained' by carrying milk pails and helping around the

> farm. Now few children, even young athletes, get sufficient activity " to

> fully strengthen their muscles, tendons and other tissues. " If a kid sits in

> class or in front of a screen for hours and then you throw them out onto the

> soccer field or basketball court, they don't have the tissue strength to

> withstand the forces involved in their sports. That can contribute to

> injury. "

>

> Consequently, many experts say, by strength training, young athletes can

> reduce their risk of injury, not the reverse. " The scientific literature is

> quite clear that strength training is safe for young people, if it's

> properly supervised, " Dr. Faigenbaum says. " It will not stunt growth or lead

> to growth-plate injuries. That doesn't mean young people should be allowed

> to go down into the basement and lift Dad's weights by themselves. That's

> when you see accidents. " The most common, he added, involve injuries to the

> hands and feet. " Unsupervised kids drop weights on their toes or pinch their

> fingers in the machines, " he said.

>

> In fact, the ideal weight-training program for many children need not

> involve weights at all. " The body doesn't know the difference between a

> weight machine, a medicine ball, an elastic band and your own body weight, "

> Dr. Faigenbaum said. In his own work with local schools, he often leads

> physical-education class warm-ups that involve passing a medicine ball

> (usually a " 1 kilogram ball for elementary-school-age children " and heavier

> ones for teenagers) or holding a broomstick to teach lunges safely. He has

> the kids hop, skip and leap on one leg. They do some push-ups, perhaps

> one-handed on a medicine ball for older kids. (For specifics about creating

> strength-training programs for young athletes of various ages, including

> teenagers, and avoiding injury, visit strongkid.com, a Web site set up by

> Dr. Faigenbaum, or the Children's Hospital Boston sports medicine site.)

>

> As for the ideal age to start weight training, Dr. Faigenbaum said: " Any

> age is a good age. But there does seem to be something special about the

> time from about age 7 to 12. The nervous system is very plastic. The kids

> are very eager. It seems to be an ideal time to hard-wire strength gains and

> movement patterns. " And if you structure a program right, he added, " it can

> be so much fun that it never occurs to the kids that they're getting

> quote-unquote `strength training' at all. "

> =======================

> Carruthers

> Wakefield

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It is my understanding that it was poor nutrition/diet.

Jim Storch

Elmira, NY USA

>

> >

> >

> >

> > The below may be of interest (from NYtimes):

> > November 24, 2010, 12:01 am

> > Phys Ed: The Benefits of Weight Training for Children

> > By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

> >

> > Trisha Cluck/Getty ImagesBack in the 1970s,

> researchers in Japan studied

> > child laborers and discovered that, among their many

> misfortunes, the

> > juvenile workers tended to be abnormally short.

> Physical labor, the

> > researchers concluded, with its hours of lifting and

> moving heavy weights,

> > had stunted the children's growth. Somewhat

> improbably, from that scientific

> > finding and other similar reports, as well as from

> anecdotes and accreting

> > myth, many people came to believe " that children and

> adolescents should not "

> > practice weight training, said Avery Faigenbaum, a

> professor of exercise

> > science at the College of New Jersey. That idea

> retains a sturdy hold in the

> > popular imagination. As a recent position paper on the

> topic of children and

> > resistance training points out, many parents, coaches

> and pediatricians

> > remain convinced that weight training by children will

> " result in short

> > stature, epiphyseal plate " — or growth plate —

> " damage, lack of strength

> > increases due to a lack of testosterone and a variety

> of safety issues. "

> >

> > Kids, in other words, many of us believe, won't get

> stronger by lifting

> > weights and will probably hurt themselves. But a major

> new review just

> > published in Pediatrics, together with a growing body

> of other scientific

> > reports, suggest that, in fact, weight training can be

> not only safe for

> > young people, it can also be beneficial, even

> essential.

> >

> > In the Pediatrics review, researchers with the

> Institute of Training

> > Science and Sports Informatics in Cologne, Germany,

> analyzed 60 years' worth

> > of studies of children and weightlifting. The studies

> covered boys and girls

> > from age 6 to 18. The researchers found that, almost

> without exception,

> > children and adolescents benefited from weight

> training. They grew stronger.

> > Older children, particularly teenagers, tended to add

> more strength than

> > younger ones, as would be expected, but the difference

> was not enormous.

> > Over all, strength gains were " linear, " the

> researchers found. They didn't

> > spike wildly after puberty for boys or girls, even

> though boys at that age

> > are awash in testosterone, the sex hormone known to

> increase muscle mass in

> > adults. That was something of a surprise. On the other

> hand, a reliable if

> > predictable factor was consistency. Young people of

> any age who participated

> > in resistance training at least twice a week for a

> month or more showed

> > greater strength gains than those who worked out only

> once a week or for

> > shorter periods.

> >

> > Over all, the researchers concluded, " regardless of

> maturational age,

> > children generally seem to be capable of increasing

> muscular strength. "

> >

> > That finding, which busts one of the most pervasive

> myths about resistance

> > training for young people — that they won't actually

> get stronger — is in

> > accord with the results and opinions of most

> researchers who have studied

> > the subject. " We've worked with kindergartners, having

> them just use

> > balloons and dowels " as strength training tools, " and

> found that they

> > developed strength increases, " said Dr. Faigenbaum, a

> widely acknowledged

> > expert on the topic of youth strength training. (His

> most recent book is in

> > fact titled " Youth Strength Training. " )

> >

> > But interestingly, young people do not generally add

> muscular power in

> > quite the same way as adults. They rarely pack on

> bulk. Adults, particularly

> > men but also women, typically add muscle mass when

> they start weight

> > training, a process known as muscular hypertrophy (or,

> less technically,

> > getting buff). Youths do not add as much or sometimes

> any obvious muscle

> > mass as a result of strength training, which is one of

> the reasons many

> > people thought they did not grow stronger. Their

> strength gains seem

> > generally to involve " neurological " changes, Dr.

> Faigenbaum said. Their

> > nervous systems and muscles start interacting more

> efficiently. A few small

> > studies have shown that children develop a significant

> increase in

> > motor-unit activation within their muscles after

> weight training. A motor

> > unit consists of a single neuron and all of the muscle

> cells that it

> > controls. When more motor units fire, a muscle

> contracts more efficiently.

> > So, in essence, strength training in children seems to

> liberate the innate

> > strength of the muscle, to activate the power that has

> been in abeyance,

> > unused.

> >

> > And that fact, from both a physiological and

> philosophical standpoint, is

> > perhaps why strength training for children is so

> important, a growing chorus

> > of experts says. " We are urban dwellers stuck in

> hunter-gatherer bodies, "

> > said Lyle Micheli, M.D., the director of sports

> medicine at Children's

> > Hospital Boston and professor of orthopedic surgery at

> Harvard University,

> > as well as a co-author, with Dr. Faigenbaum, of the

> National Strength and

> > Conditioning Association's 2009 position paper about

> children and resistance

> > training. " That's true for children as well as adults.

> There was a time when

> > children `weight trained' by carrying milk pails and

> helping around the

> > farm. Now few children, even young athletes, get

> sufficient activity " to

> > fully strengthen their muscles, tendons and other

> tissues. " If a kid sits in

> > class or in front of a screen for hours and then you

> throw them out onto the

> > soccer field or basketball court, they don't have the

> tissue strength to

> > withstand the forces involved in their sports. That

> can contribute to

> > injury. "

> >

> > Consequently, many experts say, by strength training,

> young athletes can

> > reduce their risk of injury, not the reverse. " The

> scientific literature is

> > quite clear that strength training is safe for young

> people, if it's

> > properly supervised, " Dr. Faigenbaum says. " It will

> not stunt growth or lead

> > to growth-plate injuries. That doesn't mean young

> people should be allowed

> > to go down into the basement and lift Dad's weights by

> themselves. That's

> > when you see accidents. " The most common, he added,

> involve injuries to the

> > hands and feet. " Unsupervised kids drop weights on

> their toes or pinch their

> > fingers in the machines, " he said.

> >

> > In fact, the ideal weight-training program for many

> children need not

> > involve weights at all. " The body doesn't know the

> difference between a

> > weight machine, a medicine ball, an elastic band and

> your own body weight, "

> > Dr. Faigenbaum said. In his own work with local

> schools, he often leads

> > physical-education class warm-ups that involve passing

> a medicine ball

> > (usually a " 1 kilogram ball for elementary-school-age

> children " and heavier

> > ones for teenagers) or holding a broomstick to teach

> lunges safely. He has

> > the kids hop, skip and leap on one leg. They do some

> push-ups, perhaps

> > one-handed on a medicine ball for older kids. (For

> specifics about creating

> > strength-training programs for young athletes of

> various ages, including

> > teenagers, and avoiding injury, visit strongkid.com, a

> Web site set up by

> > Dr. Faigenbaum, or the Children's Hospital Boston

> sports medicine site.)

> >

> > As for the ideal age to start weight training, Dr.

> Faigenbaum said: " Any

> > age is a good age. But there does seem to be something

> special about the

> > time from about age 7 to 12. The nervous system is

> very plastic. The kids

> > are very eager. It seems to be an ideal time to

> hard-wire strength gains and

> > movement patterns. " And if you structure a program

> right, he added, " it can

> > be so much fun that it never occurs to the kids that

> they're getting

> > quote-unquote `strength training' at all. "

> > =======================

> > Carruthers

> > Wakefield

> >

> > 

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Giovanni Ciriani wrote:

Does anybody know why the 1970's researchers found the children to be abnormally

short?

----------

Giovanni,

Just speculating - but I'll bet those kids weren't being fed properly (or cared

for in other ways). Treatment of child laborers often borders on abuse. At the

very least, their health and welfare probably wasn't a high priority for their

employers.

Regards,

Plisk

Excelsior Sports •Derby CT

www.excelsiorsports.com

Prepare To Be A Champion!

[Guest guest]

A good question. I imagine it may partly be due to the nature of the work. Might

it have been an advantage for the children to be smaller? Therefore the

employers selected naturally small children.

If it was due to work related damage that too might be understandable. I'm sure

that if your scruples don't limit using child labour they don't stretch to

providing health and safety analysis or training in how to lift heavy objects

safely. No wonder if there was growth plate damage. I wonder how many years this

study set strength and conditioning back?

Thanks for posting this . This was a very interesting paper that I'm sure

backs up what people here have been saying for years. Its always really

interesting to find out exactly where old position statements or points of view

have come from.

Andy Mclean

Edinburgh

Scotland

>

> >

> >

> >

> > The below may be of interest (from NYtimes):

> > November 24, 2010, 12:01 am

> > Phys Ed: The Benefits of Weight Training for Children

> > By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

> >

> > Trisha Cluck/Getty ImagesBack in the 1970s, researchers in Japan studied

> > child laborers and discovered that, among their many misfortunes, the

> > juvenile workers tended to be abnormally short. Physical labor, the

> > researchers concluded, with its hours of lifting and moving heavy weights,

> > had stunted the children's growth. Somewhat improbably, from that scientific

> > finding and other similar reports, as well as from anecdotes and accreting

> > myth, many people came to believe " that children and adolescents should not "

> > practice weight training, said Avery Faigenbaum, a professor of exercise

> > science at the College of New Jersey. That idea retains a sturdy hold in the

> > popular imagination. As a recent position paper on the topic of children and

> > resistance training points out, many parents, coaches and pediatricians

> > remain convinced that weight training by children will " result in short

> > stature, epiphyseal plate " — or growth plate — " damage, lack of strength

> > increases due to a lack of testosterone and a variety of safety issues. "

> >

> > Kids, in other words, many of us believe, won't get stronger by lifting

> > weights and will probably hurt themselves. But a major new review just

> > published in Pediatrics, together with a growing body of other scientific

> > reports, suggest that, in fact, weight training can be not only safe for

> > young people, it can also be beneficial, even essential.

> >

> > In the Pediatrics review, researchers with the Institute of Training

> > Science and Sports Informatics in Cologne, Germany, analyzed 60 years' worth

> > of studies of children and weightlifting. The studies covered boys and girls

> > from age 6 to 18. The researchers found that, almost without exception,

> > children and adolescents benefited from weight training. They grew stronger.

> > Older children, particularly teenagers, tended to add more strength than

> > younger ones, as would be expected, but the difference was not enormous.

> > Over all, strength gains were " linear, " the researchers found. They didn't

> > spike wildly after puberty for boys or girls, even though boys at that age

> > are awash in testosterone, the sex hormone known to increase muscle mass in

> > adults. That was something of a surprise. On the other hand, a reliable if

> > predictable factor was consistency. Young people of any age who participated

> > in resistance training at least twice a week for a month or more showed

> > greater strength gains than those who worked out only once a week or for

> > shorter periods.

> >

> > Over all, the researchers concluded, " regardless of maturational age,

> > children generally seem to be capable of increasing muscular strength. "

> >

> > That finding, which busts one of the most pervasive myths about resistance

> > training for young people — that they won't actually get stronger — is in

> > accord with the results and opinions of most researchers who have studied

> > the subject. " We've worked with kindergartners, having them just use

> > balloons and dowels " as strength training tools, " and found that they

> > developed strength increases, " said Dr. Faigenbaum, a widely acknowledged

> > expert on the topic of youth strength training. (His most recent book is in

> > fact titled " Youth Strength Training. " )

> >

> > But interestingly, young people do not generally add muscular power in

> > quite the same way as adults. They rarely pack on bulk. Adults, particularly

> > men but also women, typically add muscle mass when they start weight

> > training, a process known as muscular hypertrophy (or, less technically,

> > getting buff). Youths do not add as much or sometimes any obvious muscle

> > mass as a result of strength training, which is one of the reasons many

> > people thought they did not grow stronger. Their strength gains seem

> > generally to involve " neurological " changes, Dr. Faigenbaum said. Their

> > nervous systems and muscles start interacting more efficiently. A few small

> > studies have shown that children develop a significant increase in

> > motor-unit activation within their muscles after weight training. A motor

> > unit consists of a single neuron and all of the muscle cells that it

> > controls. When more motor units fire, a muscle contracts more efficiently.

> > So, in essence, strength training in children seems to liberate the innate

> > strength of the muscle, to activate the power that has been in abeyance,

> > unused.

> >

> > And that fact, from both a physiological and philosophical standpoint, is

> > perhaps why strength training for children is so important, a growing chorus

> > of experts says. " We are urban dwellers stuck in hunter-gatherer bodies, "

> > said Lyle Micheli, M.D., the director of sports medicine at Children's

> > Hospital Boston and professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard University,

> > as well as a co-author, with Dr. Faigenbaum, of the National Strength and

> > Conditioning Association's 2009 position paper about children and resistance

> > training. " That's true for children as well as adults. There was a time when

> > children `weight trained' by carrying milk pails and helping around the

> > farm. Now few children, even young athletes, get sufficient activity " to

> > fully strengthen their muscles, tendons and other tissues. " If a kid sits in

> > class or in front of a screen for hours and then you throw them out onto the

> > soccer field or basketball court, they don't have the tissue strength to

> > withstand the forces involved in their sports. That can contribute to

> > injury. "

> >

> > Consequently, many experts say, by strength training, young athletes can

> > reduce their risk of injury, not the reverse. " The scientific literature is

> > quite clear that strength training is safe for young people, if it's

> > properly supervised, " Dr. Faigenbaum says. " It will not stunt growth or lead

> > to growth-plate injuries. That doesn't mean young people should be allowed

> > to go down into the basement and lift Dad's weights by themselves. That's

> > when you see accidents. " The most common, he added, involve injuries to the

> > hands and feet. " Unsupervised kids drop weights on their toes or pinch their

> > fingers in the machines, " he said.

> >

> > In fact, the ideal weight-training program for many children need not

> > involve weights at all. " The body doesn't know the difference between a

> > weight machine, a medicine ball, an elastic band and your own body weight, "

> > Dr. Faigenbaum said. In his own work with local schools, he often leads

> > physical-education class warm-ups that involve passing a medicine ball

> > (usually a " 1 kilogram ball for elementary-school-age children " and heavier

> > ones for teenagers) or holding a broomstick to teach lunges safely. He has

> > the kids hop, skip and leap on one leg. They do some push-ups, perhaps

> > one-handed on a medicine ball for older kids. (For specifics about creating

> > strength-training programs for young athletes of various ages, including

> > teenagers, and avoiding injury, visit strongkid.com, a Web site set up by

> > Dr. Faigenbaum, or the Children's Hospital Boston sports medicine site.)

> >

> > As for the ideal age to start weight training, Dr. Faigenbaum said: " Any

> > age is a good age. But there does seem to be something special about the

> > time from about age 7 to 12. The nervous system is very plastic. The kids

> > are very eager. It seems to be an ideal time to hard-wire strength gains and

> > movement patterns. " And if you structure a program right, he added, " it can

> > be so much fun that it never occurs to the kids that they're getting

> > quote-unquote `strength training' at all. "

> > =======================

> > Carruthers

> > Wakefield

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>