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	By Peter Twist MPE, BPE, CSCS © 2000 Peter Twist Peter Twist is President & CEO of Twist Conditioning Inc and the former Coach of Conditioning & Player Development for the Vancouver Canucks. He has authored dozens of articles on athlete development in scientific journals, written two books on conditioning and is currently finishing a third on core stability. Peter Twist runs weekly sport-specific conditioning camps for professional athletes, high school students, and adult recreational athletes, as well as one-on-one training and team clinics. He can be contacted through www.sportconditioning.ca or 604-904-6556. One of the most common questions I get from coaches and parents of young players. This question arises from strength training. "Is strength training safe?" "Does lifting weights at an early age cause injuries?" "Will strength training at an early age stunt growth?" Current research supports that strength training is safe and productive for young kids. Coaches and teachers commonly think it is unsafe so they say "don't lift weights, it is unsafe, so you should instead do exercises with your own body weight, like push ups, chin ups, and pull ups". This is stated in most teaching, coaching, and fitness books. There is merit to the safety concern. Lifting heavy weights may damage your epiphysis growth plates, which is the area of your bones that are still growing and developing. However, weight training with light to moderate weights, using proper technique, has been shown to help bone development. The mechanical loading through weight bearing and weight loaded activity causes osteoblasts to migrate to the bone surface. The osteoblasts manufacture proteins which are eventually mineralized as calcium, and increase the strength and rigidity of the bones. Where most books/teachers/coaches erred is obvious. One of the letters I received today was from a 12 year old boy who is 5' 1" and weighs 100 lbs. They say weight training is unsafe, so he should do chin ups and pull ups with just using his own body weight. Therefore they encourage him to do a pull up with 100 lbs, but say it is unsafe to, for example, do pulldowns with 50 lbs. Or doing push ups with his full body weight is okay, but doing a bench press with two 20 pound dumbbells is not. What I say is this: Doing exercises with your own body weight may be unsafe for your muscles, joints, and developing bones if you cannot comfortably do at least 15 reps on your own with strict technique and a controlled, coordinated movement. Many youngsters cannot handle their own weight, but they can lift successfully with lighter weights. I encourage kids to learn proper weight training now. When they are a bit older, say 15 or 16, they will be capable of lifting heavier weights. 16 year olds with no lifting experience often suffer serious injuries because they are lifting heavy weights with no training experience. Learn the proper technique at a younger age, use light weights with a smaller training volume and frequency, and give the body time to adapt and grow before bombing it with weights and incorrect technique at an older age. Besides the positive effect on developing bone, kids will improve muscle strength, athletic performance, and, most importantly, self esteem and self-confidence. Becoming bigger and stronger is critical to athletic success, especially as one attempts to move up from level to level. Strength contributes to running and jumping power, dynamic balance, shooting, checking and injury prevention. But remember - improving sport performance is not about general fitness and general strength. Players must focus also on other components like quickness, agility, speed, lateral movement, balance, reaction skills, technical skills and tactics (i.e.: one-on-one's, clearing the slot, dekes and fakes). Strength and fitness are just the foundation that these other attributes build off of!
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