Does Weight Lifting Stunt Growth?
Feb 21st, 2008 by Mehdi Posted in Weight Lifting
Image credit: Mike’s Gym.
Posted by Young Athlete, 14 year old:
I’ll try StrongLifts 5×5 when track season comes. I won’t Deadlift since I’m not fully grown and don’t want to stunt my growth.
Proof Weight Lifting Doesn’t Stunt Growth. Olympic Weight Lifters have to start at a young age to get to the top. Check out the heavier weight classes: plenty of tall guys.
Dave Draper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Michael Vick, … All started lifting weights in their early teens and are over 6′ /1m82 tall.
Where The Myth Comes From. Children & adolescents have growth plate at the end of most bones. Growth plate regulates the length & shape of bones. Bone grows around growth plate, not from the center outward.
Growth plate is the last part of bones to harden. This makes it more vulnerable to fractures which can cause problems like unequal bone length. Weight lifting can stunt your growth if you damage growth plate.
The Truth. You don’t get hit on your ankles & knees during weight lifting like with Soccer. You don’t get collisions like in Football. The only way you can fracture your bones is by letting weights fall on you like this guy.
Weight lifting remains the safest sport when done correctly. Safety depends on proper technique, which your learn best using light weights.
Weight Lifting for Youth. Weight lifting strengthens bones & muscles which can prevent injuries in other activities. Weight lifting builds character: persistence, self-control, confidence,… It sets the trend for a healthy lifestyle, keeping youth away from unhealthy ones.
Weight lifting recommendations for youth:
- Supervision. All exercises must be done with proper technique. Stop bad technique immediately & discourage it.
- Warm-up. Warm muscles are harder to injure than cold ones. Always start with an empty barbell & do plenty of warm up sets.
- Technique. You can’t put any weight on the barbell until you can do your exercises correctly. This will act motivating.
- Stay Away From Failure. Technique deteriorates with heavy attempts. No 1 rep max. Start with an empty barbell, add weight each workout.
Weight lifting stunting your growth is one of the many myths still going around. Some believe weight lifting can actually stimulate growth because of increased bone mineralization.
Yeah I will have to also call BS on this one. What comes to mind is that stuff like running and sprinting is explosive weight lifting. You are moving your own bodyweight and with a lot of explosive force, so what are they gonna say? All kids should never be allowed to run around?
One other thing, nobody can ever give any real proof of this! If you ask anyone to provide proof:, “oh that short Turkish weighlifter from the olympics”
Or “oh this dude down the street who is short but really jacked”
@Alex
Correct, you actually have more compressive force on your legs & spine from running & jumping than from Squats.
These exercise myths are created by people who are looking for any excuse to not exercise… Similar with the “running hurts your knees” argument that is also a myth.
I have heard the myth is also partly due to the fact most gymnasts are small. But if you are small you are suited to be a gymnast, so most are. It would be like saying playing basketball makes you tall! faulty logic
For most serious adolescent weightlifters, weightlifting puts the body in an anabolic condition. Sufficient nutrients are consumed and appropriate biochemical pathways are stimulated to induce growth and insure that genetical potential is achieved. Caloric restriction during puberty is clearly a much greater factor in growth inhibition. Although gymnastics and the lighter classes in wrestling select for shorter athletes, the lack of height in these athletes is partially due to dietary restrictions.
I was niave and didn’t know
I was 13 when I said that now I’m 14. Great article mehdi very useful looking forward to your article on warm up routines.
Nice post Mehdi. One of the biggest myths going around. Sure, you don’t get your 3 year old under the bench press, but weight lifting for young athletes is 100% safe, like everything else, if it is done correctly.
Maybe you should tell this guy, http://hoboboobies.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/guest-post/
he is supposedly the smallest weight lifter in the world.
If you want to see a sport that makes you shorter checkout gymnastics. Don’t see any tall guys doing that do you. Just like world class weight lifters the gymnists start at a very young age. Also look at the terrific amounts of compression on their spine while doing all the outlandish jumps and landings.
@Shano
Gymnastics doesn’t make you shorter. Short gymnasts rule the sport because a lower body-weight makes you more efficient at body-weight exercises.
As usual Mehdi I agree. Weight lifting can (and probably should) be learned from almost any age if the focus is on technique and the weight is not too heavy.
One concern I have is the lack of opportunity for teens to learn in this safe enviromnment. Many gyms will not accept under 18’s and of the ones that do, many just let kids get on with it. There is no formal coaching and the kids are prone to lifting with poor form or too much weight.
Good coaching is hard to find I’m sad to say.
This is a very interesting post, full of information. But do you have any scientific proof, or medical research to back this up? I always thought starting too early stunted growth. What age do you recommend someone start? By the way, I think you should submit this to http://www.digg.com, and http://www.healthranker.com
I’ve seen an article once that says that wight lifting can boost your growth because when your bones can grow (they stop around 18) they too adjust to the wights just like muscles do, and thus growing stronger and bigger. I don’t know if thats true, but it makes sense to me…
ok yea i asked if weight lifting stunts your growth. Well NONE of this really tells if weight lifting stunts your growth. I still dont know if it does
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