The Growth Stunt Myth.

by Hari Pranav
(Chennai,India)

Hi teens

Many think that weight training at a young age would stunt growth, but I can guarantee you that with proper form and moderate weights your growth plates are safe. I am currently 13yrs old, 5'6 tall and I started lifting a weight of 8kg at the age of 7!!!
This itself shows that weight lifting will not stunt growth.

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Does Exercise with Weights Stunt Height Growth

The question about weight training and its effects on growth has been the topic of many controversial debates and has worried many teenagers that are attracted to the idea of weight training. There are different ideas about the negative effects that beginning weight training at an early age can have, and one of the most disturbing to teens is that they will have stunted growth and will hardly reach their potential heights if they start training early.


Research proven and Observation based facts


There is no research that has proven that beginning weight training early might actually lead to stunted height growth. This is actually a myth and is not based on fact.


Fact here is that many of the popular sportsmen and athletes like Shaquille O Neal and Karl Malone have grown to be taller than most men, and they started lifting weights and doing sports at a high level from a very young age.


Weight training will instead help teens to develop strong muscles as they grow, and also enable them to learn and apply a lifelong habit of healthy living that will be beneficial to them throughout life.


When you take stock of the part of our population that is suffering from obesity today and other associated diseases from overeating and a sedentary lifestyle one cannot help but advocate for a lifestyle that is more active for kids as young as adults. Our forefather where hunters and gatherers and were often out to hunt for their food. Therefore they usually had well developed muscular and skeletal systems and grow old being as active as possible.


We do not gather food from the fields today, and we do not hunt for our own meat. However, we can compensate for these lacks by engaging in weight training and other physical activities that will boost our metabolism and encourage the body to digest more and use the food to build muscles instead of storing as fat. Engaging from youth will even ensure that they do not get to accumulate fat and then start trying to lose it again with dieting and other methods of weight loss.


Proceed with caution

Even experienced weightlifters can sometimes get into trouble if they don’t follow the correct form of exercises and also if they do not respect the weight limits that their bodies are able to support at a particular time.


Therefore as someone that is growing, you are still required to follow the basic rules of weight training or else you may cause injuries to yourself. Weight training will not harm you if it is done within the right limits and the law is the same for both growing teens and professional bodybuilders.