hello everyone,

my son is 4 and i started having him lift weight and run the treadmill? is that age to young to have him working out? any advice is appreciated.

thank you,

noobie

from what i have heard children should never lift not until they reach 15-16. maybe wait till his bones etc are fully developed but it is great to keep him fit my daughter has to play at least one sport of choice and also gymnastics.

4???
...
Unless he's the chosen one I would'nt get him started until mid pueberty(14-15).

Instead of weights and macines, why not incorporate some natural gymnastic moves. Running aruond the yard, climbing etc. that's what kids used to do before T.V. and video games.

weight lifting does not stunt growth at all, BUT I would be more worried about injury. Its easy enough for a well trained lifter to hurt themself, I would imagine a small (4.. probably very small) child would be prone to injury.
Perhaps you should play sports with him and allow his body to develop more with natural movement. This of course is opinion. It would just be a shame if your son had not stretched properly and somehow injured himself.

ok guys i understand what u guys r saying but i forgot to add that i'm having him lift the minumun weight like 10 lbs 8 times x 4 and barely walking/jogging the treadmill. what i'm trying to say is he don't even break a sweat. i think u guys r getting the idea that i'm working him out to death. so should i keep him up with that or not or should i drop lifting weights? any advice is appreiciated.

thank you

ngu

Even light weights can cause injury to a developing child. I would wait a little while. Perhaps wait until he gets a bit bigger. This is of course not a scientific answer and is highly debatable, but I would wait until he is at leat 10-12 before he lifts.

anyone every seen the worlds strongest kid on discovery or some channel?? he startedd when he was really young and only eated healthy and look at him... lol hes bigger than most adults at 10 i think or something i forget.

speak to your dr. 10 is the minimum as far mine is concerned.

16 or over, and start lightly! 4 is way too young, you can damage his growth and really f**k his body.

Your doctor will advise against it.

I don't know how unhealthy or damaging it is. But maybe consider T-ball where he can do both of those exercises by swinging a bat and running the bases. (Plus he can socialize and have fun too).

your son is very young, his bones not as strong as an adult and he is growing everyday.

encouraging him to lift weights may do more damage than good and could stud his growth.

I wouldn't suggest it until he is at least 16. By all means encourage sports, but not weight lifting.

I agree with what a couple others said about having him do regular kid things like running around. When I was a kid I loved to run around, climb things and just go nuts. That is the best kind of exercise and it keeps his imagination going by getting him to think up ways to have fun. Running on a treadmill is boring and it might encourage him to just turn off his brain and just mindlessly go forward.

By the way, 10 lbs sounds heavy for a 4 year old!

~Nicole

P.S. I don't have any kids so I'm not completely familiar with kids that age or what they are capable of physically. Just stating my opinion and letting you know how I was when I was younger

Have him do exercises like these:
Pushups
Situps
Running
Stretching
Chinups
Body Squats (squating without weights)

Your child will really be ahead of the game!!

4?!?...wow that is young, I would figure that yeah that is way too young.