Oof! Uhh! Mom? Meet the Peewee Powerlifters

I can't believe all the negative comments. Ironically, the same negativity is displayed concerning older people powerlifting. "Experts" advise against it. I am 68. I started powerlifting 2 years ago. I've put on around 25 pounds of muscle (I had been shrinking, the way people do as they age.) Powerlifting is a fountain of youth. I no longer get back aches, knee aches, joint aches, etc. I can deadlift more than 350 pounds, deep squat (below parallel to the floor) more than 325 pounds, and bench more than 250 pounds.(I am 5'10" and now weigh around 210 pounds.) All of this with free weights. My body and mind have to keep me standing and balanced for the deadlift and squat. I don't go to the gym to sit down and have machines do half the work. I highly recommend the practice. If you master the proper form, any weight you can lift is appropriate.

Damaging children to satisfy parents silly ideas of creating "strong women".

People, like me, who have a congenital heart defect are instructed not to do heavy weight lifting because it's life threatening. Yet most people who have such defects don't have any symptoms. Parents, beware.

There's always a delightful level of sanctimony and pearl clutching when it comes to strength training, especially from the upper crust that see it as some sort of low brow venture. I mean, I wouldn't let my kid competitively powerlift either, but I don't see the risks from it being any worse than most sports people are all to happy to let their kids play (risk to growth plates in powerlifting may be unique, I'm just not sure I find it "worse" than the risks associated with other sports). We're letting kids play sports with broad, peer-reviewed studies that say those sports will screw up their brains; to my knowledge we don't have the same quality data on powerlifters, more anecdote and theory. But it's an icky strength sport for vain people, not like all those thin yogis and distance runners who walk the higher path, so we need to criticize it extra hard. In summary, if you're not crying about kids playing sports that we KNOW are dangerous based off of long-term quality data, maybe shut up about this until there's no analysis

Weightlifting for strength and fitness at any age is probably fine if done responsibly, e.g., as part of training for another sport. But *competitive* lifting is just asking for trouble, and is probably stupid -- at any age. Did anyone else's here see the elbow give way on that NZ lifter at the recent Commonwealth Games? Sickening. "End of career" injury. Push anything just one step past it's breaking point, and guess what happens? It breaks.

I can’t believe the NYT published an article citing such little discussion of the medical aspects of power lifting or other extreme exercise for young children. I expect better balance. Maybe a smaller photo with a longer article would have done better. Also, sombody should explain to Luma Valones that lifting does not guarantee big muscles. As a former wrestler and gymnast, who also spent time in the weight room, I was strong, but I never had big muscles.

This is a form of child abuse. Children's growth plates haven't even closed yet at this age. I say this as someone who has done lifting/weight training and bodybuilding for decades. I love them all but this is very dangerous and stupid.

Body building is a wonderful activity for young and old. Done carefully and gently it feels good and dramatically improves strength and flexibility. It is a perfect choice as it is always tailored to the individual. Great to learn it’s spreading to kids!

How can this be healthy for children who are in their growing years, with bones not fully calcified even? My terminology might be wrong-- I'm not a doctor-- but you get my meaning. Seems like a mistake to me. These kids will have problems down the road: my prediction. So many parents want their own special snowflake these days. Just let kids be kids! Get them away from screens, make them play outside, and read to them at bedtime.

I think this ultimately says more about the parents and their desires and self-image than the kids. Adults should know better and be more responsible where children are conerned.

The concern I would have is not with weightlifting but with the competition aspect where kids push too hard and hurt themselves. There is a big difference between doing 10 reps of a weight and a max out.

Hmmm. Interesting. In the same country where dodgeball is banned as too dangerous.

Does this stunt a child's growth?

I don’t think kids should be doing this, or taking part in beauty pageants, or scrambling their brains in midget football. This is what happens when parents live vicariously through their children .

child abuse, their joints will likely be badly hurt if not immediately in the long run. stop

The psychological effects must not be forgotten either. It is easy to think of body image simply being okay with your weight, but it is more than that. Muscle dysmorphia, the perception that your body/muscles are too small, can have consequences just as severe as an eating disorder.

Every day in good weather, I take my kids to the park to hopefully get all the exercise / work out they need by throwing, running, catching, kicking, sliding and swinging. I can't help but think we, as a society have become so privileged we have forgotten that child labor is a real thing, both in modern times in the developing world and in our recent past. If I'm remembering correctly my own grandmother started working at age nine in the textile factories of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sad thought right? Let kid be kids at the park and leave the powerlifting to adults.

My late husband was an orthopaedic surgeon and a dedicated weight lifter. He certainly agreed with Dr. Abigail Allen’s sentiments. Parents occasionally tried to skirt our gym’s minimum age requirement ... bringing their kids in to lift weights. He wasn’t shy about telling them of the risk of irreparable damage. Personally, I think CrossFit and other similar programs promote weight lifting and movement extremes that can be physically damaging in the long run (my degree is in exercise physiology). And now I see children encouraged to participate in some of the same ... often by parents and trainers who are wholly unqualified to make that call.

I don't think kids should do this. I lift but it can be dangerous.

I recently began powerlifting for health (not for competition). I’m in my late forties and have found over the nine months since starting that my health has improved considerably. I focus on the “Big Four” which are squats, bench press, standing press and deadlift. My back issues have improved. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight. I’m stronger now than I’ve ever been including when I weight lifted for years in my 20s. All good stuff. And my children (12 and 10) have expressed an interest in weights, and I’ve been reading and studying the issue quite a bit. And here’s where I think I’m at: learning the movements with light to moderate weights can be nothing but good for coordination, endurance and some strength development for kids. And those benefits would transfer to the other sports they play. However, it takes a child in the mid to later stages of puberty to develop the hormonal conditions needed to take advantage of the strength building bodily processes necessary to get the results from training that I’ve been seeing. Further, proper form is so incredibly important for anyone that I would be very, very hesitant to allow one of my child to go under a heavy load for fear that they might suffer injury as form degrades as they attempt to “ego lift” a weight beyond their real capacity to do safely. That said, and to keep my perspective in context, I’d let my kids powerlift before I’d let them play football.

"Competitive" is the problem with so many youth activities. Kids can't draw or play or dance without being measured somehow.

I think this is fantastic. The core body strength that these kids are developing at such a young age is priceless. To the naysayers...Have you ever seen or read of any scientific evidence (not a article, but an actual study) that concludes powerlifting is bad for kids these ages? I agree it's like any sport, proper coaching/training is the determining factor on its safety, not the sport itself.

Of course this association of personal trainers would approve and encourage powerlifting for children, they're looking out for their own benefit just like a drug company touts their drugs even though it often comes with dangerous side effects. I was a fitness trainer long ago during the early 1990's, i never condoned power lifting for kids, too dangerous and stressful for their developing bodies. When they would hit their mid teens i would encourage a gradual introduction into weight training. By late adolescence a full course of weight training exercises was appropriate. Squating, leg presses , over presses place tremenous amounts of force and pressure on the spine, spinal column and discs. All the research is there for anyone to read. Over time disc degeneration results, possible spinal cord and nerve compression with resulting loss of bladder and bowel control and sexual function, not to mention loss of body height. Having kids doing this is just plain stupid. Parents, and trainers know better. I agree with Dr Allen as for the parents who say that it depends on the trainer; that's just a bogus excuse. Might as wel have them play tackle football, and we all know how dangerous that is for little kids. Shame on the Times for promoting this fad.

This is sick parenting.

"The key is the right coach." Tell me which coach understands the effect of lifting extreme weights on the development of bones and cartilage in children. The answer is that no coach knows. This is because no one in the world knows the effects of this. There is a simple rule. Anything done to an extreme is probably bad for you.

This would be quite concerning to me - children who engage in competitive sports frequently suffer significant training injuries in process. Besides inherent dangers of participating in most sports, the high intensity needed to compete places too much strain on their young bodies, which carries on into the adulthood. That it how you get runners and basketballers who need canes to walk in their thirties and forties, swimmers in their twenties who need shoulder surgeries etc. You want your child to play sports? Great. Have him train in multiple sports so that no single area of his or her body is overloaded.

I think it's great for these children to be active, but I would strongly suggest using body weight exercises (push ups, pull ups, crunches, squats) and avoid added weight until fully grown. One question: Why the need for organized competition for every activity? Why can't this just be done for health? Competitive children power lifting, competitive skateboarding, competitive hiking! Enough Already!

It's certainly not a mainstream sport, but nonetheless, it's certainly good for a child to have something positive to be 'into'. There are many long term benefits, including a body that can sustain shocks and blows from the inevitable falls, hits, crashes, etc. which would otherwise cause injury to those with poor muscle tone. But proper coaching is definitely required in order to balance strength and aerobic benefits across all muscle groups and avoiding body image insecurity problems where a person perpetually views himself/herself as always being too small. Lots of adults in the gym showing off giant arms and pecs while walking around on twiggy little legs.