Hey everyone...

I'm 17 (not done with puberty yet), and I was interested in losing weight. I'm 135 lbs and only 5'5".... My mom is a doctor and she said that lifting weights and going on a diet at such a young age might not be the best thing for growth. Does this have any truth to it? Rather than dieting, do you recommend a lot of cardio to compensate? I swim on my swim team (really hard) and play on the tennis team (more running), but I still can't seem to drop the weight. What do you guys think?

I say maintain your diet and weight train a lot.

Your mom is right.

Stick to calithenics until your done growing. Pushups, Pullups, situps - anything that you can do with your body weight.

Running and sports will do you good.

Don't worry, you don't have long to wait - you should be finishing up in the next 6 months to a year if you haven't already.

How much weight do you think you need to drop?
I'm 5'6" and 135 now. I was about 125 in HS, which was really skinny, I just could not gain weight at all back then.

But I'm curious about why people think teens shouldn't lift weights. At my HS, if you played any athletics, you were part of a weight program. I was fat when I "tried" (I'm 5'6"!) playing basketball in 8th grade, and I credit that and the next two years of athletics in HS as keeping me from growing into a fat adult. I imagine it was the running that helped me lose the weight, but I doubt any weight lifting hurt. It certainly didn't hurt the guys on the football team.

Yeah, I really wish I weight trained in HS. WIth all that extra testosterone from puberty, it would have been so easy to put on LBM

My friends who lifted in HS are absolutely jacked now

Hey everyone...

I'm 17 (not done with puberty yet), and I was interested in losing weight. I'm 135 lbs and only 5'5".... My mom is a doctor and she said that lifting weights and going on a diet at such a young age might not be the best thing for growth. Does this have any truth to it? Rather than dieting, do you recommend a lot of cardio to compensate? I swim on my swim team (really hard) and play on the tennis team (more running), but I still can't seem to drop the weight. What do you guys think?

Im fifteen at the moment, about 5 8, 140 and id guess about 12%bf, and have been weight training for over a year and a half now. Over that same period I have seen the biggest growth spurt of my life, and have also lost a significant amount of fat. I hear from people all the time that weight training stunts growth, and that I shouldnt be working out. I think the problems occur when cocky young guys go to the gym and start trying to curl 40's, and bench press 150 on their first time out, with terrible form. With proper form, I doubt ur at risk. On the topic of huge amounts of cardio, there is no difference as far as I see, between dieting, and restricting calories, and doing huge amounts of cardio. Both have the same effect-putting you in a deficit, which causes weight loss. Personally, I have been tempted to go on a cut and get some sexy six pack abs :drool: , but have decided not to. For young teens like us, who only have a small amount of excess fat hanging around the gut, I would say just wait till ur done growing. Its possilbe that your body needs that fat, which is why its hanging on to it. I would say eat clean, and lift as hard as possible, and you might see that a more muscular physique appears that you like even better than a super lean one. I think ur more likely to hurt urslef cutting calories than lifting weights.

I am also 17, I started weight training and cardio at 16 and a half.

Its probably the best thing I have done, I feel much stronger, it hasnt seemed to do anything about my growth, if at all it has made me grow a little more and get strong.

Right now though I really need to work on pushups, situps, pullups and especially running, running and yeah, more running lol, if I dont then I think I will drop dead when I join the army next year.

I can't see how lifting weights would stunt your growth; if there were any truth to that, high school athletes wouldn't be as tall as they are.

As for the diet thing, maybe. I have recently had a growth spurt after drinking more milk and relaxing my diet. It could be a coincedence, though. Right now I have the same stats as you: 135 lb, 5'5.5". If it weren't for damn (psuedo?)gyno, I wouldn't even care about my weight.

I can't see how lifting weights would stunt your growth; if there were any truth to that, high school athletes wouldn't be as tall as they are.

As for the diet thing, maybe. I have recently had a growth spurt after drinking more milk and relaxing my diet. It could be a coincedence, though. Right now I have the same stats as you: 135 lb, 5'5.5". If it weren't for damn (psuedo?)gyno, I wouldn't even care about my weight.

Exactly. I too am 17, not finished with puberty, but have been lifting for a year and half or so. I've always had that thought that lifting may stunt my growth, but never really bought into it. One thing I agree with is not to go on a calorie deficit, because chances are your body does need calories and energy to grow. I don't have any scientific research to back that up, and i probably wont fallow that rule myself as i need to start cutting here soon. :tu: And french spirit, I too have a strong feeling that I would not even care about my diet if it wasn't for my gynecomastia. I'll never be as unhealthy as I used to be but I don't think i'd be as extreme as i am. I only weigh 140, but my gyno makes it appear that i'm a little overweight with clothes on (I do have a little extra fat on me now that I'm almost finished bulking). I honestly can not wait until the day i finish puberty, it will be like a new beginning all over again. :flex:

I agree with your mom when she said that 'dieting', in term of reducing calories may not be the best thing to do in our age. Especally if you only have a few pounds to lose, I think it'll be better for to weight because lacking some important nutrients can really affect your growth.

But I can't agree with the part when she said weight training is not beneficial. First, I started weight training when I was 16, the good part about it is that it has become my habit and easier to stick with. Also, with all of our extra testosterone, it's easier to build muscle and gain as little fat as possible (if done correctly). So if I were you, I'd continue what I'm doing (swimming, tennis etc) and lift weight.

Just remember, your goal in the weight room should be to build as much muscle as possible. Remember; more muscle, more calories are burn and less fat are likely to be stored. Just eat well, train hard and recover too :flex:

(sigh)... I hate when my mom is right. It looks like most of you agree that I shouldn't go on a diet, and that weight lifting is ok for the body. I think I might just stick to non weight exercises (pull ups, push ups, sit ups, etc.) like Stecman said. Thanks for your advice!

:tucool:

I know this is totally out of my business and sorry if I'm invading your privacy; but since you know that most of us agree that weight-training is ok, why would you want to avoid that and just stick to calithenics? Weight-training can help improve your performance in sports too you know? But again, it's your personal choice. Hope you don't mind me asking :o

great thread for those still in the younger years...thanks all...

Well... There are a couple of reasons why I was thinking of sticking to calithenics... Firstly, if I did want to lift weights, I'd have to buy a membership to the gym/buy a weight set (Something I'm not sure I want to invest in). Secondly, I thought I read a post that said weight training wasn't good at a young age... It's better to be safe than sorry right? I don't want to risk it and stay 5'5" all my life if I can just enjoy myself doing cardio.

In about 4 weeks, I'll be going to a college campus for the summer where I'll have access to the school gym. Maybe I'll decide if I want to do some lifting there :).

Well... There are a couple of reasons why I was thinking of sticking to calithenics... Firstly, if I did want to lift weights, I'd have to buy a membership to the gym/buy a weight set (Something I'm not sure I want to invest in). Secondly, I thought I read a post that said weight training wasn't good at a young age... It's better to be safe than sorry right? I don't want to risk it and stay 5'5" all my life if I can just enjoy myself doing cardio.

In about 4 weeks, I'll be going to a college campus for the summer where I'll have access to the school gym. Maybe I'll decide if I want to do some lifting there :).

Starting weight training at 17 will not deprive you of your full growth. But too strict dieting might. I think your best bet would be to lift hard and eat clean but plenty and for hunger. But it is your decision.

Starting weight training at 17 will not deprive you of your full growth. But too strict dieting might. I think your best bet would be to lift hard and eat clean but plenty and for hunger. But it is your decision.
Agree with this one... My growth only stopped because I dieted too strictly, but thankfully after eating a normal diet again, I add another 1/2 inch in my height. So not growing because of weight training is a myth.

I've never heard that weight training DURING puberty will stunt your growth, I've heard weight training BEFORE puberty will stunt your growth. Like, if your ten years old then weight training would be a bad idea. Am I the only one who's heard this before?

I've never heard that weight training DURING puberty will stunt your growth, I've heard weight training BEFORE puberty will stunt your growth. Like, if your ten years old then weight training would be a bad idea. Am I the only one who's heard this before?

nope, you're not the only one... I've heard that too... and heck... most wrestlers and football players in high school all weight train.. and that could be as young as 14.. so I don't think he should have any problems as he's already 17 ;)

Ok... So here is the update:

I've been doing lots of calisthenics and I haven't been seeing much progress, but I know I'm getting stronger. Tennis season is over, so I'm going to try the HIIT Ive seen so much about on these forums... Good idea to lose weight?

I tried it today, but I could only do 6 minutes of HIIT! I guess I will have to build up to 15 minutes. After I got back inside my house, I wasn't sure what I should have done... Do I eat? Do I do some calisthenics and then eat? For today, I just ate a bowl of cereal... My ultimate goal here is to drop some weight without changing my diet drastically (I don't really want to do 6 meals a day if I don't have to), but I'm not really sure what are some good foods to eat! Help!!!

PS. Lets say for things like bicycle crunches... How do I know how many reps/sets to do in one day?

nope, you're not the only one... I've heard that too... and heck... most wrestlers and football players in high school all weight train.. and that could be as young as 14.. so I don't think he should have any problems as he's already 17 ;)

This is pretty much correct. The body isn't ready to add on muscle at 10, 12, 14, whenever depending on when you hit puberty. Once the body is done with a lot of the other changes that occur at those ages, and then begins to naturally grow muscle from minimal effort, it is ok to then begin doing some weights with minimal risk.

The big keys though are to eat healthy during this time, and while weight training, try and add "overall strength" as opposed to just "bulking up". Cardio and remaining flexible are as important as just adding muscle. Like the kids that work on a farm all summer, they're healthy, strong, and can work all day without tiring, but aren't necessarly huge.

I'm the youngest person on this board, but i weigh MUCH more than the 17 year olds? I'm confused as to how this could be. i'm 215, they are 140, but i'm not REALLY fat. I can play sports as well as anyone. Can someone solve this for me?

I'm the youngest person on this board, but i weigh MUCH more than the 17 year olds? I'm confused as to how this could be. i'm 215, they are 140, but i'm not REALLY fat. I can play sports as well as anyone. Can someone solve this for me?

Height, build, lots of factors.

I'm probably 30%+ BF, but I can get up and down the basketball court pretty well, and play a lot more agile than those in better shape. Why? I played from being in shape to now, so my body's used to it. Want me to go out and play baseball or soccer or some other sport my body's not used to? I'll look like a 30% BF person out there struggling around.

That's why when people on here say eating/cardio/weight training/etc are all different depending on the individual, they are correct.