I have a 12 year old brother that looks like hes going to have greater athletic potential than I ever had (hes already as tall as me at 5'9 and I'm 20 years old).

The thing is I want to start training him over my holiday break since I won't see him again till the summer. He's going to be 13 at the end of feburary.

Is it to early for him to start strength training?

No -- it's the perfect time for him to start.

But, like any other lifter, start him in higher rep ranges to allow his body to adjust to the new stimulus. He should probably start at 14-20 reps and slowly work his way down to 8-10 by summer. Then he will be ready for anything you give him.

Teach him the value of not maxing out every week (something teenagers do way too often), proper form for all the big compound exercises, the value of compound exercises, the less is more principle, the overload and progressive resistance principles, how to keep from injuring himself (never round the lower back at all, don't use more weight than you can handle, never arch the back drastically, stay in control of the weight, etc.), introduce him to clean bulking nutrition, etc.

These will be the years that set the tone for the rest of his life. :tucool:

I have a 12 year old brother that looks like hes going to have greater athletic potential than I ever had (hes already as tall as me at 5'9 and I'm 20 years old).

The thing is I want to start training him over my holiday break since I won't see him again till the summer. He's going to be 13 at the end of feburary.

Is it to early for him to start strength training?


Tough question to answer. My kid's 15 and he trains hard but he's a well developed 15 year old. This is a much debated topic but i've gotta say 12 may be a bit too young to start hitting the weights. If I were you i'd take him to a doctor and let him make the call. That's what I did.

I think there's little actual evidence that shows weight training in young people will affect their ultimate growth, but then that may be just because nobody cares enough to try (how many 13 year olds really want to start squating)? SUPPOSEDLY Richard sandrak aka "little hercules" (search on google) is of normal height.

I guess if it does affect growth then it's not something you can recover from, but I would think that a person could incorporate at least some pretty decent resistance training without any ill effects. You could search more on google but good luck finding a consensus! Remember, a lot of people simply do not like exercise and like to discredit it, whether it's weight lifting affects joints or running encourages osteoarthritis; some devote a lot of time to rationalizing their own inaction.

This is from another board I visit:

myth-"That resistance training will stunt growth in children, or anyone not finished growing"

This has been a major problem surrounding resistance training for as long as anyone can seem to remember. I have no idea where it began, but even today you constanty hear of and meet people that believe this.

Before I get started, some background information on how we grow: There are different classifications for different types of bones in our body, but the majority of them are classified as 'long' bones, and these are the bones which will have the greatest effect on our height. Our bones begin as simple cartilage models which later will be transformed into bone, this process is called ossification (the formation of bone). Most of this ossification will occur before or shortly after birth, and for the next 18-23 years your bones will continue to develop and grow.

Bone can grow in a number of ways, apositional growth and enochondral growth being the primary ways affecting height. In 'long' bones it is endochondral growth which will determine the length of a bone, which inevedably effects a persons height. At both ends of a long bone there is an epiphyseal plate, which is a layer of cartilage seperating the epiphysis (end) from the diaphysis (shaft). This epiphyseal plate is what allows the bone to grow in length (endochondrial growth). This layer of cartilage is continously growing and expanding, as new cartilage is formed nearest the diaphysis the old cells are ossified (turned to bone), and this process is what makes our long bones grow.

The two main effectors of bone growth are nutrition and hormones. Nutrition is important for providing your body with the necessary energy, nutrients, vitamins and minerals to continue growing. In times of illness or malnutrition children can show signs of arrested growth, which is a line of increased bone density caused by a period of slow growth. Hormones are obviously vital for bone growth, growth hormone, thyroid hormone, and sex hormones are all vital for normal bone growth, these hormones can also be effected by diet. Females tend to stop growing earlier than males due to an increase in estrogen levels. Bone growth will cease when the epiphyseal plate becomes completely ossified.

Now if you happen to fracture a long bone at a young age then there could be some complications, especially if the fracture occurs at the epiphyseal plate. A break at the epiphyseal plate will result in damage to the cartilage which can interfere with the growth of that particular bone. These injuries are quite common amongst children and often result in one arm or leg being shorter than the other. This can largely impact the entire balance of a persons body and distort the positioning of their back, all leading to possible future difficulties. Especially those spinal related.

Back on topic. Now the forces generated with heavy weight lifting can be enormous, but it is highly unlikely that these pressures will have any significant effect on bone growth at all. If you do plan on avoiding resistance training for these reasons then it would be advised that you avoid physical activities all together, since the forces generated in jumping or running can be far greater than those of resistance training.
There are no studies or evidence what so ever that show resistance training to have any effect on height, though many people still believe this myth without question. One common arguement is the size of professional weightlifters, who are generally all of very short stature. This has nothing to do with their weightlifting or training, rather the process of natural selection. A 5"1 80kg person would have a large advantage over a 5"10 80kg person when it comes to professional powelifting. Why? Because the shorter person has much shorter levers, meaning they can generate more power and need to move the weight a shorter distance. These people are not short because they are professional weightlifter, they are professional weightlifters because they are short.

In my opinion resistance training is often a great way to encourage growth when performed correctly, because participants are often interested in getting their diet and lifestyle in order aswell. If they do the proper research then I think they will have the knowledge to live a healthy lifestyle and grow to their fullest potential. It is sports like dancing, gymnastics and wrestling which can have a negative impact on height. This is due to the weight categories and calorie retricted diets put in place to encourage these athletes to stay small and light, which can have a huge impact on their development.
It was not written by an expert. It's merely a researched post on a message board -- thus, the numerous spelling and grammatical errors. Despite these shortcomings, as far as I know, everything said within is true and correct.

I believe:
-- 12-13 is the minimum age to start weight-training
-- 16-17 is the minimum age to start olympic lifting
-- a person should not cut their calories below maintenance during puberty (though cardio and exercise to create a deficit is okay)
-- a child should not be allowed to become fat prior to puberty
-- likewise, a child should not enter puberty carrying more than a 12% BF
-- a child should not reach 15% BF during puberty
-- bulking is most suitable to growth and lifting

An active, well fed child should have no problem staying within these BF% requirements. It is only through lack of exercise, overfeeding, and rampant unclean nutrition that a child would be unable (aka the American dream).

Indeed a difficult question. I agree that some resistance training is beneficial even at this early age (12), but why not use bodyweight exercises in a type of circuit-training fashion?

If it were my brother,son or nephew etc, I would maybe set up a circuit of say 8-10 stations, all using bodyweight exercises, or exceptionally light weights. For example:

press ups
crunches
tricep bench dips
pull ups
a 10-20m sprint section
step up bench

then if needed
db bench press using light db's
db curls
squat using stardard weights bar

................all with the focus on doing as many in 1-2 min at each station, provided form is taught properly, and supervision is present.

I have heard that some of this whole thing about weightlifting and resistance training stunting growth started because Naim Suleymanoglu, one of the greatest weightlifters ever, was quite short. However, you only need to look at weightlifters in the 77, 85, 94, and 105 kg classes to see that they're not all midgets. And you can be sure most of them started young.

I see no problem with kids lifting. I think it is good for them at any age. It's good exercise.