Pitchers working with Weights

[Fuddrules]

I'm curious then, when is it safe to start lifting?

Most begin when they get to HS, right? But that implies a blanket understanding that all girls are developed enough at that age (13-14) to lift, which is silly because every kid matures differently.

There isn't an answer (age) to when it's safe from a physical standpoint. It's not any more/less safe than any other average sport. If they can play softball, basketball, etc.., they can strength train. The internet jockies may tell you otherwise but it's based on a faulty premise from years of "that's how we did it in our day."

For some strange reason, it you’re lifting 50 pounds of body weight, it’s OK, but if you’re lifting 50 pounds of iron, you’ll close your growth plates, blow some cartilage out, be scarred for life. It’s just like 1 ton of feathers weighs less than 1 ton of bricks. Everyone knows that.

I would recommend doing your own due diligence. Just like the posse will tell you to watch video and draw your own conclusions, in this case, research reputable organizations (that's your video) that have actually done research and come to your own conclusions.

Generally speaking;

You don’t want to “Max Out.” I’m not sure why you would want to do that anyway but there’s not adequate research to conclude this is a safe activity.

Ensure you are properly lifting the weight.

Ensure there is proper supervision as a number of injuries have been caused by horseplay.

Here are a few links to read, if there are others that reach different conclusions, I’d love to read them.

http://www.fitness.gov/Reading_Room/Digests/Digest-September2003.pdf

http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2003/0903/benjamin.htm

Read this if you don't read any others
http://www.pembinatrails.ca/program/physicaleducation/Documents/Documents%20and%20Articles/Phys%20Ed/Strength%20Training%20For%20Children.doc

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/121/4/835

http://www.fitniks.com/pdfs/acsm_children_strength_training.pdf

http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&section=19991&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=325

[Empire United]

I agree with wadeintothem.... I started my DD on the juice at 7. Right now she is 10 and can bench 140lbs. She is the only girl on the field with no neck & tie die weight lifting pants but thats O.K. Last week we did a fundraiser in front of 24 hour fitness. She tore phone books in half for donations. Mentally it takes some getting used too. Last week she struck out looking so she body slammed the ump & charged the crowd looking for his family..... I thought the pitch was outside.

[Under the Radar]

This is a quote from The American College of Sports Medicine.

"Children and adolescents can participate in strength training pro-
grams provided that they have the emotional maturity to accept and
follow directions. Many seven and eight year-old boys and girls have
benefitted from strength training, and there is no reason why younger
children could not participate in strength-related activities, such as
push-ups and sit-ups, if they can safely perform the exercises and follow
instructions. Generally speaking, if children are ready for participation in organized sports or
activities -- such as Little League baseball, soccer, or gymnastics -- then they are ready for some type
of strength training.
The goal of youth strength training should be to improve the musculoskeletal strength of children and
adolescents while exposing them to a variety of safe, effective and fun training methods. Adult strength
training guidelines and training philosophies should not be imposed on youngsters who are anatomically,
physiologically or psychologically less mature. Strength training should be one part of a well-rounded
fitness program that also includes endurance, flexibility and agility exercises.
Properly designed and competently supervised youth strength training programs may not only increase
the muscular strength of children and adolescents, but may also enhance motor fitness skills (e.g.,
sprinting and jumping) and sports performance. Preliminary evidence suggests that youth strength
training may also decrease the incidence of some sports injuries by increasing the strength of tendons,
ligaments and bone. During adolescence, training-induced strength gains may be associated with
increases in muscle size, but this is unlikely to happen in prepubescent children who lack adequate
levels of muscle-building hormones. Although the issue of childhood obesity is complex, youth strength
training programs may also play an important role in effective weight loss strategies."

Also more information from Mayo Clinic if anyone cares to read further

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/streng ... ng/HQ01010

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Weig ... tions.html

I personally believe in this day our children have sedentary lifestyles and are overweight. It takes a certain amount of discipline to maintain any type of training regimen. If you have a young athlete in your family willing to put forth the effort to train it can only benefit them in the long run.
Hopefully, it will also create better habits for their adult lifestyles.

I do not see anywhere in here where they say wieght trianing is good. They say Push-Ups Sit-Ups ect.... My DD team has a speed and agility trianer out for an hour at the end of practice. He worls them but no wieghts...

[Under the Radar]

My 12 year old DD's travel team will be starting winter workouts in a couple of weeks. They will be every week, 3 hours each workout. In addition to the pitchers and catchers working out together, there will be a weight workout routine. I do not know what this routine is yet.

My DD uses the Finch Windmill and lifts a 1lb. working her shoulder. She does this 5 days a week, in addition to pitching practice and jump rope. This has been very effective.

DD's pitching instuctor says pitchers are not supposed to workout with heavy weights at all, only light weights. Says pitchers need to continue developing long, strong, fast twitch muscles. Is this indeed true? Should we avoid heavy weights? How much is too much? How do I handle telling the coaches my DD won't be lifting heavy weights?

I appreciate any input.

The mental picture I get from this is a bunch of 12 year olds Benching , Curling, Military presses. Is this whats going on or is it speed and agility trianing??????

[Under the Radar]

I'm curious then, when is it safe to start lifting?

Most begin when they get to HS, right? But that implies a blanket understanding that all girls are developed enough at that age (13-14) to lift, which is silly because every kid matures differently.

Did Bustos ever do a wieght training program?

[Fuddrules]

I do not see anywhere in here where they say wieght trianing is good.

You must not have read many, if any, of the links. Here are a few snipets I found in less than 5 minutes of looking;

Potential Benefits of Youth Resistance Training
• Increase muscle strength
• Increase muscular power
• Increase local muscular endurance
• Increase bone mineral density
• Increase cardiorespiratory fitness
• Improve blood lipid profile
• Improve body composition
• Improve motor performance skills
• Enhance sports performance
• Increase resistance to injury
• Enhance mental health and well-being
• Stimulate a more positive attitude towards lifetime
physical activity

Recent studies have shown some benefit to increased strength, overall function, and mental well-being in children with cerebral palsy.3,4 Resistance training is being incorporated into weight-control programs for overweight children as an activity to increase the metabolic rate without high impact. Similar to the geriatric population, strength training in youth may stimulate bone mineralization and have a positive effect on bone density.5,6

Especially in younger children, most strength gains are the result of improved
technique, muscle fiber recruitment, and coordination as opposed to muscle enlargement. With childhood obesity on the increase nationwide, strength training has been shown to improve body composition by increasing lean body mass. Many studies looking at resistance training in children and adolescents reflect an improved cholesterol level, cardio-respiratory fitness, bone health, selfimage and self-esteem. A lower rate of sports-related injuries has been seen in adolescents who take part in a regular resistance training program. Children and adolescents who have experienced a sports-related injury, often achieve more effective rehabilitation through strength training.

Lastly, if you're worried about your daughter looking like the picture you posted, it won't happen. We'll it won't happen with only naturally occurring hormones. Testosterone is the hormone that triggers muscle hypertrophy. Females, in comparison to males, have very little testosterone.

However if your daughter is looking like that pic, I would be worried too. But it wouldn't be about her growing muscles but rather her growing wiener.

[softballperformance]

This is an interesting debate. A lot of the things have been said and supported with evidence.

Just want throw in my 2 cent. Most of my graduate work in coaching sciences was in the field of long term athlete development in addition to being a certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Definitions and Terminology

With that said, just for definition purposes, strength training, weight training or weight lifting is considered to be all resistance training and there are considered by any strength coach to be all in the same boat (no different animals).

As long there is a resistance, whether bodyweight, medicine ball or regular weights, the body doesn't know the difference and for a given resistance (no matter how it is achieve) the body will respond the same.

Using Body Weight or Weight Training with Kids

We hear often the "myth" that kids shouldn't lift weights and only use their bodyweight. This thinking is flawed.

You see, if you do a dumbbell chest press, most kids would use 10 or 12 lbs. Well, the bodyweight equivalent is the push-up... the push-up gives you much more resistance than 10-12 lbs, it's probably 20-30 lbs at least (upper body weight).

Another example... pull-ups vs. lat pull down. We say they shouldn't use a machine that they can pull 40-50 lbs out of but it's ok to do chin-ups or pull-ups with they pull their entire body weight up!

Flawed thinking. Flawed assumption. As I said, there are NO SUCH recommendation by authoritative organization. Just a myth being spread around.

So, YES you can use weight with kids - with some basic guidelines (see below).

How Young Can You Lift?

This has already been documented earlier in the thread. You can lift as early as 8 but you don't have to. However, all three major associations (American Pediatric Association, National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine) have a common position statement stating: Yes, it is safe for kids to lift weight and they are great benefits associated with it.

Science supports it. It's not even a controversy. Every leading authority in the field of pediatric physiology agree. No case there.

The controversy is in the general population because of mostly misinformation.

Now, do you actually have to lift weight at a very young age? No, you don't have to. It can be beneficial but you can still develop without lifting weight for years.

Key Guidelines For Kids To Lift

- Always emphasize great technique or form instead of the load (or lifting as heavy as you can)
- Make sure they enjoy the process; should not feel like a chore to a kid under 13. I often tell parents to do it with them (not just watch). It makes a big difference and most parent can benefit from it too

- Don't overdo it - 2 or 3 sessions per week for 20-40 minutes max is totally fine.
- Always have supervision to ensure safety

Bottom line...

Yes it is safe.
Yes it is effective.
Yes you can lift weights.
There are other ways to train as well that don't need weight and that can be effective too.
No you don't absolutely need it at a very young age.

Just make sure it is fun, pleasant, not going overboard, supervised and focusing on great form and it will be fine!

Cheers,

Marc

P.S. Here are some strength and conditioning tips for softball (not specifically for kids):

http://www.softballperformance.com/softball-tips/softball-conditioning.html

[Sam]

This is an interesting debate. A lot of the things have been said and supported with evidence.

Just want throw in my 2 cent. Most of my graduate work in coaching sciences was in the field of long term athlete development in addition to being a certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Definitions and Terminology

With that said, just for definition purposes, strength training, weight training or weight lifting is considered to be all resistance training and there are considered by any strength coach to be all in the same boat (no different animals).

As long there is a resistance, whether bodyweight, medicine ball or regular weights, the body doesn't know the difference and for a given resistance (no matter how it is achieve) the body will respond the same.

Using Body Weight or Weight Training with Kids

We hear often the "myth" that kids shouldn't lift weights and only use their bodyweight. This thinking is flawed.

You see, if you do a dumbbell chest press, most kids would use 10 or 12 lbs. Well, the bodyweight equivalent is the push-up... the push-up gives you much more resistance than 10-12 lbs, it's probably 20-30 lbs at least (upper body weight).

Another example... pull-ups vs. lat pull down. We say they shouldn't use a machine that they can pull 40-50 lbs out of but it's ok to do chin-ups or pull-ups with they pull their entire body weight up!

Flawed thinking. Flawed assumption. As I said, there are NO SUCH recommendation by authoritative organization. Just a myth being spread around.

So, YES you can use weight with kids - with some basic guidelines (see below).

How Young Can You Lift?

This has already been documented earlier in the thread. You can lift as early as 8 but you don't have to. However, all three major associations (American Pediatric Association, National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine) have a common position statement stating: Yes, it is safe for kids to lift weight and they are great benefits associated with it.

Science supports it. It's not even a controversy. Every leading authority in the field of pediatric physiology agree. No case there.

The controversy is in the general population because of mostly misinformation.

Now, do you actually have to lift weight at a very young age? No, you don't have to. It can be beneficial but you can still develop without lifting weight for years.

Key Guidelines For Kids To Lift

- Always emphasize great technique or form instead of the load (or lifting as heavy as you can)
- Make sure they enjoy the process; should not feel like a chore to a kid under 13. I often tell parents to do it with them (not just watch). It makes a big difference and most parent can benefit from it too

- Don't overdo it - 2 or 3 sessions per week for 20-40 minutes max is totally fine.
- Always have supervision to ensure safety

Bottom line...

Yes it is safe.
Yes it is effective.
Yes you can lift weights.
There are other ways to train as well that don't need weight and that can be effective too.
No you don't absolutely need it at a very young age.

Just make sure it is fun, pleasant, not going overboard, supervised and focusing on great form and it will be fine!

Cheers,

Marc

P.S. Here are some strength and conditioning tips for softball (not specifically for kids):

http://www.softballperformance.com/softball-tips/softball-conditioning.html

How many kids ask to lift weights?

How many parents force their kids to lift weights?

Thats the only real point of this thread...and the question nobody has answered.

[softballperformance]

Yes, I agree with you on that one - less likely to get injured doing push-ups than DB Presses. However, between you and me, to be honest, the risk isn't even worth the discussion because weight training is the 2nd safest physical activity after walking!

You are MUCH more likely to hurt yourself playing ball or jogging (mostly long term injuries) than you are from weight training.

Weight training is done in a predictable, controlled environment. The risk is very low.

For the body, It is MORE dangerous (more likely to injure yourself) to throw a softball than do a DB Chest Press, even with bad technique.

Cheers,

Marc

[Sam]

...and once again....my questions are summarily ignored...so here is a statement.

If you are requiring your 14U DD to lift weights...you are a psycho....the kind that gets reported on at CNN....no getting around it....you are frickin nuts.