son wants weights

[penkitten]

what tyoe of weights should a boy turning 12 get for his birthday if he has asked for them?
gio and i are collecting information before we buy anything.

 

[Phoenix_of_the_ashes]

Age 12 is really too young for weights in my opinion. If hes serious about training then he should do calisthenetics until hes older so hell have a real good base to build further on.

But thats not much of a present is it?

Maybe a pair of lightweight dumbbells?

 

[penkitten]

Originally posted by Phoenix_of_the_ashes
Age 12 is really too young for weights in my opinion. If hes serious about training then he should do calisthenetics until hes older so hell have a real good base to build further on.

But thats not much of a present is it?

Maybe a pair of lightweight dumbbells?

how light ? 2 or 3 lbs?
i dont want him to feel like a sissy when he unwraps it, but i dont want him to have something to heavy and get hurt. hes a small guy and probally thinks if he works out he will get bigger. we explained to him that lifting weights doesnt make you grow any taller.

 

[Phoenix_of_the_ashes]

Originally posted by penkitten
how light ? 2 or 3 lbs?
i dont want him to feel like a sissy when he unwraps it, but i dont want him to have something to heavy and get hurt. hes a small guy and probally thinks if he works out he will get bigger. we explained to him that lifting weights doesnt make you grow any taller.

Of course, well how tall is he? How much does he weigh? Does he play any sports?

 

[BLUEox117]

Originally posted by penkitten
what tyoe of weights should a boy turning 12 get for his birthday if he has asked for them?
gio and i are collecting information before we buy anything.

Get dumbbell and barbell set with a bench, and teach him how to do all the basic exercises with barbell and dumbbell and bench, as well as deadlifts. get him enough weights so that he can do the big lifts (up to about 225 lbs. but dont get him more until you see that he can lift the ones he has with perfect form on the large exercises that require more weights.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Re: Re: son wants weights

Originally posted by BLUEox117
... get him enough weights so that he can do the big lifts (up to about 225 lbs. ...

He's only 12 years old! I agree with Phoenix but if you don't believe us, ask a physician. A boy of his age can do standard, weight free exercises such as push ups, sit ups, pull ups, lunges and such. Varying hand positions and using muscle isolation should give him more than enough variety.

 

[snintel]

12yr old lifting weights? Are you kidding me? You're not really that bad of a parent are you?

 

[BLUEox117]

Re: Re: Re: son wants weights

Originally posted by Francisco d'Anconia
He's only 12 years old! I agree with Phoenix but if you don't believe us, ask a physician. A boy of his age can do standard, weight free exercises such as push ups, sit ups, pull ups, lunges and such. Varying hand positions and using muscle isolation should give him more than enough variety.

If his form is watched, lifting weights will give nothing save good results (stronger bones joints immune system). Only injuries resulting from lifting incorrectly would prove problematic, as at any age. Doing jumping jacks, for example, puts more strain on the joints than lifting ones body weight in squats.

 

[C00L]

Re: Re: Re: Re: son wants weights

Originally posted by BLUEox117
If his form is watched, lifting weights will give nothing save good results (stronger bones joints immune system). Only injuries resulting from lifting incorrectly would prove problematic, as at any age. Doing jumping jacks, for example, puts more strain on the joints than lifting ones body weight in squats.

yeah but it looks like they are asking what kind of stuff to buy...going by that logic they probably have no clue as to what proper training is for anyone let alone perfect form on deadlifts... use ya brain.

 

[penkitten]

well honestly hes only about 4ft 8 and he only weighs about 60 lbs. i said he was a little guy.
hes got his heart set on weights for christmas but i dont want him to strain or hurt himself.
hand held weights are ideal and if they were only two or three even four pounds i dont think that would injure him.

to be honest, we dont really think hes big or old enough to handle a weight bench . well unless there was very tiny weights on it.

we just dont want him to feel like a wuss when he unwraps his gift either.

i really appreciate all the tips you guys gave us. it helped alot.

 

[MackJr]

The irony is when I was around 13 or 14, I asked for a mountain bike and got a weight set instead, even though I didn't want one.

Cardio equipment like a REAL bike can probably do well for him. Tell him that Arnold Schwartzenegger trained using just pushups and situps until he got his growth spurt (which is true). He can get a really good body before then by playing basketball and biking, which will work.

The above posters are right in that a 12-year old can use weights with the correct form, but the problem is that 12-year olds usually don't have the discipline to work out safely. I saw some 16-year old girls acting like idiots in the gym, let alone 12-year olds.

There are water weight dumbells that he can get, which might help you determine his level of commitment.

 

[penkitten]

irony is that he also asked for a new bike because he outgrew his old one also.

are there any safe work out videos for boys?

ive seen them for girls but not boys.....


anyhow what information do you have on these water weights?
id like to learn more about them...

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: son wants weights

Originally posted by C00L
yeah but it looks like they are asking what kind of stuff to buy...going by that logic they probably have no clue as to what proper training is for anyone let alone perfect form on deadlifts... use ya brain.

Plus to be able to insure proper form, they would need to be available to manage his training. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I was 12, I did many things on my own without my parents knowing. The last thing that they would need is to have him hurt himself when they aren't around.

 

[MindOverMatter]

pen, my advice

get a chin up / dip bar installed somewhere in your house, and have him just do bodyweight exercises until he's like 14-16. when he's older, just buy him a yearly gym membership and make sure he gets a trainer who'll look out for him.

anyway, some examples of what you can buy [you can find better deals imo if you look around, these are just examples]:

dip bar stand: http://www.egymequipment.com/egymequipment-store/triceptor.html

chin up / pull up bar - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000299TOM/sz-category353-20/ref=nosim/002-8602473-2239257


chinups and dips will build him great arms at that age. pull ups / chinups will give him a great back. push ups, chest dips will take care of his pecs. crunches, leg raises will take care of his abs.

as for legs, he can do bodyweight squats, i did those when I was 11-12 during martial arts training (we'd always do 100-300 bodyweight squats depending on our rank for warm ups), and they gave me amazing quads at that age. by the time he's actually old enough to do squats etc, he'll have an easier tiem with them. doing all those bodyweight squats as a kid really has made a difference in the squats I do today.

another alternative to sign him up for a martial art. at a good dojo, they will condition his body into something amazing by the time he's 15-16 and he'll be very good at self-defense. muay thai is the way to go for conditioning.

 

[MoolahDiamond]

I've been lifting since I was about 11-12. I first got interested when I played hockey at the local YMCA and decided to join the youth beginning weight lifting class. I learned the basic lifts and got a feel for the weights. It really helps a lot to have a base on lifting before you start on your own. I recommend that you sign him up for a beginning weight lifting class if anything of the sort is offered around your area. My first personal weight set was just a little dumbell set bought at Target. It had 2 5lb dumbell bars, 4 5lb plates and 4 2.5lb plates. That's what got me started and it was enough to keep me entertained at that age.

 

[MetalFortress]

Re: Re: son wants weights

Whatever you do, do NOT get him 2-3-4 pound dumbbells. My mom tried to pull that on me when I was 12 or 13 (granted I was almost six feet tall back then, but still) and all that did was piss me off. Do what Mind said.

 

[Jay-X]

when i was in 7th grade, i bought a couple of 5 lbs dumbells and that didn't hurt me at all and i was a really skinny kid. some months later, i went up to 10 lbs dumbells. when i was 14-15, i started to use 20 lbs dumbells.

i have to admit that i am just 5'9, while my brothers (who have never lifted weights), despite being younger, are already 6'0 and 6'1... maybe it's something else that caused this all, but better warn ya

 

[MetalFortress]

It's just the luck of the draw. I am taller than both of my parents even though I began serious lifting at 15, and 2 of my coach's 3 sons are taller than him, despite beginning at age 5-6.

 

[Jay-X]

maybe you are right metalfortress, but consider that when i was 11-12 i was lifting and i grew very little, despite being in a puberal state. i stopped lifting and i gained like 4 inches in a matter of 3 months or so... i began lifting again and i stopped growing and so far i've gained 2 inches in 4-5 years... while my fast growth process lasted just 3 months, my brothers' lasted like a year and they hit 6'0 at the age of 13-14...

 

[manuva]

Lifting weights does not stunt growth.

Refer to my post:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77301

MoM had some good suggestions, although I'd say boxing is better conditioning than Muay Thai hehe.