Right age to introduce kids to weights??

When I was a teenager I mainly played tennis and indulged in a short lived Amateur boxing career..Didn't really indulge in the weights till I was about 15+ well seriously anyway...

Thing is you hear horror stories about weight training for kids and it affecting their growth and you weigh up the pros and cons of when is a good time etc...if it is at all..

If I'm guilty of anything it's not spending enough time with my eldest Son who has recently become a teenager...whilst he's not the sporty type per se I'd like to take him to the gym and have him spend more time with me and maybe man up a little shall we say!!! (Least get him off his xbox and wii for a while)...

Kind of interested in how you'd proceed with him at the gym and whether he should stick to aerobics at that age or anaerobic stuff...I'd like him to try pressing and use weights in general but not sure whether it's a good idea!!

If it was me and I was his age I'd be throwing every weight around and not worrying about ill-effects....but my Son is of the more sensitive persuasion..bless him.

any thoughts are welcome..

Alright Trussy? Good to see you.

I really don't know, is the honest answer. Never started pushing the weights until I was about 18.

I'd err on the side of caution, though, as the body is still growing and he clearly still has some filling out to do. Maybe get him going on the low weight/high rep stuff to begin with, mixed in with plenty of cardio?

Is that you purps?

My Father was a gym owner from 1984-1991 and i spent many a Saturday and Sunday there behind the desk wishing i was old enough to be out in the gym lifting weights but being under 10 i just had to watch,
He sold up and kept a cage ,bench, lat pull down etc.. more than enough to train at home with so by the time i was 13 he let me train once a week with him mainly just the bar at first to gain balance and finish of with press ups,free standing squats and pull ups,i had dumbells in my room so i trained biceps every day and it did me no harm.
He didn't allow me to go alone until i was nearly 18 even thou i knew enough and was strong enough.

I think 12 years or older is more than fine to start training slowly building up to 15 years old then allow heavier lifting, your biggest goal might be keeping your son interested in it.

Took my 16 year old for 3 months last year and he loved it, gained about 7lb. Due to his football training and my work schedule ( been going after night shift) he has not been for a couple of months and has just started back.
He absolutely loves lifting weights but shows no interest in cardio. This would be worrying but he trains with his footy team 2-3 times per week so i'm happy that he has that to get his circulation going.

Don't really see the need for cardio if you are lifting weights regularly....

Training burns calories and gets the circulation going just fine.....

I think there is wealth of information stating that weightlifting does not stunt growth.

I would have started at the age of 14 if I could roll back the clocks, the amount of testosterone young boys produce during puberty would have seen steroid like gains (not really, but more than now)

Personally i dont buy that weight training harms growth. As long as someone is supervised and not just left on their own to try and lift too much or use horrendous technique then i cant see the problem from getting someone in the gym at around 14.

Iv played a high level of rugby and was @ Saracens from age 13-18 (before a bad knee dislocation put paid to any hope of a senior contract)
All the lads in the junior/academy sides were in the gym (supervised) twice a week from 13/14 and i think its benefited me greatly. Im 6'1 and about 245-250lbs. Whilst im not "ripped" i wouldnt say im fat either and when iv completed a good preseason 8 weeks in Aug/sept each year i look fairly good (and am around 235).
best thing iv found is; from weight training from an early age iv gained a decent muscle base, @ 19 i was about 220-225 with little fat on me - thats 7ish years ago now and as i only play a decent level of amatuer rugby and have a career/demanding FD which only allows 2 gym sessions at most a week iv obvioulsy added a few lbs that are most likley gonna stay with me.
But as Weight training was introduced to me at such an early age iv found that i am not as suceptible to injury as most players and find i have a better base strength level -i take 5 weeks off all exercise/gym/rugby in May each year and when doing preseason testing this summer my Squat and Deadlift 1RMs were only 15 kgs off my in training numbers and my Miliary press was only 10short.
Most players (especially in the front row) have only begun gym work at about 18-21 and i notice that they can come back with differences of 30-40 kgs.

In short, if its supervised and safe then its good for the kids

As long as Rolf Harris is supervising the program and wipes the bench for the kiddies afterwards.

I think age 15/16 is okay to start as long as it's not too heavy. The first few months mainly causes neurological adaptation to recruit more muscle fibres when training plus they'll learn the correct form and then when they're older they will be in a better position to make gains if that's what they want