Stronger Kids

When I was a kid, I remember hearing the same warning over and over again: Kids shouldn’t lift weights. It will stunt their growth. It’s bad for their bones and growth plates.

It turns out that much of what we were told simply wasn’t true.

I recently listened to an excellent episode of Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin devoted specifically to strength training and exercise for children. What I found particularly interesting was his explanation of where the “stunted growth” idea may have originated. Galpin traces an important part of it to research from Japan in the 1960s that observed an association between children doing substantial amounts of hard manual labor and shorter stature. But those children weren’t participating in properly designed resistance training programs, and factors such as malnutrition and difficult living conditions could confound that association.

Today, Galpin is clear that properly performed resistance training does not stunt children’s growth or damage their growth plates. He points instead to evidence that resistance exercise, sports, jumping and other weight bearing activities can help develop bone quality. Of course, training needs to be appropriate for the child, with proper instruction and attention to safety.

But I think the conversation about kids and exercise should go much further than bones and muscles.

Over the years, through Jump Into Shape, my own family and other children I’ve watched exercise, I’ve seen something that is harder to measure on a scale.

A child lifts a weight that he couldn’t lift a few months ago. He jumps rope longer than he thought he could. He completes a difficult workout. He learns a new movement. Suddenly, “I can’t do that” becomes “Look what I just did.”

I’ve seen how that sense of accomplishment can build confidence. When children learn that they can push themselves physically and accomplish something they once thought was impossible, that confidence can carry over into other areas of their lives.

And kids have stress too.

They have schoolwork. They have tests. They have friendships and family issues. They get overwhelmed. They need healthy outlets just like adults do. We talk all the time about the benefits of exercise for adults when it comes to stress, mood, focus and overall health. Our children can benefit from physical activity too.

I think this is especially worth discussing in the yeshiva and day school world. Our children’s schedules can be incredibly full. They may have long school days, homework and other responsibilities. Some participate in organized sports or activities, but many simply don’t have much structured physical activity built into their day.

I’m not suggesting that every child needs to become a weightlifter. In fact, I don’t think every child needs to enjoy the same type of exercise at all.

Find what your child enjoys.

Maybe it’s rock climbing. Maybe it’s jumping rope. Maybe it’s resistance training. Maybe it’s basketball, biking, running or swimming. And yes, maybe it’s Jump Into Shape.

The particular activity matters less to me than three things: they do it consistently, they can experience progress and, most importantly, they have fun doing it.

We spend an enormous amount of time thinking about how to prepare our children academically, socially and spiritually for adulthood.

Let’s remember to help them build healthy bodies and a healthy relationship with exercise that can accompany them for the rest of their lives.