A number of parents are concerned about the kind of effects severe exercises (such as those necessary for bodybuilding) can bring about to a teenager’s body. A teenager’s body, as we all know, undergo a number of natural changes. Hence, parents are concerned that the additional strain of heavy exercises might prove detrimental to the teenager’s growth. While there is no real proof to suggest that exercising can harm bodily growth most gym instructors are of the opinion that teenage bodybuilder’s often suffer from a particular problem that has much to do with their being a teenager. This problem concerns the usual impulsiveness related to being a teenager. Teenagers enjoy breaking rules and disobeying instructions, while this might be a fun thing to do usually in the gym while working with weights nothing could be more harmful than being a rebel. Bodybuilding is all about discipline, and teenagers do not, as a rule, like discipline. This is the sole problem that plagues all teenage bodybuilders.
Many people believe that working with heavyweights can stop bones from growing. They justify their claim by pointing out that lifting heavy weights can quicken the closure of growth plates, thereby stopping their growth far before they are supposed to. While this logic sounds watertight it is yet to be proven as true. Also, groups opposing this theory have pointed out that most professional athletes (many of whom had begun training with heavyweights at a young age) have not strictly adhered to this rule and remained stunted. Thus, as of now, there seems to be no solid proof to suggest whether or not weights affect a certain individual’s growth.
Even if working out with particularly heavy weights does actually have an affect on the bones of teenagers even then none of them are really in much danger. This is because such an effect can really be harmful only before a teenager reaches a certain level of maturity, and majority of teenagers reach the full extent of their growth by over and around the age of 15. Now, surely no 13 or 14 year old will be pumping iron to build his body and thereby getting his bones all arrested!
Apart from the growth issue there is the issue, which we already discussed and which concerns the basic problem of being a ‘teenager’. Most teenagers feel out of place being neither adults nor children, as a result they try to hasten their life and ‘grow up’ quicker than they are likely to naturally. This ‘quickening’ causes many of them to try and emulate everything from the walk to the talk and even the workout regimes of their seniors. Obviously this can prove a disaster since teenagers are not technically supposed to do things that an adult does. An adult bodybuilder has far more stamina and experience than a regular teenager, as a result emulating him can prove taxing and even dangerous for a young teenager.
To ensure that they don’t end up hurting themselves real bad by trying and imitating better trained adults all teenage bodybuilders should preferably hire a trainer for themselves.
