Weight training is beneficial for children’s health in areas such as bone strengthening, weight control, oxygen uptake, and cardiovascular health. Children’s bodies are constantly growing and developing, so in order to perform an appropriate workout, age should be taken into consideration.

In relation to this, muscle strength conditioning is an area that can be harmful if done inaccurately but can be most beneficial if instructed appropriately. Weight training is reported to be beneficial for sport activities, and as the age groups increase in sports there is a higher association between the use of weight training involved in scheduled practice time.

Dr. Patricia encourages the safe and proper use of weight training for the youth. Create a simple and fun work out with your child involving age appropriate weights. An example of such workout can be bicep curl ups, upright rows, lateral raises, and front raises with a specific amount of repetitions.

To end the workout with a reward, make you and your child a healthy snack such as fruit pizza with fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, and reduced fat cream cheese with no added sugar.

Written by Summer Verdugo, Intern