Does Weight Lifting Stunt Your Growth?
You’ve probably heard this many times before from various sources. “Bodybuilding stunts your growth!”. This specifically applies to teenagers more than any other age group because it is in those ages that growth takes place. Well, the truth is…
WEIGHTLIFTING DOES NOT STUNT YOUR GROWTH!
That’s right, you heard me (or read) correctly, weight lifting does not stunt your growth. Famous sports stars including Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Michael Vick all started weight lifting in their early teen years and all have grown to be taller than 6 feet tall. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself admits that he started weight lifting at a young age and has grown to be 6′ 2″. Lou Ferrigno (”The Incredible Hulk“) started working out at the age of 14 at the height of 5′ 9″ and grew to a height of 6′ 5″ - taller than anyone in his family! Now unless you class 6 feet as short, there is enough proof on TV to say that weight lifting does not stunt your growth. I started weight lifting at the age of 14 and I am now 6′ tall!
The compression forces on the legs and spine produced by what are classed as “normal” activities such as running and jumping are upto 5 times the bodyweight and it is unlikely that any liftable weight will be able to match this.
There is no scientific proof to say that weight lifting will stunt your growth. In fact, books such as the Russian “School of Height” suggest that weight lifting promotes growth. Recent surveys and studies show that weight lifting actually has positive effects on growth.
The only thing that can be dangerous when it comes to weight lifting is incorrect technique and form. This can lead to injuries but this is the same for any other activity. With correct technique and form, the risk of incurring injuries is very low.
I hope this clears up the misconception that weight lifting stunts your growth.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
i am 14 and on my motheres side they are all small on my farthers side they are all 6 footers. I do weight lifting in school and it terns out all small people are catching up and all average people are out growing me. If there is any explination can you please tell me if not ok?
November 25th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Thank you for this info. I’m 13 and a bit skinny for my height. My parents have always told me excercise stunts my growth. Now I can go work out.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Hey guys, thanks for your interest in the article.
Matthew, If I understand correctly, you are saying that you do not seem to be growing despite the fact that you have tall people on your dad’s side. You also feel that the small people are getting taller and you are staying the same. I am guessing that you are wondering why you aren’t growing and others are. Height is a genetically based attribute and there is no guarantee that because you have a tall family that you will become tall. Just to clarify, weight lifting is not the cause of your lack of growth. Try to understand everyone grows differently - at different ages, times and different amounts. As you are only 14, you still have many years ahead of you to grow. I can assure you that I know many people who remained short till the age of 16/17 and had a random growth spurt and are now 6 footers. Also, I know many people that have been growing steadily up to the age of 21. So don’t worry too much, and keep up the weight lifting.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I am going to be starting my challenge on bodybuilding soon so keep an eye out. Best way to stay tuned is to subscribe via the link on the top right of the page. To subscribe via email, just click the subscribe button, fill in your email and you will be notified whenever a new post goes up.
Thank you very much guys, I look forward to speaking to you soon!
Daiyaan
December 8th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article ight Lifting Stunt Your Growth? | Muscle Update, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Looks great
February 12th, 2008 at 3:54 am
What up man. Interesting article. I am 17 years and im 5.6. My father is 5,11 and my mother is 4.5 lmao, anyway. I recently asked members at my gym this same quesiton…….can working out stunt my growth. One individual said “if u put alot of strain on your soulders then u can”….another one said “no”. another one said “you might lose a inch or 2″. and my friend said “It depends on your body and how your body wants to grow, everyone is different and everyone has a different body structure. That didnt help me at all lol. Im a pretty skinny guy but alot of people say im ripped, due to my consistant weight training everyday. I weigh 120 and i can squat 225. Do you think that can stunt my growth, becasue of the obbsesive amount of weight on my shoulders? Note: I dont feel no pain in my sholders or knees when im done.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
can skinny people people train
March 1st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Wired, TOP Post!
April 20th, 2008 at 11:02 am
proactol…
great blog man, awesome reading….
May 21st, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hey, I am fourteen years old, i have recently started weightlifting for about a month now. I weigh around 119 pounds ( i am pretty skinny) and i am 5′6″ I’ve been told that working out will stunt my growth and I want to grow as tall as possible. I want to no what i should do cause all my friends are lifting and there around the same height so i don’t no what i should do. I would also like to no what you think about Creatine, ive heard its great and some people say it will be bad for me.. HELP
May 29th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Hi Brandon, I understand that you want to start bodybuilding (gosh, peer pressure is such a horrible thing :D). Now, don’t just take my word for it. Search around on google to really understand that weight lifting doesn’t stunt your growth. The danger isn’t that it will stunt your growth in height, it is that you could damage your joints if you don’t use correct form. For example, I currently have an injured shoulder (due to sports - cricket, though bodybuilding probably put my bowling arm under extra stress). If you use proper form and lift weights sensibly there is no harm in bodybuilding.
To answer your second question, Creatine is great! HOWEVER! And that’s a BIG HOWEVER! When taking creatine, be sure not to go over the recommended limit on the bottle. The reason for this is because it pushes water into your muscles. Now, excessive amounts will cause you to feel dehydrated. So, if you are planning to take creatine, be sure to drink plenty of water. I currently drink 3 litres a day (3000ml). I know that sounds like a hell of a lot, but if you start small, and build up the amount of water you drink, you’ll get to your recommended amount in no time. Considering your weight and age, you should be drinking a minimum of 2000ml of pure water a day.
TIP: buy a sports bottle to drink your water from, it motivates you to drink and makes it easier (i used to hate water).
I hope that answers your questions,
Daiyaan
June 11th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Thanks for this blog man, when i was 13 I was being bullied at school so I started excercising, but I stopped at around 14 cause I wasn’t being bullied anymore and I heard from so many people that it stunts your growth, now im 16 and im gonna start again, but im not sure of one thing.
I checked up on google and pretty much everyone says working out cant stunt your growth, but some say weightlifting does.I saw some responses from people on Yahoo and they said to use your own weight(sit ups, push ups etc.)
So I just wanna know for sure that weights WILL NOT stunt my growth if I use weights.I know I can get injured if I do to much, but im not an idiot, if I dont feel well or feel I have hurt or pulled something I always stop straight away.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
hey i am 15. When i was like 11 i was 4′11 then by summer i hit 5′4. then when i turned 13 i started weight lifting and til’ now i’ve grown about 2 inches. My family isn’t that tall but i havn’t grown in two years. so does this have to do with me weight lifting.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Thakyou for the information i had a doubt about gyming which is cleared now so i can start gyming now !
June 30th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
hi i was looking through the posts i just turned 14 in april and i have 3 questions.
1.when i was looking at daniels post he mentions the words workings out and weight lifting, now i always thought that they were the same but if not could you please clarify?
2.When i start of should i start do use protein shakes
immediately when i start training such as creatine or whey protein.
3.When i start off how many reps of whatever part of my body i train should i start off with, and when i get used to the weight i am lifting when and how often should i increse the load im lifting and also how reps should i do when i increase the load.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:14 am
igght..
so im bout to turn 15 n im 5′ 5” and i grow about 1 1/2 or 2 inches a year …..and for the past year or so all my friends have been weightlifting but me…
those friends of mine are about 5′ 10” so they dont really worry about their growth
but im not sure if i should start lifting becasue im already short!!
would it affect my growth alot if i started lifting about 120 or soo?
August 9th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Weight Lifting stunting your growth has long been a myth for years. I think the thing to worry about is in younger teens whose bodies have not fully developed is to watch out for injury lifting weights improperly or without supervision. Another thing is that your hormones or testosterone levels is what is needed to help you build muscles. Most kids that have not hit puberty will not have high enough testosterone levels to benefit from the effects of weight lifting.
August 19th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Thanks for this awsome info man! When you mentioned the Russian “school of hieghts” and how weight lifting could promote growth, that really changed my view on this big arguement. The one thing i want to argue though, is when you mentioned there is “NO” scientific proof.. There is infact, and it states that the increase in muscle growth around the joints will, (in a way) almost pull and compress the joints. Thus in the early stages of growth will ultimately slow down the growing process. That does have some sense to it. So really the question is, what (type) of weight lifting stunts the growth? But other than that your info was really interesting to read. Hey i’m 15.. and i want to be a professional mixed martial artist, and maybe even go for the UFC. It’s just if you make a mistake in the early stages of your life, you dont have another chance. Thats why im so desperate to find answers. Thanks!
September 6th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
hi…. i am fourteen years old… am turning fifteen in two months.. i am already 5 foot 10 or 5 foot 9… i have been working out for two months and i lift more weight than the adults around me in the gym and i gained about 12 kiloes equals 26 pounds and now i am 163 pounds… and lately i have been doing some shoulder lifting while sitting and i think it may have affected my height or its just my friends are growing more than me… well.. am as tall as my dad and he says i havent lost any height or my height is normal and still growing and that my shoulders are way broader now… well am just asking if a certain shoulder lifting ( on free bar ) is concerning me… should i switch to the shoulder lifting on smith… well am really worried because my coach there is really muscular but he is like five foot and started playin at 16… so am worried if i might stop gettin height or somethin because my older brother is 6 foot four and my othe rone is six foot 1 and my dad is like me 5 foot 10 so i know i have much years to grow but i dont wanna lose any potential height…
answer please.. need HELP here…
September 20th, 2008 at 3:39 am
theses are just examples and do not prove anything. they all could have been taller perhaps.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
i want to start lifting weights but my dad says it will stunt my growth but ive looked it up and every one says it doesnt i showed my dad he sed dont do it i dont know what i should do
October 17th, 2008 at 7:06 am
My son is 15yr and 4 month old,he”s 5ft1in tall and weight 120lb but he haven’t grew in awhile,I had him tested for human growth and tests determine everything aright,when will he start growing I’m 5ft8in tall and his mother is 5ft3in