From the Old to the Young

In a similar vein as my recent post about the 91-year-old athlete and the benefits of more intensive exercise for the elderly, I saw this article looking at the benefits of weight training for children. It is generally recommended that children and adolescents don't participate in weight-training. The initial reasoning was that child-laborers in Japan had stunted growth and it was assumed that heavy lifting was the cause, but new research suggests that this may not be the case. In fact, new studies show that weight-lifting can be incredibly beneficial for youth. Unlike adults, who generally gain muscle with strength training, children reap neurological advantages. Their muscles and neurons begin to interact much more efficiently.

In the distant past children had built-in weight training with farm chores, but very few children these days have that option. (I was fortunate to grow up carrying 5-gallon buckets filled with feed and water and wrestling lambs)

Should we change our recommendations?