Can exercise stunt growth for a teenager?

Beccysmommy said:

My nephew asked this question to me a while back. He exercises quite a bit, and generally I encourage him to do so.
He is 16 and 5"8, while his father, (my brother) is around 5"10/11ish.
Can a lot of exercise in the puberty years actually affect one's growth?

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Umm... no. If your nephew doesn't exercise he will get lazy and his physical health will decline. Physical activity is a must, regardless of age. As a matter of fact, a person's youth is should be the peak of their physical activity and ability.

BTW some males don't finish their growth until they're around 21 years of age.

JordanF said:

Umm... no. If your nephew doesn't exercise he will get lazy and his physical health will decline. Physical activity is a must, regardless of age. As a matter of fact, a person's youth is should be the peak of their physical activity and ability.

BTW some males don't finish their growth until they're around 21 years of age.

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Complete agreement

JordanF said:

Umm... no. If your nephew doesn't exercise he will get lazy and his physical health will decline. Physical activity is a must, regardless of age. As a matter of fact, a person's youth is should be the peak of their physical activity and ability.

BTW some males don't finish their growth until they're around 21 years of age.

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That might be something you could find on the net.

Depends on the exercise. If he's lifting heavy weights, yes, absolutely it can affect height.

Yep... weights are the only thing I'm aware of that can actually hurt his development. ETA: The general rule of thumb is that teenagers shouldn't lift more than 80% of their body weight. Any more than that should be monitored by a professional and is generally not recommended.

Of course there is the possibility of too much exercise (in that one can exercise onesself into an injury, or not eat enough and end up consuming muscle), but that generally doesn't happen until the signs of overexercise are clear, and, to be honest, the only people the latter happened to that I know had eating disorders.

In general, there's no reason to keep a kid from exercising. Exercise is a fabulous thing and it's good that he's got these habits now.

Too much weight and too much strenuous activity can damage pretty much anyone. People who lift insanely high amounts of weights tend to develop left ventricular hypertrophy and ruptured capillaries in their eyes (this happens to those powerlifters you see on TV). Too much running will cause RVH.

Just use your own judgement when deciding how much activity you should do. Be moderate. Keep it simple by not over-medicalizing exercise (worrying about precise amounts needed -- too much? too little?).

Lifting weights will stun your growth. Look at those people who does weight lifting at the olympics.

lol dont be silly, the people you are on about have specificially been training to a weight class and being shorter is an advantage

Brian90 said:

Lifting weights will stun your growth. Look at those people who does weight lifting at the olympics.

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Or all those basketball players who lifted as kids. Buncha shrimps.

Beccysmommy said:

My nephew asked this question to me a while back. He exercises quite a bit, and generally I encourage him to do so.
He is 16 and 5"8, while his father, (my brother) is around 5"10/11ish.
Can a lot of exercise in the puberty years actually affect one's growth?

Click to expand...

O.k., the question here was not body building/power lifting, it was exercising. If a teen ager or a young person who has not completed growing, exercises and stays active, this will not stunt thier growth, in fact it will enhance their well being and have very positive effects on their health in general.
If a person who is still growing power lifts or uses bad form in strength training, this may harm the growth plates and can effect how that bone continues to grow.

Here is a link that helps to explain this. I have many teen aged clients on strength/cardio programs, some designed for basic fitness some for sports.
The proper program prescribed according to fitness level, goals, age etc. will always be beneficial, no matter the age of the client.
God BLess,J

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/HQ/01010.html