Should Kids Lift Weights? Here’s What We Did With Our Boys
- Dr. Mom
- Jul 8
- 4 min read
By Coach Dad & Dr. Mom | Raising Whole Athletes
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From Coach Dad
One of the questions we hear most from parents is: “Is my child too young to lift weights?”
For years, many people believed lifting weights would stunt a child’s growth. As coaches and parents, we’ve heard that concern many times.
But after years of coaching young athletes, I started asking a different question.
Not, “How old are they?”
But, “Are they ready?”
I’ve seen young athletes who were eager to lift heavy because they wanted to jump higher, run faster, or become stronger on the court. But I also knew that strength isn’t built by rushing the process.
Before I hand a young athlete a dumbbell, I want to know something much more important:
Can they control their own body?
That’s where Dr. Mom comes in...
From Dr. Mom
Research over the past several decades has shown that appropriately supervised, age-appropriate strength training does not stunt a child’s growth. In fact, when taught correctly, resistance training can improve strength, coordination, confidence, bone health, and may help reduce the risk of sports-related injuries.
But just because a child can lift weights doesn’t mean they should start by lifting heavy.
In our family, we don’t let age decide when our boys begin strength training.
We let readiness decide.
Before They Lift, They Earn the Right
Before Jett and Cannon ever picked up a dumbbell, we wanted them to demonstrate that they could control their own bodies.
For us, that meant developing:
Body awareness
Core control
Balance
Stability
Coordination
The ability to listen to coaching cues and move with intention
Then we looked at simple bodyweight movements.
Could they perform:
Bodyweight squats with good alignment?
Push-ups with different hand positions?
Pull-ups or assisted pull-ups?
Lunges without losing balance?
Planks with good core control?
Triceps dips?
Sit-ups?
Glute bridges?
If they couldn’t consistently control their own body weight, we didn’t feel there was a reason to add external weight.
The goal wasn’t to lift sooner.
The goal was to lift well.
Here is a simple checklist:
Is My Child Ready to Lift? | ✅ |
Demonstrates good body awareness | ☐ |
Maintains core control while breathing | ☐ |
Balances on one leg for 30 seconds | ☐ |
Performs bodyweight squats with good form | ☐ |
Performs push-ups with control | ☐ |
Can hold a plank with good technique | ☐ |
Follows coaching cues consistently | ☐ |
Understands that technique is more important than weight | ☐ |
If you checked most of these boxes, your child may be ready to begin supervised, age-appropriate resistance training. If not, spend time developing these foundational skills first. If you are not comfortable determining if your child is ready to lift weights a consult to a conditioning coach would be appropriate. You can download a FREE starter stability exercise guide here. | |
How We Introduced Strength Training
Once our boys consistently demonstrated good movement quality, we slowly introduced resistance.
Nothing fancy.
Nothing extreme.
We started with:
The focus wasn’t on how much they could lift... It was on how well they could move.
Every repetition became an opportunity to practice control, balance, posture, breathing, and coordination.
Strength was simply the byproduct.
Our Rule for Increasing Weight
This is one of the simplest rules we follow.
If they can’t perform the exercise with excellent technique, the weight is too heavy.
We only increase resistance when they can perform more than 15 quality repetitions with consistent control and proper form.
If their form begins to break down, we don’t push through it.
Instead, we:
Decrease the weight.
Stay at the same weight until their movement improves.
Pair that lift with a bodyweight exercise that addresses the weakness.
For example, if a squat starts falling apart because of poor hip stability or core control, we’ll spend time improving those areas with bodyweight squats, bridges, split squats, planks, or other stability exercises before progressing again.
To us, every lift is a movement lesson... not just a strength exercise.
Strength Is More Than Muscle
One of the greatest benefits of strength training has nothing to do with bigger muscles.
Our boys are learning:
Patience.
Discipline.
Body awareness.
Confidence.
They’ve learned that good technique matters more than impressing someone with a heavier weight.
That’s a lesson that reaches far beyond the gym.
So…Should Kids Lift Weights?
Our answer is yes ... but only when they’re ready.
Not because they reached a certain birthday.
Not because everyone else on the team is doing it.
And certainly not because they want to post a personal record on social media.
Children should first learn how to control their own bodies --> Then they can learn how to control external resistance.
When strength training is supervised, age-appropriate, and focused on movement quality, it can become one of the best tools for helping young athletes grow stronger, more confident, and more resilient.
Final Thoughts
We’re not trying to raise the strongest 11-year-old.
We’re trying to raise an 18-year-old who still loves training.
A 25-year-old whose body moves well.
And an adult who understands that strength is built patiently over time.
Because strength isn’t measured by the amount of weight on the bar.
It’s measured by the quality of the movement underneath it.
At Raising Whole Athletes, we don’t believe athletes earn the right to move well because they lift weights.
We believe athletes earn the right to lift weights because they move well.
Coach Dad & Dr. Mom
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