Wednesday, February 22, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
31
Contrary to myth, weightlifting is good for kids
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
PHOTO PROVIDED
Jack Fields was killed in a skiing
accident
SKIER: Man had many
friends in Sisters who
mourn his death
Continued from page 1
a point of telling friends how
much he really loved and
appreciated them. He inspires
me and so many others to be
more present, more giving,
more selfless, more open to
change and other perspec-
tives. His death is a tragedy
beyond my comprehension,
but I do hope that it will
inspire more people to be a
little bit more like Jack.”
“Weightlifting is bad for
kids — it’ll stunt their growth.
And young kids don’t really
get stronger by lifting.”
Many of us grew up with
that myth looming over the
barbells in the gym. And,
based on current science, it
is simply that: a myth. The
notion seems to have grown
from a study of Japanese chil-
dren engaged in hard manual
labor. The children were con-
sistently shorter than average.
From that, a specious conclu-
sion was drawn that lifting
heavy things at a young age
stunts growth.
The New York Times
reported that “Somewhat
improbably, from that sci-
entific finding and other
similar reports, as well as
from anecdotes and accret-
ing myth, many people came
to believe ‘that children and
adolescents should not’ prac-
tice weight-training, said
Avery Faigenbaum, a profes-
sor of exercise science at the
College of New Jersey. That
idea retains a sturdy hold in
the popular imagination.”
The idea is false. So is
the idea that kids don’t actu-
ally get stronger from weight
training.
As the Times reported, sev-
eral long-term studies “sug-
gest that, in fact, weight train-
ing can be not only safe for
young people, it can also be
beneficial, even essential.”
Ry a n H u d s o n , w h o
coaches adult and youth lifters
in Sisters, is absolutely clear
about the benefits.
“Usually, they end up
being really good athletes and
have a good work ethic,” he
said.
With a national epidemic
of childhood obesity, which
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PORTLAND (AP) — The
Oregon Military Department
is seeking $21.6 million
from the federal government
to clean up toxic armories
around the state.
The
Oregonian /
OregonLive reported
February 15 that the money
would go toward cleaning
armories in Portland, Ashland,
Backer City, Bend, Coos
Bay, Eugene, McMinnville,
Ontario, Pendleton and
Salem.
Sisters Hometown Realty
as well as adults. There was a
time when children ‘weight-
trained’ by carrying milk
pails and helping around the
farm. Now few children, even
young athletes, get sufficient
activity” to fully strengthen
their muscles, tendons and
other tissues. “If a kid sits in
class or in front of a screen
for hours and then you throw
them out onto the soccer field
or basketball court, they don’t
have the tissue strength to
withstand the forces involved
in their sports. That can con-
tribute to injury.”
Hudson is dedicated to
introducing Sisters youth —
who dominated last weekend’s
Youth Powerlifting Nationals
— to the lifelong benefits of
building strength. The young
lifters train on Monday and
Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. For
more information, visit the
Level 5 Facebook page or call
541-639-5300.
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Your hometown expert.
Military seeks
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contaminated
armories
can have life-long conse-
quences, Hudson believes that
activities that get kids up off
the couch and active in a field
that also instills self-discipline
and confidence has a multi-
tude of benefits.
While Hudson, obviously,
extols the virtues of lifting
heavy things, it doesn’t have
to be about weightlifting.
“It’s good to have kids
move, period, whether it’s
with or without weights,” he
said.
Inactivity and a lack of
strength-building activity can
make a youngster vulnerable
to injury — and it’s not a natu-
ral state. The New York Times
quoted Lyle Micheli, M.D.,
the director of sports medicine
at Children’s Hospital Boston
and professor of orthopedic
surgery at Harvard University:
“We are urban dwellers
stuck in hunter-gatherer bod-
ies. That’s true for children
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