A recent article in the New York Times, “Muscular Body Image Lures Boys Into Gym, and Obsession,” sheds some light on the “risk” high school aged boys are taking to be built like action heroes. The focus of the article, 18-year-old David Abusheikh, started lifting weights when he was 15 years old for “two hours a day, six days a week.” Recently he has added protein supplements to his regiment to “put on muscle without gaining fat.”

The article forces us to consider important facets of youth and weightlifting, like how much is too much? and how has social media propagated unhealthy views of body image? But it does so with a sense of doom and gloom that, to me, seems unwarranted. First I would like to calm the nerves of all the mothers ripping dumbbells out of their pudgy sons’ hands, and then we will look at a few practical ways folks working with youth can promote healthy exercise without turning it into something destructive.

On Doom and Gloom

“Obsession” author Douglas Quenqua warns, “Pediatricians are starting to sound alarm bells about boys who take unhealthy measures...” in the name of fitness and biceps. To prove it, he throws out his first batch of statistics from a now published study:

In a study to be published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, more than 40 percent of boys in middle school and high school said they regularly exercised with the goal of increasing muscle mass. Thirty-eight percent said they used protein supplements, and nearly 6 percent said they had experimented with steroids.

Over all, 90 percent of the 1,307 boys in the survey — who lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but typify what doctors say is a national phenomenon — said they exercised at least occasionally to add muscle.

Imagine for a second the boys in Minneapolis-St. Paul filling out this survey. One third of them are texting their friends under the desk about their planned rampage on World of Warcraft that evening, another third is suffering from imaginary lats syndrome and breaking their pencil tips trying to impress the nearby girls with the muscles they finally get the chance to discuss, and the other third is asleep. Clearly I’m being sarcastic and exaggerating, but very little in the above paragraphs is alarming.

Only 40 percent exercised with the goal of increasing muscle mass. Does that mean sixty percent of them didn’t go to gym class? And 90 percent of boys exercise occasionally to add muscle, with no details on what type or duration of exercise they’re performing? I’m more worried about the ten percent of boys who were so lazy they couldn’t even lie on an anonymous survey.

Six percent admitting that they have experimented with steroid use does cause pause. Still, the correct action step here is not to cause mass paranoia about exercise; instead it’s to give helpful tips on exercising healthfully, which I plan on doing later.

The author takes a few words to worry about youth’s activity on social media and online forums regarding health and fitness, doing activities like posting pictures of chiseled models and commenting on their workouts in forums. While I don’t think this worry is completely unnecessary, I do think it’s misdirecting the problem solvers. While some online communities, like Steve Kamb’s Nerd Fitness, are tailoring quality exercise content for a younger demographic in shiny, fun packages online, I think it’s even more important to affect positive change at a grassroots level. Getting students to change their Facebook habits is doctoring a symptom, not the disease.

There are a few rays of hope in the article, one of them is Peter Rivera, the gym teacher for the young man mentioned earlier. Speaking about the bodybuilding competition he runs at the school each year (a little strange, but fodder for a different article):

“(The students) ask us about everything,” said Peter Rivera, a physical education teacher at Fort Hamilton High School who helps oversee the competition. “How do I lose weight? How do I gain muscle? How many times a week should I work out?” Some boys want to be stronger for sports, Mr. Rivera said, but others “want to change their body type.”

Kids who want to be healthier turn to the authority figures they trust to learn more about how to do it right. What a novel idea. With that in mind, here are a few tips on smart training for growing boys and girls.

When You Were Young

Right away, let’s dispel one lingering myth: weightlifting does improve strength and power in youth! We can turn back to the New York Times to read a great write up on a recent study, or lean on the wisdom of the Mayo Clinic. Both of these sources not only tout the benefits of resistance training for strength gain in youth, they also point out other great benefits such as improved motor capabilities, increased bone strength and positive changes in morale.

If you’re currently looking for an exercise program for your child, are leading middle or high school students in a PE class, or are considering beginning a program at your gym, here are a few ideas on instilling healthy, safe habits:

1. Have fun. Most youth are not gunning for the Olympics or a career in the NFL, so don’t prioritize their training as if they were. Their number one priority should be to have fun. Athletic pursuits can be used to support academics and build positive relationships, as long as everyone involved keeps their head in the fun game.

2. Get a great coach. As an adult searching for guidance, we have the luxury of settling for a good coach because we have the experience to know ultimately what’s best for us. So unless you want to watch your kid every second of the day, you’ve got to find a great coach who you trust with junior’s upbringing for an hour or so a day. This is particularly important if your young athlete is competing. There’s a difficult balance to strike between going for the gold and enjoying one’s adolescence; part of the coach’s job is to find it. A great coach will also greatly decrease the risk of injury.

3. Strength training promotes other healthy habits. We can look back to Mr. Rivera’s quote from earlier to see evidence of this. When competing in a bodybuilding competition, the students asked all sorts of questions about health and fitness. They were hungry to learn, then to make the changes they needed to in an orderly fashion to see positive change in their life. As a coach, I see way too many adults who have learned important lessons about healthy living the hard way (e.g., they eat great now because they suffered from anorexia in high school.) Wouldn’t it be great to attend the School of Helpful Adults instead of the School of Hard Knocks?

4. Variation is good. Studies have shown that kids gain athletic traits and other positive attributes through a variety of physical activities. Just like with adults, don’t ignore the basics of linear progression and proper technique, but save room for playground activities and pick up basketball games with buddies. As a child gets older, they can and will naturally tend toward one sport or activity and hopefully will be ready to get that D1 scholarship in order to save mom and dad a buttload of cash.

5. Promote natural techniques and quality goals. When a child has the right mindset, let’s say, “to be stronger in the shoulder press and deadlift after six months of regular weight training (2 days/week)” they can have fun in the gym and learn how to make positive changes then adopt positive habits. When a child has unrealistic goals about aesthetics or competition, we begin to stumble into the danger zone. Talk with your child or student about the basics of strength training, and encourage them to take easy steps to being a better version of themselves, every day.

Thanks is due for Charles Poliquin, who has written a couple of great articles on youth and weightlifting. Check out his work, and that of other fitness writers you respect for more insight and direction.

In a world full of fat kids and even fatter adults, it’s more important than ever to instill in our youth a healthy mindset on fitness and nutrition. There’s a lot to it and even the experts are always learning, so at the end of the day, what’s most important is encouraging a mindful and spongy demeanor, and making sure the kids learn: exercise can be fun!