Hi guys . im 14 old and currently training for parkour. as you know parkour needs only bodyweight and plyometric exercises. so forget about lifting. But there's a problem. my parents say pushing yourself too hard on this age will damage your growth plate which is not good , really not good. searched internet visited many websites asked many people. some said will some else will not. so im really p*ssed off and dont know what to do. im about 1.65-1.70 CMs and wanna reach 1.82 . (my father's 1.84)
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
does bodywght training reduce growth rates?
- Thread starter nik007
- Start date
You'll only damage your growth plates through traumatic events. If you're training to the extreme extent that you're putting yourself at risk for stress fractures or if you have an accident and break something that way, then the growth plates can be affected. Otherwise, exercise is nothing except good for your bone growth.
Adding to Jrahien's post. Because I deal with my son's physical training I may have read more no this than him. Not the norm on remedial or injury prevention, he beats me hands down as a rule there.
Parkour is very high impact, and repeatedly high impact at that, so the stress fractures can become a real problem.
Bodyweight and plyometric are lifting, just lifting you, so keep this fact in mind. If you are struggling to perform some exercises with your body, then use lesser resistance to help build up to it. Lifting weights doesn't mean maxing out in 1 rep it means controlled movements with controlled load, dismissing a whole area of training will not serve you well if you want no limits to your progress.
Back to the question at hand. Growth plates, if you go to your absolute max on a very small number of reps, jumping from high walls etc. this will be putting the same load on your bones as lifting a severely heavy weight, in fact in view of the stress fractures more so.
You have been smart enough to read up on this and will already know what is going on with your bones and that until they are due to be fully fused max intensity training could force them to fuse early thus stunting your growth, permanently.
You are 14 so mid puberty, growth for you will be far from linear so don't stress about how you are compared to your Dad. My son is taller than I was at five years his senior, something he find hilarious, and I have no doubt he will be taller than me in adulthood. But within a year of leaving home and embarking on dangerous sports the home stress having been removed enabled me to grow nearly a foot in height. So try to keep life calm and you will grow more naturally. The reason teens are seen as growing like a weed is that you grow in hormonally fuelled bursts so nothing noticeable for a while then suddenly you are inches taller, this is very normal, so there is no point assessing your height based on now. When you are 21 or so it is safe to say you are not growing anymore.
Enjoy your sport, don't dismiss things that could help and keep the intensity at a level your body can handle. At your age a workout should leave you more tired out than physically impacted, in a few years you can flip that around.
Parkour is very high impact, and repeatedly high impact at that, so the stress fractures can become a real problem.
Bodyweight and plyometric are lifting, just lifting you, so keep this fact in mind. If you are struggling to perform some exercises with your body, then use lesser resistance to help build up to it. Lifting weights doesn't mean maxing out in 1 rep it means controlled movements with controlled load, dismissing a whole area of training will not serve you well if you want no limits to your progress.
Back to the question at hand. Growth plates, if you go to your absolute max on a very small number of reps, jumping from high walls etc. this will be putting the same load on your bones as lifting a severely heavy weight, in fact in view of the stress fractures more so.
You have been smart enough to read up on this and will already know what is going on with your bones and that until they are due to be fully fused max intensity training could force them to fuse early thus stunting your growth, permanently.
You are 14 so mid puberty, growth for you will be far from linear so don't stress about how you are compared to your Dad. My son is taller than I was at five years his senior, something he find hilarious, and I have no doubt he will be taller than me in adulthood. But within a year of leaving home and embarking on dangerous sports the home stress having been removed enabled me to grow nearly a foot in height. So try to keep life calm and you will grow more naturally. The reason teens are seen as growing like a weed is that you grow in hormonally fuelled bursts so nothing noticeable for a while then suddenly you are inches taller, this is very normal, so there is no point assessing your height based on now. When you are 21 or so it is safe to say you are not growing anymore.
Enjoy your sport, don't dismiss things that could help and keep the intensity at a level your body can handle. At your age a workout should leave you more tired out than physically impacted, in a few years you can flip that around.
something is going wrong i think. im NOT jumping from high attitudes right now. but a year ago i did it for a month. the highest one was about 2 meters w good landing (not a hard slam to the Heels ) was it enough to damage growth plates?
my current goal:
beginner HIIT workouts to start it up
brutal HIIT to burn out any remaining fat
plyometrics- push ups -sit ups -crouches-- Explosive workouts to gain some muscle
then go out doing parkour NOT freerunning.
is it good? (Safe to do?)
another q : can core exercises stunt my growing? (because some of 'em are too hard. like 22 crouches in 3 sets or 50 sit ups in a minute?)
sorry for my bad English.:confused4:
my current goal:
beginner HIIT workouts to start it up
brutal HIIT to burn out any remaining fat
plyometrics- push ups -sit ups -crouches-- Explosive workouts to gain some muscle
then go out doing parkour NOT freerunning.
is it good? (Safe to do?)
another q : can core exercises stunt my growing? (because some of 'em are too hard. like 22 crouches in 3 sets or 50 sit ups in a minute?)
sorry for my bad English.:confused4:
I was 4'11" at 16 years of age close to 17 in fact, by a year later I was 5'10", converting the growth to metric that's over 25 centimetres gain in a year. Delayed growth happens for a number of reasons and there is one glowing red flag that suggests how you may be doing this.
You will hate this, my son does and he's younger than you. You are not an adult and have to stop setting yourself goals that should only be pursued as one. Your desire to burn pretty much any body fat is something many your age seek because the magazines show the deep cut six pack as part of every perfect physique. Having this while growing will delay growth and sexual development, along with the natural testosterone release that will enable you to build muscle faster. Growth requires energy and the growing like a weed scenario I described uses masses of it, this is why pubescent teen males gain muscle and become leaner if keeping their diet constant. If the energy isn't there the body will wait until it is, there is no point burning survival energy developing to sexual maturity if doing so will stop you living long enough to breed, crude maybe but that is what puberty is about.
I am not saying change from stick insect to whale but accept a safe for 14 year old level of body fat, get the pretty six pack when you are fully grown. As someone who had one for years as an adult I can say that they aren't that impressive for functional fitness, there is also the unavoidable fact that most of the time this is covered up with clothing, so less lean more obviously muscular guys get noticed more easily.
There is no perfect way to know if your growth plates are already damaged without medical scans. A simpler way to find out if you have permanently stunted growth is to know if you have grown since doing the higher impact work (working on it being a year ago). If so you haven't if not you may have but in fairness it's unlikely even then.
HIIT, always a good idea for anyone wanting to improve fitness. Go for it
Plyometrics and body weight work is an area where you have to think hard about how even the workouts are. Push ups work the triceps, shoulders, chest and postural muscles including core hard. Chins work the biceps and back hard with some postural chain. However squats with bodyweight are very easy, meaning that it becomes more difficult to train the whole body at similar intensity all over. Even tuck jumps etc. leave many out of breath before the legs tire. JustinJVA usually pops in at around this time with a list of bodyweight exercises that may help here.
I will demonstrate how easy this unbalanced training tends to happen. I would bet good money you work your abs far harder than your lower back, doing crunches, sit ups etc. but not many hyperextensions and the like. If you consider that lower back problems are the most common physical ailment in the world today it doesn't take much to realise this is ill advised.
Core work as isolation is something I haven't done in years, when doing squats (especially overhead), deadlift etc. the core gets hammered without it.
Core work shouldn't stunt your growth but uneven core work will give you many years of pain if maintained for too long. I have been training long enough to know many seasoned uneven trainers who will either realise this if smart or be totally confused when not.
High impact work has to be moderated for anyone especially while still growing. Spread it over more days if needed to ensure that the body can recover fully, that way you get the training and height that I expect will help in this activity, if your genetics are set to let you.
You will hate this, my son does and he's younger than you. You are not an adult and have to stop setting yourself goals that should only be pursued as one. Your desire to burn pretty much any body fat is something many your age seek because the magazines show the deep cut six pack as part of every perfect physique. Having this while growing will delay growth and sexual development, along with the natural testosterone release that will enable you to build muscle faster. Growth requires energy and the growing like a weed scenario I described uses masses of it, this is why pubescent teen males gain muscle and become leaner if keeping their diet constant. If the energy isn't there the body will wait until it is, there is no point burning survival energy developing to sexual maturity if doing so will stop you living long enough to breed, crude maybe but that is what puberty is about.
I am not saying change from stick insect to whale but accept a safe for 14 year old level of body fat, get the pretty six pack when you are fully grown. As someone who had one for years as an adult I can say that they aren't that impressive for functional fitness, there is also the unavoidable fact that most of the time this is covered up with clothing, so less lean more obviously muscular guys get noticed more easily.
There is no perfect way to know if your growth plates are already damaged without medical scans. A simpler way to find out if you have permanently stunted growth is to know if you have grown since doing the higher impact work (working on it being a year ago). If so you haven't if not you may have but in fairness it's unlikely even then.
HIIT, always a good idea for anyone wanting to improve fitness. Go for it
Plyometrics and body weight work is an area where you have to think hard about how even the workouts are. Push ups work the triceps, shoulders, chest and postural muscles including core hard. Chins work the biceps and back hard with some postural chain. However squats with bodyweight are very easy, meaning that it becomes more difficult to train the whole body at similar intensity all over. Even tuck jumps etc. leave many out of breath before the legs tire. JustinJVA usually pops in at around this time with a list of bodyweight exercises that may help here.
I will demonstrate how easy this unbalanced training tends to happen. I would bet good money you work your abs far harder than your lower back, doing crunches, sit ups etc. but not many hyperextensions and the like. If you consider that lower back problems are the most common physical ailment in the world today it doesn't take much to realise this is ill advised.
Core work as isolation is something I haven't done in years, when doing squats (especially overhead), deadlift etc. the core gets hammered without it.
Core work shouldn't stunt your growth but uneven core work will give you many years of pain if maintained for too long. I have been training long enough to know many seasoned uneven trainers who will either realise this if smart or be totally confused when not.
High impact work has to be moderated for anyone especially while still growing. Spread it over more days if needed to ensure that the body can recover fully, that way you get the training and height that I expect will help in this activity, if your genetics are set to let you.
Enjoy your sport, don't dismiss things
Nope!
go check out " Bar brothers etc ...."
Calisthenics freaks out there.
They are amazing and strong.
go check out " Bar brothers etc ...."
Calisthenics freaks out there.
They are amazing and strong.
luckyvenkat
New member
As we age, we lose muscle mass, so strength training is essential for maintaining and a healthy metabolism. However, through a targeted total-body strength-training program, it's possible to not only prevent muscle loss, but actually increase your muscle mass (and keep your metabolism up) throughout your life. (Indian workouts)