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Competitive Weightlifting for Children: The
Issue of Safety
Kyle Pierce, EdD and Ronald Byrd, PhD
USA Weightlifting Development Center in Shreveport, Louisiana
The American Academy of Pediatrics (1983) produced a
position statement that has had serious negative impact for
almost two decades. The paper concluded that weightlifting has
a high injury rate and should be avoided by preadolescents.
Sewall and Micheli (1986) concur with the American Academy of
Pediatrics, recommending that any resistive training for
preadolescents should be controlled and slow and that
weightlifting competition should not take place until after
skeletal maturity is achieved. In contrast, Micheli (1988)
admitted later that there is little scientific evidence
regarding injury potential of preadolescents in resistive
training and that “…potential for growth plate injury may
actually be less in the prepubescent than in the pubescent,
however, because the growth plate is actually much stronger
and more resistant to sheer stress in younger children than in
adolescents.” A second position paper by the American Academy
of Pediatrics (1990) recommended, “Unless good data become
available that demonstrate safety, children and adolescents
should avoid the practice of weight lifting, power lifting,
and body building…” (p. 802).
A position paper by the American College of Sports
Medicine was in support of weight training, but not with
maximal weights (Faigenbaum & Micheli, 1998). This by
implication would constitute a position against traditional
competitive weightlifting for children.
An exhaustive literature review and position paper by the
National Strength and Conditioning Association (Faigenbaum
Kraemer, Cahill et al., 1996) supported children’s resistive
training if programs are appropriate and supervised by trained
professionals. However, they fail to specifically address
weightlifting, but do recommend against “interindividual
competition, effectively precluding involvement in the sport.
The lack of data is the issue; the alarmist negative
response by well-meaning physicians and scientists has done an
immeasurable disservice to the sport of weightlifting. In a
recent paper presenting information regarding injuries to
children resulting from weightlifting, Pierce, Byrd, and Stone
(1999) reported no days of training lost from injuries
incurred in weightlifting over a period of a year’s
competition and training by 70 children ranging in age from 7
to 16 years. It was concluded that weightlifting is safer than
is generally believed if training and competition are
appropriate for this age group and are well supervised.
Faigenbaum, Wescott, Micheli, Outerbridge, Long, LaRosa-Loud,
and Zaichkowsky (1996) found in a study of 7-12-year-old boys
and girls, Tanner Stages 1 and 2, large and significant
increases in strength from resistive training, with no
injuries. Hamill (1994) reported that weightlifting had a
lower rate of injury than resistive training and both
activities are safer than most other sports. Rielly (2002)
studied 20 young weightlifters (mean age 14.6, SD=1.9) who
competed in the U.S. National Junior Weightlifting
Championships, following them through the final eight weeks of
preparation through completion of competition. Attesting to
the quality of these athletes, four won gold in the Age 16 and
Under Division and seven qualified for the National Junior
Squad. Though this represents the maximum in terms of
intensity, nearly 90% of the injuries were minor, resulting in
a return to training within a day of the injury. No injuries
occurred during the competition, none involved epiphyseal
growth plates, and only one involved medical evaluation. In
the case of this exception, the athlete recovered to compete
at the 2001 Junior Nationals, winning the bronze medal.
It is clear that the potential for injury is an issue that
requires ongoing scientific study. However, anecdotal reports
and conjecture regarding injury continue to limit early
participation and possibly eventual potential for success. In
conclusion, competitive weightlifting can be appropriate for
children given supervision in training and competition by
well-qualified professionals. For those with remaining doubts,
a conservative approach could include scoring for technique
rather than only total weight lifted or totaling multiple
lifts rather than just the best of the two lifts. As with
other sports, motivation would be minimal without some form of
competition.
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