hi everyone, just wanted to get some opinions. my younger brother about to turn 14 in a month. he comes to the gym with me but basically only hits the speed bags, every now and then throws some punches at the heavy bags, and he does leg raises because i guess he wants a sixer.
just to show him what it feels like, ive had him do some assisted pullups and also assisted dips (attempted them anyways) as well as very very light weight on a preacher curl machine, and a pec deck. before i go on-- i really dont mess with machines, i just wanted him to feel the muscles working and figured the machines with light weight was the safest way to do this.
anyway, the kid is just slightly taller than me -im 5’9" and hes literally maybe 5’9" and a 1/4. hes 165lbs, which is about what i weighed a year into college.
i am not sure when i can help him start lifting. there’s the theory that working out too early stunts growth, which i am not sure of. it makes perfect sense to me that heavy squats and such could harm growth plates and compress the spine during growth years and such, but at the same time im not sure what has been proven and what has not. i started working out when i was like 12yrs old and granted i didnt really know what i was doing, i cant say whether or not i believe it has anything to do with me being 5’9" while my older brother is 6’2"–i dunno, maybe i was meant to be 5’9".
basically, my brother at 165lbs looks nothing like what i looked like at 165lbs, at practically the same height. his shoulders are still pretty narrow and he just looks like an average kid, although from wrestling around and messin with him i can tell hes pretty strong for a kid.
im going to try and wrap this up…he wants to work out, but hes also heard the stunted growth thing, so i guess im wondering what anyones take on this is, and if there are certain things he can do with weights and certain things that he cant.
i guess more than anything i dont want him getting picked on in high school. while he is a “big kid” for his age right now, and so was i in 8th grade, i know high school will be another story. its like they ship the kids in from another country, or everyone else grew over that summer i dunno. but he doesnt have that tough guy/hardass attitude that i did in high school, which is probably a good thing for him, but i know that it kept me out of a lot of fights. i guess being willing to throw down in an instant makes people not want to mess with you, but like i said, hes not like that. btw- im not trying to sound cool or anything, just giving a “real life” concern/need to get stronger for him.
and then from a lifter’s perspective, i think the kid has potential to be pretty big. with him looking the way he does at 165, i think he could easily be 200+lbs with a couple years of lifting and eating. shit, with knowledge ive aquired on here i could probably get him to 200lbs in a year. anyway, sorry for the long post, but its my little brother, its not hard for me to go on and on about him. thanks