Any gym/weights experts able to comment? Just turned 15 year old dead lifting 85kg

[UnfitMum]

Im not a fitness expert so I dont know what to make of my teenage lad's current gym obsession. I just know Im getting uneasy about it. For the last 5 months he goes daily, with one rest day a week, for sessions that last up to 2 hours. He is primarily building muscle he says, with a routine that focuses on pulling, pushing then legs. He is loving it and seeing amazing results. However, he just told me he is dead lifting 85kg. That seems a hell of a lot for a boy of his age. Plus he is self taught ie the routines and techniques are all off youtube and I am now worried that he will hurt himself. The gym he goes to dont seem to supervise from what my son says. I dont want to ruin his fun, Id prefer this to him being home gaming all the time, but how do I ensure he is safe? I contacted a PT who works at the gym for help but he said he doesnt work with under 16s so Im not sure what else to do. Can anyone advise?

How did he get a gym membership in the first place? Under 18s normally need an adult present. The PT at the gym is correct; you normally need an additional qualification (plus checks like a DBS or your local equivalent) to train under-16s.

85kg sounds like a lot, but it isn't necessarily a ridiculous weight to be deadlifting, especially if he's been training towards it. Context is important here; how tall he is, how much he weighs, what weight he started with, what else he's doing in the session, how many reps/sets, etc etc. If he's doing it properly, it's a good weight to be working with.

But yes, deadlifts can also lead to injury to the lower back (and potentially things like hernias) if not done with correct form. So I'd be very keen to make sure he's doing them correctly and safely. Because apart from the risk of injury, if he's not doing them properly, he won't be getting the benefit of the training anyway, so it's a bit of a waste of time.

You could talk to the gym manager, or the head of personal training, and see if anyone at that gym has the correct qualifications. Could you buy him a few sessions with a coach who has the qualifications, legal checks and experience to work with him on form and technique? Even two or three sessions would probably do it. Frame it as an encouragement in something he's clearly passionate about. Maybe a Christmas gift or something.

Surely any reputable gym wouldn't allow this on a junior membership. I remember DS was only allowed on the cardio machines at the chain gym I was a member of and had to wear a coloured wristband so staff knew he was a junior.
I'm not a professional but I would be strongly against anything other than cardio/body weight exercises at that age.

He needs some other sessions to check his form if he’s self taught but that’s not a massive weight for deadlifting, depending on his body weight and how close he is to stopping growing.

For comparison, I’m a mid thirties woman and I can deadlift twice my bodyweight 140kg. Most 15 year old boys are bigger than me!

Is he complaining of a bad back at all? Because if you’re not deadlifting properly you can usually feel it straight away.

I mean pt sessions not other. I’d recommend junior weightlifting course if they do them by you. Good Xmas present.

@FuckabethFuckor So his older brother has just told me DS lied about his age to get his gym membership 🙄@whataboutya Yes it doesnt sit right with me either, and whilst he doesnt have any back pain he has hurt his shoulder so I am a bit concerned about his technique. @Trustmeimadoctor Ok, thanks for perspective on the weight. Think I will google PT/weight lifting for juniors, thanks for the nudge.

DS lied about his age to get his gym membership

OK you need to jump on that. And I'm surprised the gym hasn't already, given that you've spoken to a PT there about him.

If he lied about his age, and the gym has an age cut-off for membership, their safety responsibilities and public liability insurance likely won't cover him. So if he hurts himself (or someone else) the gym would not be liable or responsible in a way it would if he was a legit member.

I'm a personal trainer (some of the time), and I work in gyms. We take member safety extremely seriously and I would not want to be in this position. You need him in an environment where he is a) allowed to be and b) sufficiently protected.

I wonder if you need to go about this a different way. Find a gym that accepts junior members; maybe a council-run leisure centre or similar. Get him signed up to that, and find a trainer who is qualified and cleared to coach under-16s.

There's nothing wrong with him enjoying weight-training, and there's nothing wrong with him deadlifting 85kg (provided he's doing it properly).

There is something wrong with him lying about his age to get a gym membership. He is not in an environment where he can be appropriately monitored, protected and safeguarded. Him being there under false pretences is wilfully misleading the people who work hard to make the gym a safe and appropriate place for adults to work out.

Please, I would urge you to step in here.

I'm a relatively unfit Middle Aged woman and I can lift much more than that, so it's not a ridiculous amount for a fit teenage lad.
I'd be very concerned about them not checking ID of members though.
I'd hunt around for a gym with instructors or teen classes to check his form.
All in all, I've heard of worse teen obsessions though

He should be supervised because under 18 the focus should be strength training and not power lifting of too heavy weights. His femurs will not have fully ossified yet, nor his humeri as the growth plates are still active. He is risking early onset osteo-arthritis by doing power weightlifting like dead lifts while under age.

Source to back up your claims?

Youngsters shouldn't lift heavy weights. Something to do with bone and muscle development IIRC. He needs to cut back and look after himself.

I’m a PT too (full time) and 100% agree with this.

Strength training is amazing and provided he has correct form and has worked up to it correctly, that weight shouldn’t necessarily be an issue.

What he’s doing with regards to lying and being where he shouldn’t be isn’t safe and needs to be stopped. A PT qualified for under 16’s are rare but not impossible to find, this will be the best route to take.

I’m nearly 60 and deadlift more than that. I follow loads of weightlifting/ powerlifting accounts on social media and have seen many videos of much younger children lifting equally heavy weights.
That said, obviously he shouldn’t be lying and he does need technique training but there’s worse things he could be into.

I do know there's worse things he could be doing, I said as much myself in my op.

Having problems finding a PT for a teenager tho, and no weightlifting clubs for 15 miles despite being in a decent sized city 😕However, having had my concerns re: technique etc confirmed by this thread I will keep looking...I really don't want to discourage him but I do want to be sure he knows what he's doing!

This just isn't true. Weight training with proper form is good for teenagers (as it is for almost everyone else). The forces are very controlled and safe. Much less risk of injury than most sports (rugby/gymnastics etc etc).

Yes weight training with proper form for strength is good. But lifting over 75% of your body weight (which is what the OPs DS is doing), is definitely harmful. It’s power lifting. The risk of injury is just as bad but the injuries are of a different nature.

*to make perfectly clear power lifting too much weight when under age is what is harmful because their bones are not fully ossified at age 15.

I came here from Instagram where a 14 year old girl is deadlifting 105kg.

Many gyms allow people to join from 13 - I've been going to the gym since I was 14 without an adult. Past beliefs about damage to growth plates, risks of lifting in youth have been refuted, the evidence is easy to Google.

Seems a great thing for him to be doing. Plenty of people learn to lift from Instagram, YouTube etc. and watching other people in the gym.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5532191/

A nice overview.

You might be able to find a properly qualified PT who works in parks with young people - there are some round me. Obviously, can't train heavy weights that way but he could really work on technique/bodyweight/calisthenics. I do calisthenics and am much stronger than when I was deadlifting more than bodyweight, and there are organisations round here that specifically work with young people on the bars in parks. Or, if he is at all interested, a boxing gym - they often have young people's programmes too. Ditto climbing - great for pull strength and they sometimes have weights and cali rigs too.

Then when he has turned 16 he should be able to join a regular gym, without lying - I totally agree with pp that has to stop. It isn't fair on the gym (tho their processes sound lax), the staff or the other members.

However, he just told me he is dead lifting 85kg. That seems a hell of a lot for a boy of his age.

No, it's really not. I can lift multiple reps at 85 kilos and I'm a 64 yo woman. An 18 to 20 year old boy/man, training properly, is capable of twice that easily

But if he's doing it incorrectly, any weight he's lifting is problematic, as PP have said. Can you pay for a block of PT sessions to check form and correct bad habits?

Does his school have a gym?

I weight 62kg and can deadlift 100kg so the weight itself is not a concern. I would definitely try to get him training in a location with proper supervision and just spin it in a way that is positive - proper coaching with a PT will make sure that he progresses and can then lift even heavier weights! Would also be concerned about the “supplements” that he may be offered by gym bros in the changing rooms. He’s definitely vulnerable to being a target for that if he’s getting all his info from the internet rather than a qualified PT.

It will depend on his physique (obvs), but 85kg isn’t much to deadlift at all. If he was benching 85kg, that might be different!

If he’s going to the bother of watching YouTube, he probably has reasonable form so I wouldn’t worry about it.

I would be more concerned about the level of obsession and what he might become susceptible to. Six days a week, 2hrs per session is a lot. I do strength training three days a week with a PT and we workout for 45 mins each time. I'm not sure what you would do for 2hrs, so think he could be overdoing it in that sense. I also agree with a PP that he could be vulnerable to being offered steroids or else just the obsessive gym culture that seems to be prevalent these days. I have exercised all my life and it has become so noticeable lately how many young adults are in the gym for the 'lifestyle', including instagramming themselves from the gym floor all night long, FFS. Plenty of the men are lifting far too much and will clearly do themselves injury in the pursuit of an 'instagram' body. This isn't necessarily your son, but he will likely be seeing others do it.

Otherwise OP, as many have said, fitness is of course a great hobby, deadlifting 85kg is fine, and you sound like a supportive mum. Definitely try and help him with some sensible advise / supervision and keep an eye out that it doesn't start to consume him.