New realms of parenting hell

[Seriously79]

My DS 14 is a smart kid. And he's crazy about the gym. He goes 5 times a week, eats well, measures his protein and is very strong fit and active.

Last night he told me that he's used smelling salts a few times to get some energy for bigger lifts.

I'm way out of my depth.

If I go in too hard and heavy, he will never tell me anything again. I've told him
That I don't agree with it and it's not the way forward.

His friend bought them online.

How do I handle this going forward? Anyone been here before?

Are under 16s even allowed in gyms?

Could you ask am instructor at the Gym for some advice and guidance? Maybe someone who is fit and healthy too would be able to make more of an impact and focus the risks of overstretching muscles or risks of
injury etc.

Google articles about the side effects. Send him links.
Tell him you believe his own efforts will be good enough he doesn't need to 'cheat' at the gym. Don't disrespect his efforts to be fit as the gym buzz is the best buzz for him to have.

Of course. It's a teen membership.

I've got a son who's 16 and into the gym. I hadn't realised this was a thing. I've just had a quick Google and a men's health article suggests it's not great for your fine motor skills so it could wreck your form. It's apparently better to take creatine. It didn't suggest it was anything massively sinister though. It did say it wasn't very effective.

I have an older powerlifting DS who does occasionally use smelling salts if he’s going for a big lift. He’s generally sensible and I accept that he’s got the specialist knowledge and I don’t, although I don’t particularly like it either. Smelling salts are not banned in the sport / on the WADA list.

In your place, I’d be straight with your DS and tell him that you don’t like him using smelling salts and that you’d be happier if he didn’t. I think I’d go for the angle of it’s more of an achievement if the lifts are all his own work rather than relying on a smelling salt hit.

I echo the "get a trainer to talk with him" PP.

And again as PP said, creatine might be your friend here. I'm an ex powerlifter and of all the things he could be ingesting it's probably the least bad? (Money down the drain in most cases but better than the alternative)

I talk with my son all the time about 'gains' vs 'Roid gains' generally, why 'pre workout' that's available in shops isn't OK for him right now and generally that he's at his peak!

Definitely involve the gym staff if you can, as long as you're sure they're not the source. "Someone bought it online" is a complete no from me.

Possible gateway to steroids.

Oh right. Teen memberships. I think gyms are toxic environments for under 16s male or female and I would never have allowed it in the first place. DS plays enough sport to keep fit and can build his muscles all he wants after a certain age. 14 is just too young for all that.

Am I missing something? Do you mean smelling salts that are sold for blocked noses?

Presumably you pay his gym membership so have a say in what he's doing. Is it a gym you could go to yourself sometimes, just to see the atmosphere etc? My teen takes creatine and is obsessed (imo) with the gym but im really hoping it's a healthy alternative to going down the park drinking

It sounds like a really good time to talk to him about the dodginess of putting anything in your body that hasn't been properly tested for safety etc.

Putting it bluntly if he'll use "smelling salts" that his friend has bought online from goodness knows where, he has no idea what they're made of, whether they've got the stuff in them they're supposed to have (or just a load of nothing/actually harmful substances), there are a lot of really unethical bad people out there and because they're selling online there's no accountability. It shouldn't take you long to dig out news stories of people who've used substances/supplements bought online and it's not gone well. I realise that smelling salts aren't exactly criminal :) but it's the principle of a) realising how well regulated the stuff he might buy in a shop actually is b) understanding the risks of taking stuff bought online with no safeguards.

He's too young to really understand this and probably no-one has ever told him.

That and the stuff about relying on his own real strength and not cheating. If he's told you, he might be worrying about this himself (or the safety of it) and be looking to you for your line on this.

Don't smelling salts revive fainting people, or am I hopelessly behind the times?

I was thinking it was from Victorian fainting ladies. Isn't it just a nasty smelling substance as opposed to a "hit"?

Thanks all.

It's the smelling salts that people have when they have fainted. His friend bought them from Amazon.

I've been to the gym today and spoke to the duty manager. He says he isn't aware of anything untoward going on (however I'm not that he would admit it if he did) but he came across as very professional and listened to my concerns and will keep an eye on the younger lads - although I appreciate they could be sneaky about it.

I'm just getting all my evidence together and will be speaking to DS over the weekend. I'm just gonna tell him straight, it's not cool, and it's not the way forward and although I'm pleased he felt he could tell me, I'm disappointed that he felt he needed to do it to start with.

Good plan OP.

I would also suggest that buying certain things that go into the body by online orders, unless from a reputable source, isn't a good idea either as you don't know what is in them. Amazon might have checks and balances but they also let other sellers use their platform. Certain countries don't have our food or medicine safeguards.

Yeah, my dad has been using them for years and I do now as I quite often have blocked sinuses. According to the label it’s ammonia and eucalyptus, not sure what they’re meant to do for bodybuilding. I know they’re illegal to use in the US, unless someone has fainted.