How young is too young?

[DemonArchangel]

From another thread:

My 3 year old is in gymnastics, my 5 year old was in gymnastics, so we watch some of it. I usually don't watch but like Lemur, i have a wife, she has a vagina, so she controls the remote. I think its been pretty good so far but I will open my veins the next time I hear Phelps's name!!! That dude pisses me of. He's up there with his team receiving his last medal and chatting and laughing while the National Anthem was playing. POS. For the love of God, the other teams showed more reverence (or it could have been a temporary steroid induced coma). We watched the ladies gymnastics last night and watched one gal with a horse neck (someone check that leotard) total kill the team's chance to win. The again, those little Chinese gals (16 years old? shoot, one gal looked like Dora the explorer in the sun shining in her eyes) kicked ass. I guess they figured they better do good or else.

The saddest part in this whole thing are the folks that don't make it. I was listening to NPR (god help me) the other day and they interviewed some Chinese chick that was in her late 20's. She had been training all her life to be a long distance runner by the Chinese Government. She was also in the Chinese Army and was given the choice of training or continuing a more militarily structured life. Well, now she is completely bed-ridden and unable to walk. She lives with her mother. She basically trained so much that she ruined her legs. It was sad because the mother, in front of her daughter, basically called her a waste and a shame to the family. The reporter said there are thousands of stories like this. So it says a lot that so many lives are ruined just for a few days of "glory" on the world stage. Needless to say, my daughter only goes once a week and when we were approached to have her go twice a week in a more intensive program (she's real little for her age and strong) we declined.

*snip*

How young is too young for an athletic activity? Competing on a high level requires starting young, there is no doubt about that. Every athlete that competes on a high level was someone that started on their path to elite physical fitness at a young age. I strongly disagree with many nations using young girls in gymnastics, as I have personally seen just how damaging gymnastics can be to the joints. I have seen gymnasts break their bones repeatedly, as well as countless sprains, pulled muscles and other painful injuries related to it. Same with Parkour (which I practice). Many traceurs are introducing their children to Parkour as young as the age of *3*, without stopping to protect their children's joints and make sure that their children are ready to develop proper muscle mass without stunting their growth. And no doubt you have encountered parents starting fights at Little League or Junior Football over their children's performance, because they want their child to be an elite athlete. Sure exercise is important, but does it have to be that extreme? At what point does it become physically and psychologically harmful? I think Dave made the correct choice in making sure that his daughter didn't attend gymnastics twice a week, as it can seriously hurt.

[rvg]

From another thread:



How young is too young for an athletic activity? Competing on a high level requires starting young, there is no doubt about that. Every athlete that competes on a high level was someone that started on their path to elite physical fitness at a young age. I strongly disagree with many nations using young girls in gymnastics, as I have personally seen just how damaging gymnastics can be to the joints. I have seen gymnasts break their bones repeatedly, as well as countless sprains, pulled muscles and other painful injuries related to it. Same with Parkour (which I practice). Many traceurs are introducing their children to Parkour as young as the age of *3*, without stopping to protect their children's joints and make sure that their children are ready to develop proper muscle mass without stunting their growth. And no doubt you have encountered parents starting fights at Little League or Junior Football over their children's performance, because they want their child to be an elite athlete. Sure exercise is important, but does it have to be that extreme? At what point does it become physically and psychologically harmful? I think Dave made the correct choice in making sure that his daughter didn't attend gymnastics twice a week, as it can seriously hurt.

Depends on the final goal imho. If you do it just for the general health and physical fitness, then 3 is just fine. If your final goal is getting your kid into professional sports, then it is best to consult an expert.

[Strike For The South]

Well it depends if you get caught or not I played competitive basketball football baseball and soccer from an early age and nothing really happened to me. Granted my parents wernt these nuts you see on tv but they still pushed me. It is only when I started playing football and lifting weights in high school when the problems arose. Now that Im getting into powerlifting I must be very wary of things like getting enough sleep consuming enough calories and getting enough fish oil pills. Fish oil by the way is a good send I would not lift competitively if it wernt for these pills helping my heart and joints. In weights form is key contrary to popular belief starting a child lifting at age 10 or 11 will not stunt his growth improper from coupled with improper diet and sleeping habits will. PArents are usually very ignorant about these kind of things.

[KukriKhan]

I arbitrarily pick *10* as a good age to participate in competitive sport. Three is insane.

Children can't think for themselves until 6 or 7 in western culture; 8 thru 10 is when they find out what they can safely do ("No, you won't survive jumping off a 4-story building"), and by 11 they need to learn teamwork, and mutual effort, since they've figured out what they themselves can do by then.

By all means, however, physical activity is important from 3 onwards. Take the remote out of the li'l nippers' hands and shoo them outside. They'll complain of boredom, but they'll figure something out, and devise their own physical entertainment, almost always involving running, jumping, climbing, hopping... Give them a ball of some kind. They'll figure it out.

After age 11, if they have a particular sport interest, encourage and help them. If not, nevertheless demand that they have some physical thing they do for at least an hour each day. Then at 18, it's their call totally. At least you, the parent, have delivered your spawn to adulthood healthy and fit; your primary job.

[HoreTore]

I started playing football with my dad at the age of 3, so yeah... Also, swimmers start as babies, don't they?

But then again, I ended up with chronic injuries because of sports....

[Adrian II]

I arbitrarily pick *10* as a good age to participate in competitive sport. Three is insane.

Children can't think for themselves until 6 or 7 in western culture; 8 thru 10 is when they find out what they can safely do ("No, you won't survive jumping off a 4-story building"), and by 11 they need to learn teamwork, and mutual effort, since they've figured out what they themselves can do by then.

Fully seconded. Dads-'R'-Us.

If not, nevertheless demand that they have some physical thing they do for at least an hour each day.

Heh, mine ride a bike to school every day in all types of weather. Half an hour there, half an hour back. That's stamina taken care of. Plus rugby training and matches for team play.

[HoreTore]

I arbitrarily pick *10* as a good age to participate in competitive sport. Three is insane.

Are you serious? Everyone who plays sports here starts doing it when they start school(age 6), or a year or two before that. Mind you, it isn't playing to win at that time, it's just for fun, and I think it's a very good thing for children to be doing. The sooner they start the better, I say. If you're going to get really good at something, starting at the age of 10 is WAY too late...

[KukriKhan]

Are you serious? Everyone who plays sports here starts doing it when they start school(age 6), or a year or two before that. Mind you, it isn't playing to win at that time, it's just for fun, and I think it's a very good thing for children to be doing. The sooner they start the better, I say. If you're going to get really good at something, starting at the age of 10 is WAY too late...

We don't exactly disagree; I wrote:

competitive sport

Heh, mine ride a bike to school every day in all types of weather. Half an hour there, half an hour back. That's stamina taken care of. Plus rugby training and matches for team play.

Goodonya Pops!

[Moros]

The funny thing is the American Gal who won the allround gold medal. (Nastia Liukin) Well her parents both were medal winning gymnasts and wanted to keep her away from it. They tried it with piano lessons and all that. However they couldn't stop her from doing gymnastics. And now she's got the gold. So parents don't need to push thier kids at young age necesarily. And another funny thing is that she was one of the few girls who wasn't like 15 years and like 135cms small. (well okay that was probably the smallest kid that participated but still)

[HoreTore]

We don't exactly disagree; I wrote:

Ah. Well, damn my eyes then.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I think I played soccer (or rather football) from the first grade, or maybe even kindergarten until sixth grade. I think that was a great age to start, but until third or even fourth grade it definitely wasn't really competitive.So I probably started playing sports around five or six, but didn't get competitive until maybe eight or nine, and even then it wasn't very competitive.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Children need the physical activity, but not the stress of over-competitiveness that can be prevalent in some youth leagues. Kids need to be allowed to be...kids, not Mom & Dad's little multimillionaire athelete in training. Some children have too much structured activities and it's like they're working full time jobs. For many it's not a healthy life style and they burn out/stress out. There's enough of that waiting for them in their adolescent and adult future years. A variety of unstructured creative play and activities is more desireable for the pre-teen age group, imo.

I learned at an early age not to complain of boredom within my Father's hearing...he'd hand me shovel and tell me to dig a ditch or something.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

dang workaholics

Heh, mine ride a bike to school every day in all types of weather. Half an hour there, half an hour back. That's stamina taken care of.

Ain't that the truth. My first taste of freedom was riding my bike (the first car came much later) anywhere and everywhere within a 10 mile radius of the house. From the fishing/swimming hole to the ice cream stand to a friends house in the next town. I rode that bike daily and it did me a lot of good.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Well it depends if you get caught or not

Oh, you're such an amateur. You just have to make sure that when you see a ten or eight year old of the right physique, you exercise them simultanously so that together they are a legal eighteen.

[HoreTore]

Ain't that the truth. My first taste of freedom was riding my bike (the first car came much later) anywhere and everywhere within a 10 mile radius of the house. From the fishing/swimming hole to the ice cream stand to a friends house in the next town. I rode that bike daily and it did me a lot of good.

You lazy sods. I ran my 2km to school every day for 10 years, you people use a bike?

Oh, you're such an amateur. You just have to make sure that when you see a ten or eight year old of the right physique, you exercise them simultanously so that together they are a legal eighteen.

"Bedre med to på sju som blør enn ei på fjorten som har gjort det før", as we say around here...

("better with two 7-year olds who bleed instead of one 14-year old who has been there before", doesn't rhyme well in english though)

[Louis VI the Fat]

You lazy sods. I ran my 2km to school every day for 10 years, you people use a bike?

Luxury.

Me, I had to walk four kilomters to school. Barefooted. Even in winter.

[Adrian II]

Luxury.

Me, I had to walk four kilomters to school. Barefooted. Even in winter.

You guys had schools? We had holes in the ground .. &cetera.

[BigTex]

I started to learn how to lift wieghts when I was 3. Basic form and what not, nothing that could be called strength training. Mostly wanting to participate with my dad. Did Soccer from kindergarden till 6th grade. Judo from 8 till 10, while I was in soccer. Played American football from junior high till junior year of highschool, and switched over to savate/boxing de francias till nearly 19. Suffered my share of injuries, a dislocated shoulder very minor no ligiment damage, 6 broken ribs, a broken clavicle and spur's across most major striking surface, metacarpal's included. But that's about it, nothing very serious at all. And steadily drifting more and more to heavy bodybuilding.

I don't see anything wrong with starting kids young. As long as it's light. Soccer being the most dangerious sport in the world but most parents don't see a problem starting their kids on it at 6 or 7. Proper strength training will never lead to stunted growth or serious injurries. One of the main reasons being if their lifting properly, they can't lift enough to hurt themselves.

Fish oil by the way is a good send I would not lift competitively if it wernt for these pills helping my heart and joints.

Dear god yes, fish oil is truly a great thing.

[Marshal Murat]

I think I played soccer (or rather football) from the first grade, or maybe even kindergarten until sixth grade. I think that was a great age to start, but until third or even fourth grade it definitely wasn't really competitive.So I probably started playing sports around five or six, but didn't get competitive until maybe eight or nine, and even then it wasn't very competitive.

Same here. It's only the parents that make it competitive, and rarely even then. I've helped coach soccer for 7-8 year olds, and they just wanted to have fun. It did me good when I was younger (physically), but as I got older (11) the athletics didn't help as much (don't mind the junk food).

So now I play rugby

[Ice]

Fish oil by the way is a good send I would not lift competitively if it wernt for these pills helping my heart and joints.

Out of curiousity, what dosage are you currently taking? I'm getting 1080 mg of EPA and 720 of DHA, but i have no idea if that's a good amount to take. I never knew it helped with weight lifting, what a bonus.

[Strike For The South]

Out of curiousity, what dosage are you currently taking? I'm getting 1080 mg of EPA and 720 of DHA, but i have no idea if that's a good amount to take. I never knew it helped with weight lifting, what a bonus.

I take 9 pills a day. and it works out to 3280 mg of epa and 2160 of dha. Trust me

[DemonArchangel]

I take 0 pills of fish oil a day. However, I try to get seafood in my diet frequently, which I find is more helpful, because the protein and good fats in seafood are easier to absorb in food form than in pill form.

[Devastatin Dave]

My duaghter loves gymnastics. Its non competitive and its called "parent play". Basically I get in there with there with her and help. She's starting with just her by herself with the teacher and classmates this session. She loves it and when she doesn't want to do it, we go home. My sone plays soccer and is 5. Again, its noncompettitive and teaches kids the basics of kicking, passing, stuff like that. My kids enjoy the activities and its something the whole family can enjoy.

Will I continue to put my kids in sports or arts as they get older? Sure I will, if they want to. My folks let me do all sorts of things when I was young, soccer, baseball, violen, bass guitar, chorus, etc. I have a lot of great memories about these experiences and not once did my folks yell at me for not trying harder or whatever. Those type of parents are crap and they are out there. My kids get my wife and my support, pride, and love. We just want them to enjoy themselves. The only rule we have is one thing at a time. We don't want are kids to be doing 2 or 3 sports and mulitiple arts at the same time.

You guys may not believe this, but I'm very patient with my kids. You guys just get the fall-out from my Buddist like patience around the house!!!

[Moros]

My duaghter loves gymnastics. Its non competitive and its called "parent play". Basically I get in there with there with her and help. She's starting with just her by herself with the teacher and classmates this session. She loves it and when she doesn't want to do it, we go home. My sone plays soccer and is 5. Again, its noncompettitive and teaches kids the basics of kicking, passing, stuff like that. My kids enjoy the activities and its something the whole family can enjoy.

Will I continue to put my kids in sports or arts as they get older? Sure I will, if they want to. My folks let me do all sorts of things when I was young, soccer, baseball, violen, bass guitar, chorus, etc. I have a lot of great memories about these experiences and not once did my folks yell at me for not trying harder or whatever. Those type of parents are crap and they are out there. My kids get my wife and my support, pride, and love. We just want them to enjoy themselves. The only rule we have is one thing at a time. We don't want are kids to be doing 2 or 3 sports and mulitiple arts at the same time.

You guys may not believe this, but I'm very patient with my kids. You guys just get the fall-out from my Buddist like patience around the house!!!

And that's the way you should do it Dave. Though I'm not completely sure about just one thing at a time. If it's easy to combine both why not? I played the guitar and used to play tennis at the same time. Never had problems with it, nor with school.

[Ice]

I take 9 pills a day. and it works out to 3280 mg of epa and 2160 of dha. Trust me

365~/240?

Where do you get these pills? The ones im taking are only 180/120

[rory_20_uk]

Concerning the topic, sometimes it's good to be wrong about the matter in hand...

[Hax]

Well, there's been a musical thing called the 'Prinsengracht kinderconcert', which basically is a concert with very young children [ranging from 6 to 12] with musical talent. So when I see these 6-years olds playing a violin like they've been playing for 30 years, I can't help but feel disgusted. I mean, what completely insane parent would press his children to start playing a musical instrument at age 3/4? You may disagree with me, but I hardly think those children have chosen those instruments themselves, or were the first to come up with the idea of doing such a thing.

[rory_20_uk]

I was taught chess by my mother when I was about 4. I loved it - so much that I then taught my brother when he was 3 and I was 5. We were both quite good at the game and played up to county level.

Is this disgusting too?

[Ronin]

I was taught chess by my mother when I was about 4. I loved it - so much that I then taught my brother when he was 3 and I was 5. We were both quite good at the game and played up to county level.

Is this disgusting too?

there are exceptions for every rule....but as a general rule in my experience kids that are highly involved at a competitive level in sports (and or high level music and such) are there most likely because the parents are overdoing it.

I have gone to see a football practice of my little cousin (he´s 5) and while I saw that my uncle only signed him up for it because he like to run around on the field and have fun there were parents there that could have been mistaken for professional coaches....barking orders onto the field like that would make their kid turn into the next Figo or something...

trust me...a lot of those kids weren´t having fun and were not there of their own free will....the look on their faces was all too obvious.

[Adrian II]

I was taught chess by my mother when I was about 4. I loved it - so much that I then taught my brother when he was 3 and I was 5. We were both quite good at the game and played up to county level.

Is this disgusting too?

Utterly disgusting. Children should learn to play chess at the age of 1 at the very latest.

I taught my oldest to play it when he was 5. And like you he 'taught' his younger brother who was 3,5 at the time. I still remember the scene. Bubba chose white for himself, put all the pieces in the right spots and informed his brother: 'Mine are white, yours are black. Now the white pieces are the good guys and the black pieces are the bad guys...'

[rory_20_uk]

I taught my oldest to play it when he was 5. And like you he 'taught' his younger brother who was 3,5 at the time. I still remember the scene. Bubba chose white for himself, put all the pieces in the right spots and informed his brother: 'Mine are white, yours are black. Now the white pieces are the good guys and the black pieces are the bad guys...'

"Daddy, when I grow up I want to be a LA police officer..."