Harshita Modi proudly tells anyone who listens that her 9-year-old son, Staval, plays badminton for their club and is \u201calways picked to represent his school in the flat race.\u201d In early March, she showed up at a Run Fit training camp in Kolkata to enrol herself and her son for an exercise routine based on athletic conditioning because her friends told her that several kids and women in their mid-thirties, like her, attend the sessions.<\/p>\n
In Bengaluru, Siddhartha Arun, 14, loves playing cricket and is very serious about it. A year earlier, the teenager realised he needed to get stronger and walked into his South Bengaluru apartment gym. \u201cI need to become stronger to get better at cricket. My mother lifts weights and I see how strong she is, so I figured that I also need to go to the gym,\u201d says Arun, whose friends play sports but don\u2019t do any strength training. When he went to the building gym, however, the apartment\u2019s managing committee told his parents that children under 16 years of age were not allowed to use the gym. \u201cMy mother had to argue with the committee for almost a year before I was allowed to use the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parents in India love to enrol their kids for multiple activities such as cricket, football, karate, swimming, racquet sports and skating. But rarely do any of them send their kids for any kind of strength training that involves weights. The scene is different in the rest of the world where special strength training sessions are held for kids in gyms and schools, especially if they play any kind of sport. Dedicated sessions for pre-teens and teenagers are common at several gyms in cities like Dubai and Singapore. Mohammad Ali Akhtar, a former gym instructor who runs the Run Fit sessions, says one reason why few children in India sign up for strength training is because the parents don\u2019t know better. \u201cMost parents have reached their 30s and 40s without ever going to the gym so they don\u2019t understand how important strength training is, especially if their kids are playing a sport,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Also Read | All you need to know about \u2018fibremaxxing\u2019<\/a>WHAT PARENTS FEAR<\/p>\n One of the biggest worries among parents is their kids wouldn\u2019t grow\u2014especially in height\u2014to their full potential if they start lifting weights early on, says Bijoy Singh, head coach at Gridiron fitness studio in Kolkata. \u201cThese fears are just hearsay. In fact, strength training is likely to improve their muscle strength and bone density, which aids healthy growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Vikas Basa, paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and consultant at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai, echoes Singh and Akhtar when he says that many parents in India remain hesitant about allowing children to train in gyms. The fears largely stem from long-standing myths and lack of awareness about how modern strength training works, he notes. \u201cThe most common concern is that weight training may stunt a child\u2019s growth. Others worry about the possibility of injuries, excessive muscle strain, or children lifting weights that are too heavy for their age. Some parents also associate gyms with adult body-building and fear that children may follow unsafe routines they see online,\u201d Basa adds.<\/p>\n Another reason is that many gyms in India are not specifically designed for children, and parents worry that trainers may not understand paediatric exercise requirements. Educating parents about the difference between supervised youth training and heavy bodybuilding is important to address these fears, Basa insists. \u201cChildren\u2019s training programmes are very different from adult gym routines. The goal here is developing movement skills, coordination, and strength safely. The emphasis is on learning proper form and building neuromuscular coordination, rather than lifting heavy weights. Repetitions are usually higher with lighter resistance, and workouts are designed to be fun and engaging so children stay motivated,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n