Reply to Son bummed about looking young for his age

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid is taller and less in weight. Don’t know where you are getting the skinny idea from. [/quote]

So is mine, but come on…you know what she means. I definitely do. A lot of boys this age are quite muscled already and have a more mature looking face (more facial hair, squared  jaw etc)…..they look older. [/quote]

This is my son. He's 14, 150 pounds and zero fat. He also has his Dad's jawline but he definitely still looks and acts a like a 15 year old just an athletic one. [b]Football did a lot to build is muscle[/b][/quote]

This.  I'm the PP that keeps harping about weight training.  You gotta get this kid into football or wrestling or BJJ, something with a physical intensity.

So that even if he has a baby face, at least he'll have an age appropriate physique.  For some kids, those just happen.  But for most of the boys at ages 14/15 that are muscular, also swim or wrestle or do one of the really physically grinding sports[/quote]

I completely agree with this for the average boy but to be fair there is definitely a subset of boys where this won’t have much effect…super late bloomers- for example my older son weighed about 90lbs on a good day at 14 and hadn’t yet started puberty- looked like an 11yo. While strength is always good- no amount of physical conditioning or training will speed things up much for kids like this, unfortunately. They need time and puberty. My younger DS is currently 14 and on a more normal timetable and your advice would be spot on for him. But there is always a handful of teeny tiny not yet in puberty boys like this at 14 and even 15…in those cases, there isn’t much you can do but wait IME. My 14yo DS has a friend who weighs 80lbs…At his size, football is probably not going to be feasible LOL. But his parents and older siblings are very average to tall sized people and his time will come. Older DS was closer to 16 before he was physically ready to train & build muscle. I do think in some cases, just reassuring these boys that their time will come is the right answer….[/quote]

You're 100% correct.  But for those kids, I would still recommend weight training.

For 2 reasons:

- Confidence
- Foundation/Fundaments.  If they are comfortable in the gym, comfortable with the motions, understand body awareness, once those hormones kick in, their muscle building will BLAST off.  They won't have to spend the time learning the fundamentals, etc.  Get under the empty barbell now, so they don't have to do that at 16 once the testosterone is kicking

But I see your point; it is a valid one[/quote]

Agree with all this. OP - My DS is in similar boat as yours expect he's almost 16. He's 5'6", 120lbs and, looks very young. According to his dr he is just starting to show signs of puberty. Doesn't help that he's the smallest in his friend group because most of his friends are athletes and ae much further along, puberty-wise. That said, while no amount of weight training will help him bulk up yet, joining the wrestling team and doing strength training during the off season has really helped boost his confidence and it doesn't seem to faze him even when his friends tease him about his size. Tell him to hang in there. Kids like him usually catch up to their peers and often even end up bigger and stronger![/quote]

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