APEX PWR  |  Athlete Angle

Does Strength Training Stunt Growth in Kids? What the Research Actually Says

Ask most parents whether their young child should do strength training and the answer is usually a quick no. It feels obviously risky. Too young, too small, and surely it stunts their growth. It is one of the most common concerns we hear from parents in the Portland metro.

Here is the honest answer: that fear is not backed by the research. And while parents worry about a risk that does not exist, a real one is going unaddressed. This article walks through what the science actually says, what you can do with your kids at home starting today, and how we build safe, effective, data-driven training for young athletes at APEX PWR.

Does Strength Training Really Stunt a Child's Growth?

No. This is the part worth saying plainly, because the fear is so widespread. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in its 2020 clinical report on resistance training for children and adolescents, directly lists "resistance training may stunt growth" as a myth. Its conclusion, drawn from decades of studies, is that well-designed resistance training programs have not been shown to have a negative effect on growth plate (physeal) health, linear growth, or cardiovascular health in youth.

The myth most likely grew out of a reasonable-sounding worry about growth plate injury. Growth plates are areas of developing cartilage near the ends of children's long bones, and the concern was that loading them could cause harm. But the research has looked, and properly supervised, age-appropriate training does not damage growth plates or reduce final adult height. The concern is understandable. It just does not match the evidence.

The Real Risk Is the Opposite One

Here is what the research points to instead. Children's muscular fitness has been declining for years, and that decline carries real, lasting consequences.

A systematic review and meta-analysis by Garcia-Hermoso and colleagues, published in Sports Medicine in 2019, pooled 30 longitudinal studies covering more than 21,000 children and adolescents. It found that better muscular fitness in childhood was prospectively associated with a healthier body composition, a better cardiometabolic risk profile, and stronger bone health years later. In other words, the strength a child builds early tracks forward into their long-term health.

So the question flips. The concern was never supposed to be the harm of training. The more evidence-based concern is what happens to a child who never builds strength at all: weaker bones, a worse metabolic trajectory, and a higher long-term disease risk. Strength does not shrink kids. It builds their bones, their brains, and their confidence.

Why Kids Do Not Get Strong the Way Adults Do

One reason the stunted-growth fear feels intuitive is a misunderstanding of how children actually get stronger. Kids do not build strength the way adults do.

In adults, a large share of strength gain comes from muscle growing bigger. In children, especially before puberty, the early gains come from the nervous system. Training teaches a child's brain and nerves to recruit and coordinate more muscle fibers at once. They get meaningfully stronger without necessarily getting bigger. This is why youth strength work is so much about movement quality and coordination, and so little about load.

What Strength Training Actually Looks Like for Young Kids

When people hear "youth strength training," they often picture a small child under a heavy barbell. That is not it, especially for younger kids.

For young children, strength training is bodyweight play. Bear crawls, frog jumps, crab walks, hops, and squats. The goal is learning to control their own body, not lifting anything heavy. It looks a lot more like a game than a workout, and that is exactly how it should look. As a child grows and their technique matures, light resistance can be introduced and progressed gradually, always with form leading and load following.

What You Can Do at Home, Starting Today

You do not need a gym to start. You can build a broad athletic foundation with your kids at home:

• Get them moving their own bodyweight. A few squats, a bear crawl across the room, hopping on one leg.
• Make it a game, not a workout. Turn it into a race, a challenge, or an obstacle course.
• Prioritize variety. Running, jumping, climbing, crawling, and throwing all build different qualities.
• Keep it consistent and low-pressure. Short, frequent, playful movement beats occasional intense sessions.

This foundation is genuinely valuable, and any parent can build it. If you want to give your athlete a structured, high-quality, data and evidence-driven program tailored to their stage of development, that is exactly what we do at APEX PWR.

How APEX PWR Trains Young Athletes Safely and Effectively

One rule matters above all others in youth training: it has to be about technique, not load. Light, controlled, and supervised by someone who understands training young athletes. Good coaching is the single most important safety factor there is.

That principle is the backbone of how we work. Every young athlete at APEX PWR starts with a Sports Science Assessment (SSA), an objective evaluation of speed, power, strength, and movement quality. The data from that assessment lets our coaches build a program matched to the individual athlete's developmental stage and needs, rather than a one-size-fits-all plan. The result is training that develops strength, speed, power, and resilience, which decreases injury risk and helps offset the overuse risk that comes with year-round single-sport play.

Here is a look at how that actually happens on the floor.

What If My Athlete Is Currently Injured or in Pain?

If your athlete is currently dealing with an injury or pain, the right first step is our sports physical therapy team, not training. Our sports physical therapists work with young athletes to address the underlying issue and rebuild capacity, then transition them into performance training once they are ready to load safely. Starting with physical therapy protects the athlete and sets up everything that follows.

Serving Young Athletes in Tigard, Beaverton & the Portland Metro

APEX PWR is located at 11105 SW Greenburg Rd in Tigard, central to the Westside Portland metro. We work with young athletes and their families from Beaverton (roughly 10 to 15 minutes via OR-217), Lake Oswego, Tualatin, West Linn, and across Portland. Our coaching prioritizes safe, developmentally appropriate progression, which is exactly what the research says matters most for young athletes.

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