Does bodybuilding block the growth of children or adolescents?

Does bodybuilding block the growth of children or adolescents?

What does it mean to "block growth"?
The soft cartilage areas near the termination of a growing bone fix its shape and possible length. These cartilaginous regions are called epiphyseal growth plates.

When you stop growing, the epiphyseal growth plates in your bones harden and become functionally identical to the rest of your bone tissue.

When an older adolescent approaches the end of puberty, the strength of the growth plates of his bones is often less than the strength of his ligaments. This is especially true for younger people who are engaged in bodybuilding training activities such as bodybuilding or weightlifting.

If an adult with completely hard bones, i.e. bones that will not grow anymore, undergoes an unfortunate accident, this could cause a sufficiently strong stress on the joint to cause injury to the ligament. When a teenager is involved in the same kind of accident, and the epiphyseal growth plate of his bones is weaker than his ligaments, he often finds himself with a fracture of the growth plate rather than a tear in the ligament.

Does bodybuilding block the growth of children or adolescents?

A fracture of the epiphyseal growth plate that is not cured can stop your growth. This kind of fracture is a serious injury with potentially harmful consequences for life, but with competent medical intervention, it should not be too disabling. Surgeons easily repair this type of injury in the worst case.

How can bodybuilding be combined with a blocked growth
Teenagers who are strong, who may have developed strength through bodybuilding, may suffer from growth plate fractures rather than ligament tears because their growth plate, which is still soft, is the Their anatomy in and near the joints. This has led to speculation that has created a link between strength training and growth plate fractures.

The US government has compiled data on injuries among teens [1]. Its results indicate that approximately 50% of growth plate fractures occur in sports or leisure activities. Football, basketball, skateboarding, rugby and cycling are the five activities for which there is the most fracture of the epiphyseal growth plate. Strength training was not directly involved in growth plate fractures.

In addition, a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics [2] gave an update on the issue of strength training for children and adolescents. She concluded that a proper bodybuilding training had no apparent side effects on linear growth, epiphyseal growth plate growth, or the cardiovascular system of healthy children.

It is therefore reasonable to conclude that accepted beliefs that muscle building can stop your growth are not only false, but they are also harmful. The risk of fracture of the epiphyseal growth plate due to an accident during a leisure activity is not reason enough for teenagers to deprive themselves of the many positive benefits of bodybuilding training.

If bodybuilding does not stop growth, why do so many people (and doctors) believe it?
Many people fall into the common logical error of making a confusion between cause and effect (the famous Post Hoc syllogism).

The best weight lifters and bodybuilders are usually small. It is easier to carry a heavy weight over his head if you are not too tall, because you do not need to raise the weight as far off the ground. Bodybuilders, some of whom may weigh 100 kg or more, are usually not very large, simply because it is harder for adults to swallow the massive amounts of food needed to feed a proportionate amount of muscle growth than one Smaller man with smaller muscles.

And since the best weight lifters and bodybuilders are small, many people mistakenly conclude that lifting weights is responsible for their height, instead of concluding that it is their stature that is responsible for their Success in weightlifting.

Finally, before modern medical treatments are developed, if an abnormally strong child survives a growth plate fracture, he often remains disabled for life. It is then easy to blame the child's strength as responsible for the injury, rather than the accident that hurt him.