Is a middle-schooler too young to work out with a personal trainer or with weights?

It's never too soon for children to formally integrate a dedicated exercise period into their day, either with an at-home workout regime or at a health club with a personal trainer. The key is to ensure that the activities undertaken and equipment utilized are suitable for your child's age, which is one distinct advantage of soliciting the help of a certified fitness instructor or, even better, one who specializes in kids' fitness. Child-only gym franchises that employ programs appropriate for all age levels are popping up all over the country, and the equipment they use has been ergonomically designed for children to keep them safe.

Middle school-age children are setting the foundation for the young adults they will become soon, so it's important that they are exposed to the variety of ways they can stay physically fit, with weight training being just one of those ways. As with anything in life, moderation is key for a child who is lifting weights. It's clearly not appropriate for a middle-schooler to weight train as if he or she is preparing for a bodybuilding competition. Building overly large muscles should not be the objective; instead, your child should focus on strengthening, toning and hardening the muscles already there. Using weights for anaerobic resistance training is fine for tween-aged kids, as long as they are not struggling to lift the weight, are not lifting weights for too long in each session and are not engaging in this activity too frequently. Lifting weights one or two days maximum per week, doing three different exercises with three 12-rep sets for each of those exercises will do just fine.