Cruz Beckham posts a video while he’s in the gym with his father, training on a rowing machine. Among the comments, there’s quite a bit of criticism; ‘poor form’ and ‘kids shouldn’t be training like this yet’. The latter point seems unfounded to me.
Don’t bend it like Beckham!
Okay, I understand that he’s getting some remarks about his execution. But those are generally constructive. However, there are also quite a few commenters who believe that the 12-year-old Beckham is too young for this training.
Because it’s the Beckhams, it naturally got picked up quickly in the British media [1].
‘Tis but cardio’
However, we’re talking about rowing here. Would he receive the same criticism if he were rowing on the water in nature? Rowing is a cardiovascular exercise, just like cycling or running. Activities that we consider perfectly normal for children. You might expect criticism if a 12-year-old is running a marathon, but even this has been found to be safe according to research (provided certain conditions are met) [2].
For a 12-year-old, a typical rowing machine at the highest resistance can be high intensity. But even if you were to consider this as ‘strength training’ (which I wouldn’t based on the video), the criticism isn’t justified.
I understand these misconceptions about strength training for young people, or more specifically, training with weights. Not that they are justified, but stories about damage to growth plates are so persistent that you understand why they regularly resurface. However, as long as you follow the guidelines, strength training for children is safe.
More importantly, it’s not like we’re seeing a video of bone-dry and muscular 10-year-old Russians doing exercises that most adults can’t do. I see here a twelve-year-old boy who goes to train with his father once, jokes around on a rowing machine, and makes a video of it. Nothing wrong with that.
References
- theguardian.com/football/shortcuts/2017/may/24/cruz-beckhams-workout-should-12-year-olds-be-hitting-the-gym
- Roberts WO. Can children and adolescents run marathons? Sports Med. 2007;37(4-5):299-301. PubMed PMID: 17465593.
