Does lifting weights stunt growth?

[inf1nity]

everybody kept telling me not to lift before i was 21 as it would cause my height to stop increasing. i didn't pay attention and went ahead (I was 16 back then).

I think they were right. I'm stuck at 5'6" ever since. I'm almost 20 y/o now. Is it true? Is there a remedy to make me growing again? I feel so tiny D:

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Well, it depends on the intensity of how much weight you lift. To be perfectly honest, a male skeleton is relatively mature at 15-16 - it just has a little bit more to go before the growth plates fuse. By 16, I was done growing and I didn't lift weights at all - I was done at 5'8". You see a huge array of size in high school football players and they tend to be bigger than average... yet they lift heavy regularly. After age 15ish, unless you're lifting insane weights for low reps, I don't think it will stunt your growth.

 

[Zivic]

It didn't stunt your growth

 

[inf1nity]

Actually i was also thinking about that growth plates fusion thing. Is it possible for the plates to fuse earlier than they are supposed to if weight is put on them? Because when i started lifting initially i experienced massive pain in the knees.

 

[iluvdeal]

How tall are your parents? Any siblings?

16 isn't that early to start lifting weights. I wouldn't blame the weights, like most 16 years old who start lifting, I don't imagine you were doing really heavy sets.

I'd just learn to accept who you are and accept what you cannot change, you'll save yourself years of unhappiness if you learn this now.

 

[KIAman]

Hmm, I am 6 feet tall, my little brother is 6'1. I never played sports. He played football and lifted weights since he was 14. When he was 14, he was 5'5 or so. By the time his senior year, he was 6'1.

So, I don't think it will impact the height from my own experience.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I don't think lifting has anything to do with stunting growth, I think it's 75-80% genetics and 20% diet or so. I drank a shit ton of milk growing up and ate a lot in general, I've never been overly fat, but I stopped growing at 16 and I'm 6'7. I was 6' at age 12 and hit 6'6 at 15, with the last half inch or so coming in my junior year of HS. My mom is 6' and my dad is 6'4.

My wife had a similar background, parents are 6' and 6'2 or so, her whole family is tall. They also drank a shit ton of milk for what it's worth, but my wife is 5'11, her sister is 5'10, and her brother is 7'.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Here is a pretty detailed article from the American Academy of Pediatrics talking about youth strength training.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/121/4/835.full

The short of it is, as long as you are using good technique, it’s very unlikely that growth plates will be impacted. (read the part under "risks")

 

[inf1nity]

How tall are your parents? Any siblings?

16 isn't that early to start lifting weights. I wouldn't blame the weights, like most 16 years old who start lifting, I don't imagine you were doing really heavy sets.

I'd just learn to accept who you are and accept what you cannot change, you'll save yourself years of unhappiness if you learn this now.

well my dad's 5'5", mom's 5'2" and my brother(25 y/o) is a little more than 5'8"
i used to stand up take both the dumbbells in my hand and lift them together(was doing bicep curls). Is this correct technique..?

Also has anyone of you experienced knee pain when you started lifting..?

 

[taq8ojh]

everybody kept telling me not to lift before i was 21 as it would cause my height to stop increasing. i didn't pay attention and went ahead (I was 16 back then).

I think they were right. I'm stuck at 5'6" ever since. I'm almost 20 y/o now. Is it true? Is there a remedy to make me growing again? I feel so tiny D:

This is one of the more retarded (and also widespread) rumours floating around, typically from the mouths of people who never lifted a weight in their life. It's bullshit. Growth has something to do with genetics, hormones, quality of diet in childhood, and probably lots of other things - but not with the fact one lifts weights.