Lifting with a blister on your hand

[Lazarus52980]

My 7 year old son was playing at the playground the other day and got a blister on his left hand. I am concerned how this will impact his lifting schedule and was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to deal with them.

If it matters, today we are scheduled to do squat, bench press, back hyperextensions, and chin-ups.

Here is a photo if that will help:

 

[smackababy]

I am a bit concerned with how involved you are with your son's "lifting schedule". I am not sure if there is significant data showing the dangers of young age kids lifting, but worrying about a playground blister impacting his schedule can't be healthy.

Other than that, I'd tell him if he wants to lift weights, quit bitching and deal with it. But I am rather callous and understand discomfort comes with wanting to achieve pretty much any goal.

 

[Lazarus52980]

I am a bit concerned with how involved you are with your son's "lifting schedule". I am not sure if there is significant data showing the dangers of young age kids lifting, but worrying about a playground blister impacting his schedule can't be healthy.

Other than that, I'd tell him if he wants to lift weights, quit bitching and deal with it. But I am rather callous and understand discomfort comes with wanting to achieve pretty much any goal.

We have debated the nature of kids lifting and such on other threads so I don't want to delve into that subject here. (feel free to pull on up and necro it if you want through! )

It's not the pain that I think we are concerend about, its the posibility of making the blister worse. I have never tried to lift with blisters before, so I was hoping for some advice from the experienced lifters here.

 

[Blackjack200]

If it was my son?

I would tell him that a blister is the result too much friction on the skin, and blisters are normally to be avoided, but that's it's more important for him to play and have fun with his friends than worry about the possibility of a blister resulting.

I would then suggest that the back extensions can be done without any pain, and let him decide for himself if he really wants to squat or bench with that, and make sure he knows that it's okay to say "no, I don't want to do that".

Edit: Yeah, you can lift with a blister if you put a bandaid over it and wrap it with tape or something, I don't think the squat or bench would really exacerbate it that much. It will hurt though, and if you pressure him to lift, he might resent it, and learn to hate lifting.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Edit: Yeah, you can lift with a blister if you put a bandaid over it and wrap it with tape or something, I don't think the squat or bench would really exacerbate it that much. It will hurt though, and if you pressure him to lift, he might resent it, and learn to hate lifting.

For the record, my son asked me if he could lift too after watching me lift on a regular schedule for most of his life. I purchased a 15 lb barbell and we started with that. I will admit to pushing him somewhat after that for about 1-2 months. Once he started to see results from it, I have not had to push him since. We have lifted 3 days a week following the Mark Rippetoe "Advanced novice" program for about 1.5 years now (though we do the reps/sets/progression differently than he advises, since his books are obviously designed for adults and not small children).

 

[jaedaliu]

I agree with a lot of the sentiment in this thread.

First: lifting with a blister is no big deal as long as he's not sloughing off more skin around the blister. You should probably wash out that wound and fill it with neosporin or other antibacterial ointment then slap an adhesive bandage on it.

Second: Lifting schedules don't seem quite right for a 7 year old kid to me, but he's your kid, and as long as you supervise and he doesn't get hurt, there's nothing inherently wrong with it.

......however......

Children before puberty don't have the muscle differentiation as adults. That's why fit little kids all run about the same speed. Maybe 1 or 2 are faster, but overall, they're pretty similar.

Weight lifting when kids is a thing that was done in the old USSR. Children would lift weights, and do whatever other sports when really young, and got sent off to sports schools to become olympic athletes if they showed tremendous promise. However, the kids would only lift very light weight for form until puberty. Or something like that. i don't really know how their training programs work.

so, the summary of my ramble: make sure he stays safe, and don't let him get discouraged if he doesn't develop improved strength. His body isn't set up with the right hormones for hypertrophy yet.

Oh, and 100% don't let him take steroids. At that age his growth plates will just seal, and he'll be a buff little person. But you probably don't have to worry about that one.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Oh, I agree that he will not be able to put any muscle size on until he get to be 11 or 12 (or maybe later, depending on how nature takes its course). Timmy (my son) just likes doing stuff with dad, and he likes getting stronger.

We keep a schedule because... how else do you make progress?

I am suprised at the reaction here... I have posted lots of times about lifting with my son:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2320768
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2324613
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2291055
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2294571

(Please note, some of those are better than others...)

We have come a long ways in out lifting, and I have had to come a long ways as a coach to help him. It's been a really good for father-son bonding, and no injuries have resulted from it (with the exception of the rare muscle cramp)

And yes, part of the fun for both of us is seeing him interact with his peers and the confidence that the additional speed and strengh gives him.

 

[Koing]

Tape. Use the flexible material type of tape and if he wants to lift let him lift. He will feel more discomfort in the first few days.

He is 7. Keep things fun, don't be so harsh on his *training schedule*. He has plenty of time for that.

Koing

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I think the reaction is, if it bothers hiim, there is no reason to lift. Just let him take a day off.

Having said that, my 8 year old is getting interesting in lifting now. I tried once and could not get him to keep his back straight on deadlifts (empty 15 pound bar).

 

[Lazarus52980]

Tape. Use the flexible material type of tape and if he wants to lift let him lift. He will feel more discomfort in the first few days.


Koing

This ended up working really well. We put a band-aid over the blister, and then duct tape around his hand to hold the band-aid in place. The only thing that suffered was his ability to hold onto the bar during chin-ups (since his hand kept slipping). Still got 3 in the first set, 4 in the 2nd and 5 in the 3rd set, so more than good enough all things considrerd.


Thanks for the advice Koing.

 

[Koing]

This ended up working really well. We put a band-aid over the blister, and then duct tape around his hand to hold the band-aid in place. The only thing that suffered was his ability to hold onto the bar during chin-ups (since his hand kept slipping). Still got 3 in the first set, 4 in the 2nd and 5 in the 3rd set, so more than good enough all things considrerd.


Thanks for the advice Koing.

Get some of the stretchy material type of tape. Always handy to have in your bag

Koing

 

[SociallyChallenged]

TBH, take the next few days off. After that, don't do any pulling motions for an extra 2 or 3d. Then get back into your normal schedule. Honestly, if something like this happens, just take a break. It's no big deal. Go play catch or tag with him instead or something.

 

[Koing]

For myself I go straight back in but I'm not a 7yr old kid. I'm self motivated and it's usually after a comp as the bars are extra sharp and I've been slack and didn't trim the callouses off.

Koing

 

[SociallyChallenged]

For myself I go straight back in but I'm not a 7yr old kid. I'm self motivated and it's usually after a comp as the bars are extra sharp and I've been slack and didn't trim the callouses off.

Koing

Right. When you're an adult and you're training for something, you can tape yourself up for a few days and allow it to heal. When it's a kid, it shouldn't really be that serious, especially if it's not for a competition.

 

[Koing]

Right. When you're an adult and you're training for something, you can tape yourself up for a few days and allow it to heal. When it's a kid, it shouldn't really be that serious, especially if it's not for a competition.

But even when *I* was 8 playing Football I was always motivated to train and play games.

Some kids are self motivated but many are not. I always wanted to be the best at sports and played and competed religiously. My parents didn't really care too much as long as I studied. They did take me to my matches and to my coaches house before I could drive though, so they were supportive but they didn't hugely encourage me.

My 2 brothers are also very motivated to train and to compete.

Koing