Quote Originally Posted by Sparkey
If he starts lifting, even only toning excerises...DO NOT FORGET

TEACH HIM HOW TO STRETCH!!! If he lifts too much and does not work on keeping his flexiblity it will do him no good except to look good in a tank.

There are a ton of guys who are bulked up and look stronger than an ox, but they have so little flexibilty they can't swing a baseball bat, or a golf club or even draw a compound bow.

Flexibilty is so important, I dare so even more important than brute strength. A good balance of the two is best. Remember toom, that at that age, bone structure and tendon structure is changing and not fully developed. A friend I know lifted like crazy in 7th grade. Got pretty big, then grew like 7 inches in two years and he had tons of problems cause he lost his felxibilty cause he muscles were too tight. Ruptered a knee tendon just jogging the bleachers.

Yes, an extreme example, but at that age caution is important.
Great, point. That is what I was alluding to, in regards to what is his goal. Let's say he wants to lift because he watches WWF (or whatever it is called) and dreams of becoming a wrestler. I would say it is more important learning how to wrestle, fall, balance, act, etc. then it is to work on getting big at his age.

When I was a kid, it was bigger, faster, stronger. But, we all know now how important flexibility is for almost all sports. And, studies have shown that stretching is key to building muscles.

Thinking about it, i would have him do pushes, pullups, crunches, etc. You can certainly get tone doing that, but more importantly it would show me the discipline needed before purchasing weights.