Q: My son just turned 14 two months ago. he's 5ft 9in tall and about 125 lbs. His legs and arms are as long or longer than mine and I am 6'-0" tall. He is interested in building up his strength but I am not sure what are appropriate strengthening exercises for his age. He has been in Judo since he was 8 but all of the guys he works out with are older and stronger which frustrates him. Is there a safe strengthening program for his age?

A: With adult supervision, he can definitely start weight training at his age. Weight training by itself does not in any way stunt growth -- but a serious injury from weight training could, so the emphasis needs to be on safety. Whichever exercises he does, he needs to first spend time to learn how to do them with proper form. He should not be using very heavy weights which means that whatever weights he selects for a given exercise (and different exercises will be using different weights) he should be able to do at least 6-8 repetitions before coming close to being exhausted and needing a break. Finally, he should not be pushing himself quite to that point of exhaustion, because that's how most injuries happen.

As far as the actual exercises and program, pretty much any of my programs linked in my strength training article would be fine. Just again, the emphasis should be on correct exercise execution as opposed to maximum weight lifted and because of his age he should not be pushing himself to the point of muscular failure yet.

And finally, if his goal is to bulk up in size he needs to eat A LOT! Weight training by itself will not make him bigger, though it will make him stronger. But weight training combined with a lot of nutritious food every day will make him both. You and him may want to read my Nutrition article on how to eat for muscle gain. At his age and physical activity he may easily need to eat more than 3000 calories daily to start putting on significant weight and muscle.