According to popular opinion, BODYBUILDING stops growth.
Forget the term BODYBUILDING and replace it by one which is more appropriate:
PHYSICAL EXERCISE.
Even though the term is somewhat old-fashioned, it implies several activities:
CARDIO VASCULAR WORK
BODYBUILDING
PRE-EXERCISE STRETCHING
POST-EXERCISE STRETCHING
Since growth stops, depending on the sex, between the ages of 17 and 21, should we wait until this age before starting to look after our bodies?
| If we stick to this logic, all sporting exercises involving muscular work should be prohibited before adulthood, so no sport before the age of 21! |
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At birth, all human beings have a complete, finished muscular system.
In the mother's womb, the fœtus starts to discover its body through movements reacting to sounds from the outside or to the mother's positions.
To express itself, the fœtus uses muscles.
Within the first few hours after birth, the health check-up of the new-born baby includes a test of its neuro-muscular condition.
All muscular contractions occur in response to a nerve signal from the brain or a reflex signal from the spinal cord.
A muscle cannot contract on its own, without electrical excitation.
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Although the muscular and necessarily tendinous muscular system is completed at birth, the central nervous system is only starting to develop.
The brain has not reached its final size, construction of the nerves will continue until about the age of 9.
Muscular development can only be neuromuscular, since the two are indissociable.
A child can only know how to walk after sitting down and standing up hundreds of times to develop his thighs, his buttocks and interpreting the signals from his feet.
Apart from imitating his parents, the motivation behind walking will also be the possibility of discovering the outside world more quickly and more efficiently. Parents are proud to see their child walking. The child had to do bodybuilding to achieve this, and we have never seen a man stay just 65 cm tall because he walked when he was one year old!
Through physical education lessons, the school develops the muscles as well as all the child's motricity qualities right from kindergarten (or even the crèche, for those who are lucky enough to go there).
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The French population is taller than the children starting kindergarten classes!
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And yet, children run about working the thighs, the buttocks, calves, abdominals, and no-one worries about it.
When they climb up the rope, they will be developing their forearms, biceps, dorsals and abdominals without shocking the adults.
Governments are even in favour of this type of exercise. We often admire on television the performance of thousands of champions less than 21 years old, without asking the question: did they do bodybuilding?
Patrick MARTIN, French water-skiing champion since he was very young, would never have had such a career without building up his muscles. He took his well-deserved retirement from sport and does not look too grotesque.
The French junior football team is not composed of physical monsters, but of teenagers in excellent health.
The importance and the need to practise bodybuilding in order to improve the athlete's performance are now recognised and encouraged.
You do not become champion in any sport spontaneously at the age of 21, once you have finished growing.
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Psychological problems may arise if children are to go to a gym before adolescence.
It is usually an exclusively adult environment and the equipment is not adapted to the size of the child.
Also of
course, children prefer more playful activities.
Do not worry if your child wants to change activity as he grows up and develops. The centres of interest are quite different when you are 7 and when you are 10 years old.
Teenagers will pay more attention to their bodies. They discover that the body helps them play a role in society. They will want to please and seduce. Teenagers are quite naturally attracted to physical exercise.
Why should they practise in hiding, in the bedroom, the bathroom or at the back of a friend's garage? They might just as well go to a specialised gym where they will be helped, advised and monitored. Why hide, as if they were smoking a first cigarette or cannabis? Physical exercise is a healthy and natural activity which can only bring the child or teenager pleasure, fulfilment and self-confidence.
Do not forget that the young people in western countries are much taller than their parents or grandparents were. This frequently results back problems.
It is essential to strengthen the back muscles.
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PHYSICAL EXERCISE
PRACTISED IN MODERATION, SERIOUSLY,
HAS NEVER STUNTED A CHILD'S GROWTH.
Let's stop being stupid. .
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