Is CrossFit Safe for Kids? A Berkhamsted Coach Explains

It is the first thing almost every parent asks when they enquire about our kids classes: is CrossFit actually safe for children?

It is a fair question, and it usually comes from a picture in someone's head of a teenager heaving an enormous barbell overhead while a coach shouts. That is not what a children's class looks like – not here, and not anywhere it is being run properly.

What a kids class actually involves

CrossFit Kids is a physical education programme, not the adult class made smaller. The bulk of an hour is bodyweight movement, games, light implements and coaching on how to move well.

• Squatting, jumping, hanging, crawling, throwing and carrying
• Short efforts – usually five to twelve minutes – rather than long grinds
• Light dumbbells, medicine balls and empty or very light barbells once technique is solid
• Games that build speed, coordination and balance without it feeling like training

But what about lifting weights?

The old worry that lifting stunts growth has been looked at repeatedly and has not held up. Supervised, well-coached resistance training is widely supported for children by paediatric and sports medicine bodies, and it is associated with stronger bones, better motor skills and fewer sports injuries – not more.

What does cause problems is load without technique, fatigue without supervision, and children being pushed to keep up with someone else. Those are coaching failures, not features of the sport. In our classes load is set child by child, and technique comes before weight every single time.

How we keep it safe at Grand Union

• Classes are run by a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer who is also CrossFit Kids certified
• Small groups, so every child is seen on every rep
• Movements are taught and practised before they are ever loaded or made fast
• Nothing is done to failure, and children are taught to say when something hurts
• Parents are welcome to sit in and watch any session

What children get out of it

The physical side is the obvious bit – stronger, faster, better coordinated, and more robust in whatever sport they play. The part parents mention more often is the confidence: a child who learns they can be bad at something on Tuesday and better at it by Saturday carries that well beyond the gym.

“The goal is not to make ten-year-olds into athletes. It is to make them love moving, and to give them the skills to keep doing it for the next fifty years.”

Trying a class

Our CrossFit Kids class (ages 10-14) runs on Tuesday at 16:00 and Saturday at 11:30 in Berkhamsted, with CrossFit Teens (15-18) for older children. The first session is free and there is no obligation afterwards – come and watch an hour, and judge it for yourself.