How old were you when you started hitting the gym?
Conventional wisdom says that people are stronger when they’re younger — after puberty, at least. But some kids start even younger, and there are many tales of bodybuilding youth brought to the gym at precocious ages to start their training. Even The Rock has talked about his wrestler dad bringing him in to lift when he was just 9 or 10 years old and has claimed it was a formative experience for him. Check out the video above to see an epic deadlift from a truly accomplished 9-year-old lifter.
What do you think about kids who start this young? Like prima ballerinas or Olympic athletes, some professions require you to train basically since birth — but bodybuilding isn’t one of them. Only a handful of professional bodybuilders started in their youth and many describe finding their way to fitness in their twenties. Granted, it is an athletic sport, so there is an age cutoff, but nine does seem a little early to be accomplishing feats like this.
There’s no telling where Bubba Pritchett — yes, that’s his name — could go with this type of head start and hard work. Could someone who starts training this early end up at the Olympia stage at 18 or 19 years old? That’s certainly something that could be in the future of bodybuilding. Shawn “The Flexatron” Rhoden was the oldest ever Mr. Olympia in his mid-forties, so who’s to say what could be possible down the road for the youngest ever Mr. Olympia.
*All images and media courtesy of YouTube.
