Weight lifting stunts height growth?

I'm 15, love hitting the gym, but I heard that lifting weights stunts height or something like that. Is that true? I'm kinda short,so I really don't want to risk it, Also, I already know the health benifits of weight lifting, but what disadvantages are there?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

Answers:
Ask Arnold Schwarzenegger!

The groth plates can be stunted by too much weight training. check with your doctor for recomendations.
There is some discussion whether extreme muscularity stunts growth. Some believe muscle mass wraps around the bones and limits their expansion. On the other hand, frequent sports allows a body to release more of the hormone HgH (Human Growth Hormones) which in turn is responsible for growth and maturation of bones in a child's body (a body keeps growing until approximately 21 years).

Working out with heavy weights such as bodybuilding and powerlifting can be very beneficial to the body. However, when not carefully practiced one may damage the body irreverably. Conditions such as (osteo)arthritis, a curved spine, vertebra erosions or a herniated disc in the spine are not excluded.

When you workout with heavy weights you should do the following to prevent injuries:
- Have some slight aerobic activity (2-3 minutes). This will promote blood flow and lubricate joints and muscles.
- Have some slight warmup exercises. P.e. If you are going to bench press 50 kg, have first one set of 20 kg x 12 and one set of 35 kg x 8. If you first do the exercises with light weights, you will make sure joints and muscles become loose and you prevent tearing a muscle (only when you workout with extremely heavy weights). Bodybuilders work with pyramid structures where they first build up the weight slowly and then decrease (as their strength diminues). This should be done for every exercise.
- If you have any pain in the spine, no matter how light, quit immediately and continue another exercise. If the pain occurs again, it means you must rest. Spinal injuries take a longer time to recover than muscles need.
- Train all body parts equally. Muscular imbalance might be dangerous. In some situations when p.e. lower back muscles are too weak and you attempt lifting a weight above the head, there is weak back support. In this case there can exist pressure on the spine.
- Stretch each muscle group after your workout.

You should never have any pain in:
- the spine and other bones
- joints (bones themselves) and ligaments (these are the connections between two bones)
- tendons (these are the muscles that attach 'ordinary' muscles to the bones)

Damage to ligaments is irrepairable (only surgery). However, it is very rare as well. Tendons do take a long time to heal (longer than ordinary muscles). Tendons are mostly located on right above or near the joints. An example of a tendon condition is shoulder tendonitis:
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/adult_spine/tendon.cfm

Bodybuilding is a dangerous sports, but if you approach it rational and carefully the chance to injury is extremely small.

On the other hand when beneficial, bodybuilding may:
- strengthen and protect the spine and other bones, as they become more compact
- prevent lower back pain
- increase motor function
- increase potence, fertility and libido in men
- develop more male characteristics (only in children below 18)
- increase growth (only in children below 21) when there is no extreme muscularity (however there is discussion about this, see above)

To answer your first question. Ask to a doctor.
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