DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I wasn’t a physical-education major in college, but I was a gymnast and did a great deal of weight training all through high school and college. I have kept it up ever since. I am 36 years old. I have two boys, 8 and 11, in grade school. The school’s coach is my friend. He wants to start a weightlifting program for the children, and he wants me to be his assistant. Actually, I’ll be running the program. I have talked with parents about this, and some have reservations about letting their children participate. They think the kids are too young for weightlifting. I don’t believe that’s right. I would appreciate your view. – F.K.

ANSWER: In the past, weightlifting for prepubescent children was frowned upon even by those who were dedicated weightlifters. One reason advanced was the children’s lack of testosterone. The thinking was that testosterone was absolutely necessary to build muscle strength. A second reason for not allowing young children to lift weights was fear of injury. Children’s bones are not mature. They have “growth plates,” areas of cartilage in the bone that allow for bone elongation. Growth plates are areas vulnerable to injury, but weightlifting, if done sensibly, has not been shown to be a threat to them.

Weightlifting does increase the strength of prepubescent girls and boys. It increases their endurance and decreases body fat.

You have to teach children the proper lifting techniques by having them practice good lifting form without using any weight. You have to insist that weightlifting does not become a competition event. Start the children with a weight they can lift 10 consecutive times without straining, and use that amount of weight for two sets of lifts. When a child can lift the weight 15 times in two consecutive sets, the amount of weight can be increased by 1 to 3 pounds, and then start the process over.

The sessions should be done only three times a week and should last for 20 to 30 minutes. Lifting weights should not be done two days in a row.

In short, I’m all for the program.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I’m a type-A personality. I like to see results quickly. I have started jogging. How long before I see any improvement? – J.D.

ANSWER: Everyone likes to see fast results.

The answer to your question depends on how much time you spend jogging and how rigorous your jogging program is.

In a supervised jogging program in which the exercisers jogged six days a week, there was a significant drop in their maximum heart rate while running after only two weeks of training. The drop indicated that their hearts were pumping more blood with each beat than they pumped at the start of the program.

You should be able to notice a drop in your resting heart rate too.

The resting heart rate is taken while you’re still in bed. Wait for a couple of minutes after the alarm clock rings to take your pulse.

That wait corrects for any increase in heart rate that the ringing of the clock might provoke.