PROUD dad Cristiano Ronaldo posted a picture of his seven-year-old son mimicking his famous shirtless pose, earlier today.
The snap of Cristiano Jr showing off his muscles in the gym was captioned: “Jr say daddy I’m gonna be like you!!! What do you think??”
Cristiana Jr posed like his dad in the snap
It prompted a flurry of adoring praise for the lad, and his dad, with some saying: “This kid is only t and has abs.”
But not everyone was impressed – with some concerned that the footballer’s eldest son had been working out too young.
One fan wrote: “I don’t think it’s healthy for a 7-year-old to train like that but whatever dude.”
Another said: “I think too much, give the boy a book.” A third added: “He’s like 6, too young.”
So is a workout in the gym a bad thing for a lad of seven?
Expert Dr Carol Cooper says parents should be careful about letting their youngsters loose in the gym, as they could do serious damage.
She told the Sun Online: “Weight training in itself isn’t harmful for children but there are all sorts of precautions that need to be taken.
The football star is famed for his toned torso
“The training has to be adapted to the child’s age and fitness and the child has to be supervised, they need to rest after sessions and even during them.
“They shouldn’t train every day. The training needs to be varied so they don’t get an overuse injury.”
“One of the main dangers is that building up too much muscle can harm the bones, because muscles are attached to bone and the bones are still growing until the age of 18.
“The danger is that there will be damage at the point where the muscle attaches to the bone. Also overuse injuries are more common in youngsters.
“Some believe that the bone may stop growing prematurely if you over exercise with weight training and bodybuilding, so that’s pretty serious.
“All this can be avoided with an expert coach and supervision, and rest but it shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
Although there is no suggestion that young Cristiano is overdoing it in the gym, Dr Carol suggests kids should steer clear of the weights.
She said: “I imagine Ronaldo’s son is in a private gym and that he has a proper trainer who is an expert in children’s exercise regime, and that’s what the little lad needs. They need not to be pushed.
“Excess weights are a big no no. The equipment has to be the right size for them and they can’t use adult equipment at that age, from the start. They have to grow into it.
“It can be done safely but it need a proper expert and the average adult personal trainer will not by up to speed with all the regimes for children, so may not be able to train them safely.
There are more health hazards to not doing exercise and for a child to be a couch potato, but that doesn’t mean to say that any exercise is good. It’s got to be done properly. ”
For those who don’t have a private gym, there are other dangers to weight training.
Dr Carol added: “The other danger, apart from the damage to the growing skeleton, is the actual gym environment and culture.
“Children who exercise can develop a distorted body image and can become hooked on exercise, or can develop eating disorders.
“In some gyms there is also the lure of dubious substances, such as supplements and anabolic steroids, and children are very susceptible. It’s easy to influence a child.”
However, Dr Carol points out that the picture of Cristiano Jr next to the gym equipment doesn’t point to him pushing himself too hard.
She said: “He does look like he has got more muscle than I’d expect but seven-year-olds do differ hugely in shape and size and it’s hard to tell from one picture.
“I like the fact that he looks so happy – and he’s got a bottle of water there, so that’s good.”
