For decades, a long-standing question has silently hung over the world of youth athletics: Should children lift heavy weights? The subject, usually limited to talks between coaches and concerned parents, has resurfaced on the world stage with renewed urgency after a nine-year-old girl from Long Island broke records and sparked worries about how young is too early when the weights become heavy.
As TaraBull on X shared a video with the caption, “Incredible 9 year old Lucy Milgrim dead lifts 180 lbs,” the internet collectively paused to watch a fourth-grader do what many adults cannot.
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The 84-second clip, filmed at the XPC Powerlifting meet during the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, on March 8, 2026, shows Lucy preparing with quiet focus. Volunteers carefully arrange the barbell as a spotter positions himself behind her.
She gathers herself, takes her time, and then, with a controlled explosion of strength, lifts the 180-pound weight to a full lockout, pausing at the top before lowering it with the same deliberate precision.
The crowd erupts as she just demolished her own American youth record of 165 pounds in the 43 kg class. However, the young bodybuilding prospect from Saw Mill Elementary School in Bellmore, New York, is no stranger to heavy weights.
She holds the title of 2025 USAPL Youth National Champion and was named Best Female Overall Lifter, having set American records in squat (131 pounds), bench (74 pounds), and deadlift (165 pounds) last year. Her father, Brett Milgrim, a wrestling coach since 2005, introduced her to the sport around age six, and she now trains over ten hours a week in the family’s home gym.
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However, as the video amasses millions of views on social media, the concerns have grown equally loud.
The bodybuilding community united with concerns for the 9-year-old
It’s not every day you see a nine-year-old pick up 180 pounds. And even though the lift took place at a reputed bodybuilding event, the fans were concerned for her safety, as one comment read, “Impressive but way too young to be weightlifting.”
Giving the scientific reason, one fan conveyed, stating, “I don’t like it. Putting that kind of resistance on a small child’s body isn’t natural in a child’s musculoskeletal development. There’s a reason we give foals a few years to grow before we start trying to ride them.” Similar concerns grew, as this comment read, “Not a great idea for a little kid to lift heavy with growth plates a decade away from being formed.”
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However, the American Academy of Pediatrics once supported strength training for kids, stating, “Appropriate strength-training programs have no apparent adverse effect on linear growth, growth plates or the cardiovascular system.”
For fans, their concerns were directly towards her safety, “I’m very proud of her but my next question is how are her growth plates? She could easily slip one, never mind her spine. That belt is also useless. It’s just floating on her waist. Kinda scares me.” Another fan wrote, “Kids should not be lifting seriously at that age.”
The bodybuilding community isn’t stopping her from chasing her career goals, but they are genuinely concerned about her health, owing to how dangerous this sport can be.
