Although the American Academy of Paediatrics supports strength training for teenage athletes, it cautions against teens who powerlift while their bodies are still growing.

"Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting sports are different because they usually are involving maximum lifts - the squat, bench press and the dead lift," said Paul Stricker, a youth sports medicine specialist at the Scripps Health Clinic in San Diego and fellow at the American Academy of Paediatrics.

"There is high risk to heavy maximal lifts or explosive lifts during their rapid growth phrase," said Stricker, one of eight physicians who worked with the US Olympic team at the Sydney Games. "That is our biggest caution. We just don't recommend they do maximal lifts or explosive lifts until they have finished the majority of their growth spurt," especially if they aren't being properly supervised.