Why we shouldn't be encouraging teenage boys to go to the gym

Good health is about more than muscle obsession

The other day I was using the big scary squatting machine in my local gym, to lift "two Mae's worth" with my thigh muscles. (I always calculate weight using my parents' french sheep dog as a unit, rather than traditional kgs, because I'm quirky like that).

A man in his twenties approached me and said, "You know, you should try and squat up and down really fast because then it works better." He then proceeded to demonstrate what he meant, using terrible technique and posture and ensuring a future lifetime of lower back troubles, I suspect.