PSD, i need YOUR help!

[Hero93]

i am a 5'9 135 16 year old, stamina had told me that at my age my metabolism would not let me gain weight at the speed i want, so i decided to just get ripped at this weight, but the problems i have are

1) i dont know what i should/shouldnt be eating

2) i dont know any good upper body excerises

3) how much times should i be working out?

4) i dont know any good muscle building protien bars and healthy weight gainers


PLEASE help me PSD

[CountSackula]

I dunno man. I went from 160 at 16 to 200 at 17 . Granted, I wasn't eating clean at all.

Then cut down to 175 at 18.

It just depends on how your body is. If your'e an ectomorph then you will play hell trying to gain weight, as you're naturally thin.



But first off, how long have you been working out, how many days do you normally go and what is your current diet like?

[Hero93]

i wanted to come get info from you guys before i start anything

[debo]

You'll have a hard time getting ripped at 16, too (unless you're pretty far along in puberty...but at 5'9" 135, I'm not sure that's the case).

If you want to gain weight, you just have to eat. Red meat and potatoes are your best friend in that respect.

Basic eat/do not eat things are: eat - whatever. don't eat - only junk. You're 16, so your body can handle just about anything. Eating a Whopper with cheese and a large onion ring and a large Coke isn't good food to eat, but if you're not eating it more than 2-3 times a month, you don't need to worry a ton there. You can have chips/candy/baked goods, all of that stuff...just not as your only (or main) source of food. But, there's nothing wrong with popping open a can of tuna or baking some chicken breasts for dinner, either. Just eat...lol.

With regards to the what to lift, talk to Stamina. I have my own ideas on this, but my perspective comes from someone who's always had an easy time adding strength but not bulk muscle (and I've always been a bigger frame - ranging from big but fit to fatass). But, you don't want to lift just upper body - legs and core (lower back, abs, obliques, all that good stuff) are just as (and more IMO) important as having a big chest and big biceps. Should you want to focus on just upper body (don't), make sure you hit triceps. Nothing makes me laugh more than seeing guys with a big chest, big biceps, and tiny *** tris.

Workout when you can. Personally, I aim for 5 times a week and usually make it 9 over the course of 2 weeks. But, that's going to depend a little bit on how you split your workout and whether you want to have strictly cardio days/strictly chest days/ etc.

Protein bars are overpriced garbage. They're not much better/useful for you than a Snickers (granted, they have less fat and more vitamins, but you shouldn't be looking to a protein bar for your vitamin intake). If you're wanting a protein shake post-workout, that's fine, but you don't need to be dabbling in anything outside of protein IMO. Your body isn't mature enough to be throwing in things that could disrupt its natural processes (*claim not based on scientific knowledge but rather suggestion on products to not be used by anyone under 18/21 depending on product). As for weight gainers - food. Food is going to be your biggest weight gainer. A "weight gainer" is just an assload of calories in a scoop at a jacked up cost.


That's long...hope it helps.

[Hero93]

You'll have a hard time getting ripped at 16, too (unless you're pretty far along in puberty...but at 5'9" 135, I'm not sure that's the case).

If you want to gain weight, you just have to eat. Red meat and potatoes are your best friend in that respect.

Basic eat/do not eat things are: eat - whatever. don't eat - only junk. You're 16, so your body can handle just about anything. Eating a Whopper with cheese and a large onion ring and a large Coke isn't good food to eat, but if you're not eating it more than 2-3 times a month, you don't need to worry a ton there. You can have chips/candy/baked goods, all of that stuff...just not as your only (or main) source of food. But, there's nothing wrong with popping open a can of tuna or baking some chicken breasts for dinner, either. Just eat...lol.

With regards to the what to lift, talk to Stamina. I have my own ideas on this, but my perspective comes from someone who's always had an easy time adding strength but not bulk muscle (and I've always been a bigger frame - ranging from big but fit to fatass). But, you don't want to lift just upper body - legs and core (lower back, abs, obliques, all that good stuff) are just as (and more IMO) important as having a big chest and big biceps. Should you want to focus on just upper body (don't), make sure you hit triceps. Nothing makes me laugh more than seeing guys with a big chest, big biceps, and tiny *** tris.

Workout when you can. Personally, I aim for 5 times a week and usually make it 9 over the course of 2 weeks. But, that's going to depend a little bit on how you split your workout and whether you want to have strictly cardio days/strictly chest days/ etc.

Protein bars are overpriced garbage. They're not much better/useful for you than a Snickers (granted, they have less fat and more vitamins, but you shouldn't be looking to a protein bar for your vitamin intake). If you're wanting a protein shake post-workout, that's fine, but you don't need to be dabbling in anything outside of protein IMO. Your body isn't mature enough to be throwing in things that could disrupt its natural processes (*claim not based on scientific knowledge but rather suggestion on products to not be used by anyone under 18/21 depending on product). As for weight gainers - food. Food is going to be your biggest weight gainer. A "weight gainer" is just an assload of calories in a scoop at a jacked up cost.


That's long...hope it helps.

thank you sir, as for eating, are chipotle/subway good? and what about drinks? soda/OJ/milk?

[CountSackula]

I would say to learn to start eating good, clean foods so you get an early start with it. One of the main mistakes that I made was not doing that and I may have wasted some time.

So eat your veggies, rice, beans, grilled chicken, fish and your steaks. Stay away from sugary stuff like sodas and lots of candy and stuff like that. It's okay to cheat once in a while, but don't overindulge. Also try and eat something within the first couple of hours of waking up, it's a good habit to get into, especially when you get older and your metabolism starts to slow down. Debo touched on some really good ideas as far as eating habits go. But learn to love them veggies!

Judging from your weight, your maintenance total for daily caloric intake is 2079 and if you really want to gain weight, you should tack on 500 calories to that total. So to gain weight you should try and eat at least 2579 calories daily.

But if you want to try and just maintain and get "ripped" then I would suggest staying at or around 2079 calories.

Everyone has their own opinions on lifting and stuff, it's just up to you to figure out what's best for you. But if you're just starting out, I would advise you to stick to about 3 days of lifting.

So something like: Chest/Tris on Mondays, Back/Bis on Wednesdays, and Shoulders/Legs on Friday. Or however you see fit to fill out your week.

I would also suggest for you to stick to barbells and machines in the beginning, just to get the form right and as you start to feel more comfortable with the lifts, you can branch out to dumbbells and cables if you so choose.

Also, for lifts and exercises I found this pretty cool site that shows animations through GIFS, pretty cool stuff. Feel free to check it out: http://www.shapefit.com/trainingmap.html

[Hero93]

^ great site, thank you

[jlohm1]

i used to eat just whatever the hell i wanted my freshman, sophomore, and jr year. i ran track and worked out, so i figured i would just burn it off... well i did, but i didnt get any results. now that i eat really healthy i get a lot better results.

[debo]

^You're also farther into puberty. It's hard to really say what kind of results you're going to get when you're 14-18 years old (although it's a bit more predictable at 18).

[rawz]

i am a 5'9 135 16 year old, stamina had told me that at my age my metabolism would not let me gain weight at the speed i want, so i decided to just get ripped at this weight, but the problems i have are

1) i dont know what i should/shouldnt be eating

2) i dont know any good upper body excerises

3) how much times should i be working out?

4) i dont know any good muscle building protien bars and healthy weight gainers


PLEASE help me PSD

use body weight only lifts, or lift light- to moderate weight. ( but lift hard.). your still growing, and your bones are "soft" at this point. (not literally, but they are still growing).

[hughest4]

thank you sir, as for eating, are chipotle/subway good? and what about drinks? soda/OJ/milk?

Sure, why not.

When i go to those places i throw just about everything in them. Meat, cheese, a ton of veggies, beans, whatever. And milk is great for bulking up...so yes, drink it.

[Stamina]

I like Debo's post, you basically can eat whatever the hell you want. At your age, you will just burn it out. Dirty bulking is your best bet (dirty as in eat any and everything). But I don't know how much weight you will gain from it.

You will have to lift hard as Rawz suggested, anything over 8 reps is too much and will turn into a cardio routine which you do not want.