I’m fifteen and i started wrestling, lost about 20 pounds of fat and now weigh about 175. I am in dire need of help for my overall strength. I am currently at 175 on squat and 115 on bench.
I am trying for 160 on bench and 200 on squat by may, when we get tested in off-season. I am trying to cut, but now i am focusing on gaining strength. I workout lowerbody monday and thursday and upperbody tuesday and friday at school. Rest days are usually wednesday.
I take atleast 200 grams of protein a day and have been drinking lots of water and staying at about 2000 calories, maybe less.
What can i do to meet my goals? I work hard and don’t give up.
I’ve been lifting for the past two months but just started seriously about two and a half weeks ago. I’m at about 175, but i still have alot of fat. I already lost about 20 pounds of solid fat and no muscle, which is good because i actually made gains lifting weights and i can see the size difference. I’m gonna go get some calipers to measure my body fat percentage and i’ll post it when i do that. I’m just wondering about what i should be eating and doing.
Do i need to have more carbs and calories? And should i be running? I currently run about three or our times a week because i want to try and burn the fat. Since joining T-Nation, i’ve been doing HIIT and doing alot of shrugs (Shrug Science).
My schedule is:
Monday - Legs/Lower Body and running/bleachers
Tuesday - Chest/Upper body
Wednesday - Rest/ Light Cardio
Thursday - Legs/Lower body and running/bleachers
Friday - Chest/Upper Body
Saturday - Play basketball for 2-4 hours and then go running on treadmill
Sunday - Rest
This week was different because we don’t have school friday and the coaches did:
Monday -legs
tuesday - chest
wednesday-legs
thursday - chest
but usually we rest on wednesday
2896 would be what you need to maintain. 2317 would be the 20% reduction I mentioned. Those numbers look like what I expected. On refeed days just eat what you want but no more than once every 2 weeks.
It’s up to you if you want to lose fat. I don’t know how big you are. If you are a wrestler there is an advantage to lower weight. In fact you want as much muscle and as little fat as possible. Fat provides no benefit.
I see what you’re saying.
So are you saying to stick between 2317 and 2896 calories?
I play football and wrestling, but i haven’t decided if i’m doing football next year. I know that I am definately doing wrestling.
I’m about 6 feet tall or 6’1" i don’t know, but when i get the calipers i’ll put the measures up here.
I think my bicep is 13", my chest is about 39", and i have about 36" waist
[quote]j2r110 wrote:
I see what you’re saying.
So are you saying to stick between 2317 and 2896 calories?
I play football and wrestling, but i haven’t decided if i’m doing football next year. I know that I am definately doing wrestling.
I’m about 6 feet tall or 6’1" i don’t know, but when i get the calipers i’ll put the measures up here.
I think my bicep is 13", my chest is about 39", and i have about 36" waist[/quote]
I did football and our team was forced to wrestle in the off season or we couldnt play next season its great for balance and speed.
football,depending on position you want to be heavier wrestling is the opposite you would want to be lighter so you are in a lower class and be stronger
the 2896 calories are what you need if you are just wanting to stay the same weight
you would do 20% less than that to loose weight 20% more to gain
well maybe not 20% more but you get the idea
I found that if you go too low on calories you really mess up your metabolism mine right now is just way outa whack
do not starve yourself at all the key is food and 2000 is really not alot for you specially working out
yeah i know
the best thing i’ve found oout is that just by eating healthy, drinking water, and exercise, i lost twenty pounds and i wasn’t even pushing it. Now that i know to how to eat healthier, i feel more comfortable pushing it to get in better shape.
I use only olive oil, i don’t eat fried foods, i eat alot of veggies, i eat alot of fiber and protein and i try to have fish everyday and chicken whenever we have it. I cook everything myself and use all organic natural foods.
If i want to make gains, not really worrying about the fat, should i have more carbs and calories? And how many carbs should i have? I try to only have complex carbs (brown rice, wheat etc…) and try to cut out sugars, and alot of my carbs are from fruit and grains etc.
Deadlifts are associated to overall body strength more than squats and benches. Cleans and snatches involve even more of the body, although they rely more on explosiveness. I say do deadlits.
I’d also recommend you eat as much as humanly possible. It will make you fatter, but clean calories will go into muscle, which will definitely make you stronger. However, considering you are wrestling, I don’t know if you’re maintaining a weight class or not. In that case, gaining strength would be harder.
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
Deadlifts are associated to overall body strength more than squats and benches. Cleans and snatches involve even more of the body, although they rely more on explosiveness. I say do deadlits.
I’d also recommend you eat as much as humanly possible. It will make you fatter, but clean calories will go into muscle, which will definitely make you stronger. However, considering you are wrestling, I don’t know if you’re maintaining a weight class or not. In that case, gaining strength would be harder.[/quote]
I have wrestling next year, but i still don’t want to gain fat. If possible, i want to keep on eating enough for my workout, but i’m still trying to gain the strength without the fat.
I’ll post pictures when i get the chance.
I’d be careful about restricting calories too much. As others have said, 20% is a pretty safe bet. You’ve got a long time before wrestling season begins. Severe calorie restriction may affect your primary goal of gaining strength.
I wrestled in high school, and wish I would have had access to a great site like T-Nation at the time. I received little direction as far as resistance training goes. As a result, I ended up doing a lot of isolation work, which was basically worthless in a sport like wrestling.
Do yourself a favor and stick the big compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, presses, dips, rows, etc. Performing exercises like deadlifts will also have the added benefit of greatly improved grip strength, which is extremely important in wrestling.
[quote]j2r110 wrote:
undeadlift wrote:
Deadlifts are associated to overall body strength more than squats and benches. Cleans and snatches involve even more of the body, although they rely more on explosiveness. I say do deadlits.
I’d also recommend you eat as much as humanly possible. It will make you fatter, but clean calories will go into muscle, which will definitely make you stronger. However, considering you are wrestling, I don’t know if you’re maintaining a weight class or not. In that case, gaining strength would be harder.
I have wrestling next year, but i still don’t want to gain fat. If possible, i want to keep on eating enough for my workout, but i’m still trying to gain the strength without the fat. [/quote]
Well, you’ll have to choose between two things - gain as much strength as possible and some fat, or gain little strength with no increase in fat. If your primary goal is strength, you shouldn’t be concerned with your fat levels, especially since you’re not yet wrestling this year. It’s easier to gain strength first then shed the fat later.