Hey everyone, first of all I’m 16 years old. Now that you’ve lost any and all respect for me, I’d like tp mention I’ve been reading T-Mag for the last 2 years and training for 3-4. Alot of my buddies work out anywhere from 5 to 7 days per week, and I’m not talking a biceps day and a shoulders day, etc. The thing is, they seem to benefit greatly from it, and one of them tried to tell me that since we’re teenagers, we can work out pretty much whenever, because it’s like being on steroids. I didn’t believe it, but these last 2 weeks I’ve been jobless so I’ve worked out alot more than usual. It seems like I’m getting alot bigger and stronger–there’s minimal soreness and I don’t feel depressed. What gives?
The general rule is work each muscle hard as hell once a week. If you split your workout up such that you lift 5 days a week, fine, if you fit all the muscles into 3 sessions thats fine too. But if your exercising individual muscle groups TOO often, eventually the gains will stop due to overtraining (you can prob get away with it for a while).
Well, it’s certainly true that it’s a lot harder - though not impossible - to overtrain when you’re younger. I’d say that if you’re making gains on a given split you should stay with it until the gains stop or you experience some other sign(s) of overtraining. I did the 2.5 hours a day, 6 days a week thing when I was 15-18 or so, and never had a problem overtraining. (Of course, the same split now - at 40 - would probably cause my body to explode.)I think that if your nutrition is right there’s probably not too much need for worry.
<Watch for overuse injuries. Injuries are not worth the weeks/months/years for just that little bit extra. Try giving your muscles 48-72 hours rest and use 6 sets or less.> <There is a great wealth of resources on this site and others. Read Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION and return with any questions>
You can sucessfully train each muscle group more than once a week. Overtraining is related to central nervous sistem fatigue, not to muscular fatigue.
At 16 you defenitly have en exercice tolerance far superior to most of us so why not take advantage of it? The trick is finding the training schedule that produces the .
I remember gaining 20 pounds in a ymost gains and use thatear when i was 15 by training each muscle group 3 times every 2 weeks, with a high volume routine and with very poor nutrition habits. Cant get away with that now and still grow…
Cool, thanks alot guys, I’ve also been curious if taking TGribex and M as a teen is safe? It says it elevates your T to high normal, so would it screw a young guy up?
Because you can get away with a poor diet and bad training habits as a teen/newbie doesn’t mean you should. Start learning now. Just think how much better your progress will be. Also, when you grow older and get past those newbie gains you’ll know what to do to keep gaining. And let’s not forget that a program of chest and bi’s 3 times per week will catch up to you in the form of injury or poor symetry. That said, teens do seem to recover quickly so take advantage. But educate yourself too. That’s what T-mag is for.
I agree build a solid foundation now. Stick to the basic lifts until you can meet certain levels of strength (i.e. Bench =1.5 x body weight for working sets, Presses = body weight, curls = .75 x bodyweight, Squats = 2x bodyweight, etc.) Stick to the basics! I see way to many younger lifters doing assistant exercises, when they should not. If you are under employeed, you might try a 4 day split with a day off at the end. Make sure each lift improves each session! Track it and make it happen! Eat well!
Stay away from Tribex, you don’t need it right now! The effects on teenagers have been discussed in another post. Do a search.
Best of Luck.
Tribex won’t hurt you - but it probably won’t help a whole lot either at your age. I’d spend my money on a good protein powder (and cheerleaders) if I were you…
Yeah, taking the Tribex will probably help you out alot. I took it when I was 16 and it got me jacked you could really notice the effects. And it skyrocketed my muscle density. It was great.
Well though I’m not benching 230 for working sets, i meet all the other requirements (and 20 lbs away from that one). Garret, how old are you now? Did you stop growing taller? Any weird hormonal effects? Were you pissed all the time?