What Would You Do In My Situation?

Training
1

Hey, I just made an account here, so sorry if I break rules or anything.

I am 14 years old, around 160lbs and 5’10 or 5’11. I have been lifting for a few months, but nothing very seriously. I have been doing SS and bulking for some weeks.

Lifts:
Squat 60kg
Bench 50kg
Deadlift 90kg

Here are some pics or my current body:

[Album] imgur.com

As you can see, I have little muscle mass and quite a lot of bodyfat. I don’t want to realize I did something wrong so I am asking here. Do you think it’s a good idea to bulk while doing SS until the start of next year, then cut down? Or do something different? Thanks.

2

You don’t have a lot of bodyfat. You just don’t have a lot of muscle.

3

Like that, I wouldn’t plan on ever cutting, unless I were stepping on stage. Slow and steady…

Also, I would plan on playing at least 1 sport in high school.

4

You’re not fat - just got add lots of muscle. Fat is part of the deal when gaining mass but if you eat properly, you should be able to minimize it.

If you wanna put on mass, check out this article on how to get big. Very simple and very effective.

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_big_5_of_getting_big&cr=

Don’t get too concerned w/ the amount of weight on the bar. Use 45/25/10 lb plates. Start moving some weight.

Squat 65/85/95/115 - work reps w/ this weight.
Bench 65/85/95 - same
Deads 135/155/175/185 - same

Hit some reps. Doesn’t matter if it’s 1 or 10. Hit multiple sets of 3 or 5 or 8 or 10 - whatever you can manage. Just put in some work. Always look to keep adding weight, reps or sets.

Do some rowing to widen out those lats.

Eat enough and sleep enough to get bigger are vital. Compound movements are vital. Obey those 5 rules and you will get bigger and stronger. Go get it buddy!

5

If you do 5/3/1, check your ego at the door, you will have monstrous lifts when you hit 18.

It would just be a matter of patience.

BBB template would be good for you (not the challenge).

Pay attention to the start weight.

6

Personally I wouldn’t think in terms of “bulking” and “cutting” at all. I’d just try to get as strong as possible and eat as much food as I could without getting TOO fat. Maybe measure your waist and set a maximum acceptable waist size based on that, then check back every couple of weeks to make sure you’re not over that maximum.

Or just eyeball it. If you get too fat, dial back your diet a bit (slowly, not like you’re “cutting”) and add some conditioning to your lifting routine. Keep eating and getting stronger. 5/3/1 is awesome, but you’re probably fine on starting strength or a different beginner’s routine too. Just pick your approach and attack it with 100% drive and conviction.

Ignore what the other skinny guys in the gym have to say, what 99% of people on the forums have to say, and what every new article or muscle magazine has to say. Do that and by the time you graduate high school you’ll be a badass.

7

alright buddy, dont worry about your muscle mass, im 14 and the only thing i care about right now is my 2 jobs and getting my squat from 305 to 315.

Worry about getting stronger, because the bigger numbers you squat, the bigger your arms, back , legs and overall your entire body will be. eat enough so u recover, not so your weight balloons, as my brother would say “worry about what the mirror says, not what the scale says.”

to sum up what you need is strength, strength is the means to every end, including strength

8

[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
5/3/1 is awesome, but you’re probably fine on starting strength or a different beginner’s routine too. Just pick your approach and attack it with 100% drive and conviction. Ignore what the other skinny guys in the gym have to say, what 99% of people on the forums have to say, and what every new article or muscle magazine has to say. Do that and by the time you graduate high school you’ll be a badass. [/quote]

This. Any of the basic beginner’s programs: Starting Strength, StrongLifts, or even 5/3/1 - will “work” just fine for skinny young kids who are starting to lift if they follow exactly the advice given above. Pick one and run it for while eating a lot of meat, fruit, vegetables, and if you’re a really skinny kid, stuff like milkshakes, protein shakes, etc to pack in the extra calories. Watch your lifts go up and worry about fine-tuning things like “bulking” or “cutting” once you’ve built a solid foundation.

9

You’re not FAT. You’re just not ripped. Don’t go overboard with bulking - make healthy food choices and adjust the quantity so you slowly gain weight. No “I’ll get that pizza, I’m bulking”. Apart from that, listen to the other posters.

10

lol you only squat 10kg more than your bench? Continue running starting strength, stronglifts is also a good program if you ever want to change for whatever reason (just putting it out there) and continue bulking with healthy food choices. no you are not fat.

11

[quote]Massthetics wrote:
lol you only squat 10kg more than your bench? Continue running starting strength, stronglifts is also a good program if you ever want to change for whatever reason (just putting it out there) and continue bulking with healthy food choices. no you are not fat.[/quote]

Yeah man I have a hard time with squats. Gotta put in 100% to complete the sets. 50kg bench is easier than 60kg squat. I am not sure why this is. I have asked people at the gym to check my form and I go to proper depth etc.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will stick to clean food and eat enough to gain. Should I do 5/3/1? I have read that it’s an advanced program.

I am thinking about doing SS, then when I get 100kg squat I will switch to candito’s novice strength/hypertrophy program.

12

[quote]Massthetics wrote:
lol you only squat 10kg more than your bench? Continue running starting strength, stronglifts is also a good program if you ever want to change for whatever reason (just putting it out there) and continue bulking with healthy food choices. no you are not fat.[/quote]

Yeah man I have a hard time with squats. Gotta put in 100% to complete the sets. 50kg bench is easier than 60kg squat. I am not sure why this is. I have asked people at the gym to check my form and I go to proper depth etc.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will stick to clean food and eat enough to gain. Should I do 5/3/1? I have read that it’s an advanced program.

I am thinking about doing SS, then when I get 100kg squat I will switch to candito’s novice strength/hypertrophy program.

13

Your just skinny buddy. Add some muscle and you will start to fill out nicely. Make sure your eating plenty of good food and training hard. If you want serious results you need to take this seriously.

14

[quote]MrGreeen wrote:
I am thinking about doing SS, then when I get 100kg squat I will switch to candito’s novice strength/hypertrophy program.[/quote]

Good. That’s your plan. Stick to it without deviation and don’t second guess yourself.

15

SS with pullups or dips or stronglifts would be better than 5/3/1 for you. I dont know why people recommend 5/3/1 to an absolute beginner, you can progress much faster with other beginner programs.

16

I really don’t think you should be worrying about “bulking” or “cutting”. At 14, your body is already growing like a weed. Your bones need to grow. Your organs. And your muscles.

Eat breakfast: eggs, toast, & milk.

Eat lunch: hamburger, pizza, w/e your cafeteria is serving.

Eat dinner: w/e your parents feed you. Hopefully it consists of some servings of meat the majority of the time.

You could add in a whey protein shake (50g) in the evening. Try not to skip a meal, but don’t worry about it.

The biggest thing that will matter is going to be consistency, and working hard. Starting strength is a great program. And enjoy being 14.

17

Definitely not cut. When I started lifting I was 5-9 210 lbs, with very little muscle. Without cutting at all, just training 4-6x per week I dropped 30 lbs anyways along with putting 60 lbs on my squat, 35 on my bench, and 50 on my deadlift in a total of two months. Just start lifting. For any big lifts make sure you have someone instructing you on form, and take a lot of videos. The best tool to improve technique is being able to watch yourself.

Just lift, and take in a lot of protein and you will be shocked what you are capable of!

Good luck!

18

[quote]MrGreeen wrote:
I have been doing SS and bulking for some weeks.[/quote]
A few weeks is nothing, especially with Starting Strength, where it can take a little time to get your technique down and get the ball really moving with steady progress week after week and month after month.

[quote]Here are some pics or my current body:
…
As you can see, I have little muscle mass and quite a lot of bodyfat.[/quote]
I don’t see “quite a lot” of bodyfat in those pics. Not at all. You’re in a fine spot to build on. Hard training, smart eating, and consistency will lead you in the best direction.

By “the start of next year”, do you mean January? Bulking for 3 and a half months isn’t much time at all, all things considered.

I’d set some long-term goals, like a year or longer, for bodyweight and/or strength markers you want to hit, and then work back breaking those down into short and mid-term goals.

Follow Starting Strength exactly as it’s written, and follow basic smart nutrition. That’s does not necessarily mean a gallon of milk a day. Stick with 3 meals every single day (weekends too), and as Rippetoe himself has recommended: “Lots of protein, vegetables, fruits, and clean carbs. No effort should be made to lower dietary fat whatsoever, but watch the crappy carbs and sugar.”

(I’d watch the junk food, but you don’t necessarily have to avoid soda and pizza as if you were getting ready for a contest. A little common sense will go a very long way.)

19

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]MrGreeen wrote:
I have been doing SS and bulking for some weeks.[/quote]
A few weeks is nothing, especially with Starting Strength, where it can take a little time to get your technique down and get the ball really moving with steady progress week after week and month after month.

[quote]Here are some pics or my current body:
…
As you can see, I have little muscle mass and quite a lot of bodyfat.[/quote]
I don’t see “quite a lot” of bodyfat in those pics. Not at all. You’re in a fine spot to build on. Hard training, smart eating, and consistency will lead you in the best direction.

By “the start of next year”, do you mean January? Bulking for 3 and a half months isn’t much time at all, all things considered.

I’d set some long-term goals, like a year or longer, for bodyweight and/or strength markers you want to hit, and then work back breaking those down into short and mid-term goals.

Follow Starting Strength exactly as it’s written, and follow basic smart nutrition. That’s does not necessarily mean a gallon of milk a day. Stick with 3 meals every single day (weekends too), and as Rippetoe himself has recommended: “Lots of protein, vegetables, fruits, and clean carbs. No effort should be made to lower dietary fat whatsoever, but watch the crappy carbs and sugar.”

(I’d watch the junk food, but you don’t necessarily have to avoid soda and pizza as if you were getting ready for a contest. A little common sense will go a very long way.)[/quote]

Thanks for the info. I have actually been bulking since the start of summer. I did SL5x5 but my progress was mediocre because of some mistakes such as not pushing myself and slacking off. I have been doing squats, deadlifts and bench presses for a few months actually and I have gotten the form down with some mistakes that I am trying to fix. It’s hard to fix form while being pressured by the program to increase weights

I will keep the advice in mind. I just feel like I want to cut pretty soon. At the latest in mid spring, but would like to do so earlier if possible, since my a lot of the weight I have gained hasn’t seemed to go muscle, more to my gut and chest which can be seen through a shirt sometimes.

I’ve also read that cutting down to lower bodyfat will increase testosterone which will help with muscle building. What bodyfat% would you say I am at?

20

[quote]MrGreeen wrote:
I have actually been bulking since the start of summer.[/quote]
So, about two months or so? How much size have you gained in that time?

Not for nothing, but both of these are on you, not the program. Get your head right or you’ll keep having those issues no matter how you train. It’s something that comes with practice, for sure though.

Absolutely keep technique as the number one priority. Be sure to take things set by set and rep by rep, no rush. You want each rep to be as good as possible, but you do still need to push yourself.

As you get to lifting more challenging weights, you’ll be struggling more, but the reps should still be crisp and solid. Also, be sure to use your warm-up sets as chances to drill technique instead of just running through the motions quickly.

Like I said, from your pics, it’s not like you have a gut and love handles or anything. But I do understand where you’re coming from. Whatever you do, just be patient. Make sure you’re eating enough quality protein, in addition to extra calories, to give yourself something to build new muscle with. High calorie, low protein diets lead to fat gain. (As do high calorie diets without increasing strength in the gym).

It might sound silly, but fixing your posture will do a lot to fix this. I don’t mean sucking in your gut, but really just standing up straight all the time.

Nope. First of all, your Test levels are just starting to spike higher and faster than they ever will. Secondly, reduced calorie diets (like when you cut fat) can sometimes reduce Test levels if calories and/or fats are dropped too low. Bottom-line, don’t pay a blink of attention to your Testosterone levels. All you need to do is lift weights consistently with a well-designed program and give yourself ample nutrition (from protein, carbs, and fats), and you’ll see progress.

13%. Maybe 16%. Could be 19%. Bodyfat “percentage” does. not. matter. at. all.