Hey, I came here mainly looking to see what would people think is the best choice. Im 14 currently and you can saw pretty okay in shape. I'm kind of big compared to the other freshmen at the school. Possibly the biggest in muscle size. Im around 16 or 17% in body fat and am 5'10" and weighing at 155. I just finished the football season so I got a bit skinnier and leaner in my abdominal region while getting a bit bigger on my arms. I probably am the strongest on the team when it comes to lifting weight and I maxed out at bench 145. I just set a goal for myself now that the season is over and lacrosse wont start till spring that I will go to the gym for the winter season and just get stronger and not loose what I built up. Im looking for advice from you guys here to what kind of plan or ideas that I should follow to get bigger. I'm not that much of a newbie sense my brother used to being a full on literal body builder gave me a few tips of his own. So, mainly I just need to make a plan and I have pretty much all the resources I need. Thank you in advance
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14 Year old looking for some advice
- Thread starter Jev
- Start date
A really simple barbell program would be right up your alley. I'm going to recommend a 5x5 program, since it sets a good balance between building a lot of strength and muscle mass. You'll run the 5x5 (5 sets of 5 reps) structure on squats, bench press, deadlifts and push press. The 5x5 is after warming up.
To warm up for bench press and push press, begin with 2x5 using the empty barbell (45lb), then add weight in 10-45lb jumps until you reach your working weight. With each warm up set after weight has been added to the bar, decrease the number of reps you perform. So, if your working weight is 135lb, do 2x5x45lb, 5x75lb, 3x105lb, 1x120lb, then move into your work sets. The early warm up sets should get some blood flowing in the target muscles, while the later sets should prepare you for heavy loads without fatiguing you.
Squats and deadlifts are similar, however you'll be starting squats with 10x bodyweight, and deadlifts at 90-135lb, rather than 45lb (so that the bar is elevated to about the right height from the start).
Early on in the program, the 5 sets of 5 will all be performed at the same weight. It won't take long before this becomes hard to maintain, so when you start missing reps in the later sets for more than one workout in a row, you'll start scaling the weight back on the later sets (while keeping them challenging), but always trying to progress the first 1-2 sets. You want at least first 1-2 sets to be 2.5-5lb heavier every time you walk into the gym, provided you can do so with good technique.
On the other exercises, just use weights that are difficult within the target rep ranges, without pushing to failure, and increase the weight when you feel comfortable to do so.
So, here's the routine:
Monday/Friday:
- Squats 5x5
- Bench Press 5x5
- Pull Ups: work up to 50 reps throughout the session
- Calf Raise/Curls/Triceps: 3x10-20 each, performed as a circuit
Wednesday:
- Push Press 5x5
- Row: 5x10-15
- Deadlift 5x5
- Core work: pick 1 exercise for you 6-pack and 1 for your obliques, and do 3 sets of each, with reps somewhere between 10 and 30 per set
Make sure you eat lots of good food while you're on this program. 160g protein per day, 80g fat, carbs as needed to meet your calorie needs (which will be fairly high), eat your vegetables and take a multi-vitamin if you can.
To warm up for bench press and push press, begin with 2x5 using the empty barbell (45lb), then add weight in 10-45lb jumps until you reach your working weight. With each warm up set after weight has been added to the bar, decrease the number of reps you perform. So, if your working weight is 135lb, do 2x5x45lb, 5x75lb, 3x105lb, 1x120lb, then move into your work sets. The early warm up sets should get some blood flowing in the target muscles, while the later sets should prepare you for heavy loads without fatiguing you.
Squats and deadlifts are similar, however you'll be starting squats with 10x bodyweight, and deadlifts at 90-135lb, rather than 45lb (so that the bar is elevated to about the right height from the start).
Early on in the program, the 5 sets of 5 will all be performed at the same weight. It won't take long before this becomes hard to maintain, so when you start missing reps in the later sets for more than one workout in a row, you'll start scaling the weight back on the later sets (while keeping them challenging), but always trying to progress the first 1-2 sets. You want at least first 1-2 sets to be 2.5-5lb heavier every time you walk into the gym, provided you can do so with good technique.
On the other exercises, just use weights that are difficult within the target rep ranges, without pushing to failure, and increase the weight when you feel comfortable to do so.
So, here's the routine:
Monday/Friday:
- Squats 5x5
- Bench Press 5x5
- Pull Ups: work up to 50 reps throughout the session
- Calf Raise/Curls/Triceps: 3x10-20 each, performed as a circuit
Wednesday:
- Push Press 5x5
- Row: 5x10-15
- Deadlift 5x5
- Core work: pick 1 exercise for you 6-pack and 1 for your obliques, and do 3 sets of each, with reps somewhere between 10 and 30 per set
Make sure you eat lots of good food while you're on this program. 160g protein per day, 80g fat, carbs as needed to meet your calorie needs (which will be fairly high), eat your vegetables and take a multi-vitamin if you can.