Advice for a teenage boy

[Gypsie]

My good friend's 15 year old son has developed an interest in bodybuilding and he somehow thinks I have all the answers since he's seen the progress I have made. LOL! While I appreciate the vote of confidence I'm still pretty wet behind the ears in this arena. Aside from giving him some basic info about nutrition (ie. Eating more protein NOT twinkies and other junk to put on size, etc), I don't know where to go from there. Any suggestions? Are there any resources out there for teen boys? I'm very reluctant to give him some of the online resources I have found since they can be overwhelming. I also don't want him to latch on to some crazy ideas and take it to an extreme because he wants fast results.

BTW, he's about 5'8" now and maybe 120 soak n' wet.

[kdmnohio]

Looks like you are doing QUITE WELL! I am sure you have better advice for him than what you realize...and the advice you say you have given thus far sounds good. If there are any competitions/expos in the area, that would be nice for him to go see, meet people and just be "around it". I don't know about specific resources for teens...if he is interested I am sure he already is collecting various magazines. You are right, the information can be very overwhelming and contradictory from one source to another as well. Are there any personal trainers in your area that would work with a teen??

[brewsterfitness]

Keep it simple, stick to the basic movements. Keep the diet clean and try not to overtrain. Protein is the Building Block of muscle. And most of all...There are no shortcuts! See if he can connect with one of the older more experienced guys or gals at the gym. Pehaps they can save him from making some of the mistakes we all made in our "rookie" years.

[IronCrusher]

Teens all think having big biceps is cool.

Make sure he doesn;t do 30 sets of bicep curls everyday like most kids at the high school gym do.

Bench (both barbell and dumbbell, incline and flat. Decline is worthless IMO)
Pec flies
Shoulder press (both bb and db)
Rows (bent over BB rows, cable rows, DB rows, etc)
Pull-ups and/or cable pull-downs
Squats (Proper form!!!)
Deadlifts (proper form!!!!)

Throw in isolation arm work at the end of of the upper body days. They should not be a focus for a youngster. They will grow more focusing on compound movements anyways.

That's really all there is.

[NATURAL-1987]

From experience I wish I had people helping me out when I first picked up the weights. I would get him eating 3 meals/day high in everything, and 3 shakes a day.
Put him on a 3 day weight routine.
Monday-Legs and abs
Wednesday-Chest and Back
Friday-Shoulders and Arms

Have him do only basic movements and 10 sets total for quads,hams,chest,shoulders,biceps,triceps and probably 12-13 sets for back.
abs 3 sets upper and 3 sets lower. It will be all he needs at this point. If he plays sports, no need for cardio, if he doesnt, tell him to go for a bike ride with his buddies or a girlfriend a few days a week.

[BLUEBARON75]

good advice. what about the five by five routine? that works wonders for beginners

[kdmnohio]

I need to make sure I am paying attention in here........getting myself some good advice!! Thanks guys!

[BLUEBARON75]

ill tell ya man. these kids in the highshool gyms dont know which direction is up. even though i'm young, i compete in bodybuilding, and train at a hardcore gym. this is a good workout for sure

Teens all think having big biceps is cool.




Make sure he doesn;t do 30 sets of bicep curls everyday like most kids at the high school gym do.

Bench (both barbell and dumbbell, incline and flat. Decline is worthless IMO)
Pec flies
Shoulder press (both bb and db)
Rows (bent over BB rows, cable rows, DB rows, etc)
Pull-ups and/or cable pull-downs
Squats (Proper form!!!)
Deadlifts (proper form!!!!)

Throw in isolation arm work at the end of of the upper body days. They should not be a focus for a youngster. They will grow more focusing on compound movements anyways.

That's really all there is.

[th_vai]

Get him to eat a lot, I've gained a lot of size in 2 years, I started at 15 aswell, I just eat a lot of beef, carbs, etc, and train hard, train for mass, heavy training low reps helped me a lot, let him eat the twinkies every now and then, hell he's too young , just get him to eat properly and train hard

[gymdog]

I would keep real heavy training to a few sets if hes starting fresh. The most important thing i feel would be to make sure he is doing the movements properly. Don't develop bad habits right out of the gate(they will be hard to break latter). Also if hes doing them wrong and gets hurt, the injury could follow him for a long time. At this age work on getting a diet together and a training program that is short and sweet. It should be fun. I have seen young kids go crazy for a few months than burn out. The ones that take it slow I feel will be in our sport for life. Good luck.

[IronCrusher]

ill tell ya man. these kids in the highshool gyms dont know which direction is up. even though i'm young, i compete in bodybuilding, and train at a hardcore gym. this is a good workout for sure

I have a 16 year old cousin who stared a weight lifting class in his high school. So he calls me up and is talking to me. I gave him exactly what I wrote, split up into a 3X per week routine and put himon a good nutrition plan. Bam, he's gone from 140-150 in 7 weeks and his legs have gained most of that mass. Gotta love squats and deadlifts!


Teens can improve significantly very quickly if they have good direction and someone can show them what to do, and explain to them why it is done that way so that they actually do it.

[sweed]

tell him to be sure to get form down first. don't worry about the weights, they will come later. slow controlled movements is key. If he starts to try and do 1rm then he could injury himself.
split up the week for chest/tri's, back/bi's, legs, shoulders. plenty of protein and rest and he should be growing in no time!