Too young?

[wtjoe]

:) Is 14 years old too young to start strength training?

[guohuen]

It's the perfect age to start strenght training!

[wtjoe]

Thanks for the reply, does strength training necessarily mean a gain in muscle mass? Or is that totally seperate? I dont really want to look like a big hulk or anything:mad:

[guohuen]

They are serarate things. You will gain some muscle mass in strenght training, but mostly thicker tougher more elastic tendons.

[zuxingpogi]

If you are going to begin weight bearing stregth training, then start off low. At your age you don't want to stunt your growth, and remember to practice proper technique. If you find that you cannot practice proper technique then you are weight bearing too much.
As you are saying you don't want to be a big hulk or anything, then my advice to you if you are looking at any weight bearning exercise, choose a low weight and do many reps. Therefore you will gain definition more than muscle bulk.
Of course strength training comes in many forms, you can bascially train your strenght in almost limitless ways, these are just my suggestions if you want to start weight bearing strength training.
Hope it helps
Peace
-Bernard

[xiong]

Hey wtjoe,

Just a little advice. I too wanted to gain strength but not bulk up too much. I was super skinny in my teens and had a real hard time eating the amount of calories I needed to bulk up.

Lower weights and lots of reps are the way to go for strength and muscle endurance. Make sure to increase your overall calories and specifically protien if you are drastically increasing your training regimen.

Lastly I would recommend body weight training if you don't already have access to weights. Pushups and the like are tried and true, and there are alot of websites with good info on all kinds of crazy exercises (i.e Matt Furey).

Good luck with your training.

[Kungfu boy]

For the 1st few years of "weight" training I didn't use that many weights. I was about your age when I started, around 14-15 or so. I did lots of pushups and situps. I also did dips and pull ups when I got the chance.

Best thing was I didn't bulk up and while there was noticable change persay it wasn't that I was the incredible hulk. I got alot out of it. Better abs, great shoulders, more defined chest etc. I think that the only weights I had were two 20lbs. dumbells for curls. I train with weights now but I still go back to the old routine every once in a while.

Good luck Dude

[IronFist]

Dude if you're only 14 don't use any weights so heavy that you can't lift them at least 8-10 times.

Stick mostly with pushups and pullups, running, martial arts training.

Especially pullups, if you can do them, and if you can keep it up because when you get to be older most people can't do pullups and you'll be a stud if you can :)

Good luck, feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

IronFist

[ElPietro]

Originally posted by xiong
Lower weights and lots of reps are the way to go for strength and muscle endurance.

Strength and endurance are on the opposite of the training spectrum. So this is pretty much wrong.

Also, don't worry about becoming a "Hulk". This is a very ignorant comment, however, I'll let it go since your 14. ;) To all the people that say I don't want to get big, I'd like to personally say STFU. Do you really think you just start working out and "poof" you wake up in the morning looking like arnold or dorian yates or something? When people say that I feel they are disrespecting the entire bodybuilding community by trivializing how difficult it really is to get "big". It requires a sh!tload of training...some very intelligent dieting and then on top of that good genetics. If you want to just get fat or not fat that's fine...but saying you don't wanna get huge is just plain stupid, since you would really have to work hard to do something like that.

wtjoe, train smart. Just make sure that someone watches your form and make sure that your weight isn't causing you to use bad form. Weight training early...and yes even using higher weight and lower reps can aid in reaching your genetic potential. But the worst thing you could do is work with bad form...or do too much diet manipulation at an early age. You have plenty of hormones being produced at your age so you can pack on good muscle and stay lean while you do it. Just watch as you get into your late teens and early twenties that your growth spurt will end and you will have to adjust your diet accordingly.

[wtjoe]

So as long as I can lift something 10+ tomes, then it's not too heavy, right?

[ElPietro]

you are fine.

just don't risk anything by taking anabolics or any crap like that at your age. If your hormonal levels rise too high, your body may close off the end of your long bones stunting growth. I believe this is because your body is tricked into thinking you are older than you truly are because of the hormone levels in your body.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by wtjoe
So as long as I can lift something 10+ tomes, then it's not too heavy, right?

Right. But if you are lifting it 20-30 times, it is probably too light :)

Since you're 14, stay away from all supplements. That means no Creatine, protein powder, glutamine, amino acids, steroids, etc. All you need to do to maximize your strength is eat well, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and drink enough water. At 14, I would say drink at least 50-60oz of water each day (that's about 7 or 8 glasses (assuming one glass is 8oz). For reference, one gallon is 128oz.

IronFist

[wtjoe]

What stunts growth? Lifting heavy or gaining muscle mass?

[inic]

wow, my workout program would be perfect for u man. hmmm, let me go find it on one of these forums...
its in a few threads...
heres one
http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11506

http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11969

i'd say dont get too involved with weights yet. tone ur body first and get REALLY flexible. by the time u'r 19 u can hit the wieghts at a pretty high level. this is how i did it. i started wieghts at 18 and started my bicep curl at 35 which is where most stop or spend a very long time at.
basically, get ur body toned and flexible first. u need a foundation which to start off of

[Kumkuat]

Originally posted by wtjoe
So as long as I can lift something 10+ tomes, then it's not too heavy, right?

Well, it depends. Those big dictionaries or encyclopedias are pretty big and cumbersome. So I don't know how you can lift 10 of those. Maybe if you strap them together. Smaller tomes might be a little better. Mix and match to see which one you like. I personally like to do my taiji practice with Kunth's Art of Programming.

[inic]

everyones a comedian! yeesh

[IronFist]

kumkuat, I just saw that. That was pretty funny :)

I didn't even notice that he wrote "tomes" when I first replied to it.

IronFist

[wtjoe]

What stunts growth? Lifting heavy or gaining muscle mass?
?