Burrenguy's journey to build strength and size.

burrenguy

Age: 16.5 years old
Weight: 52kg (if I'm lucky!), 8.5% BF (according to online calculator)
Height: 5'8/5'9

Hi all. Making a start on my fitness journey. My goals are to put on a good amount of muscle mass and gain strength. I only weigh about 8 stone, so my medium term goal is to get up to 10 stone. I hope to have made decent progress towards this benchmark by my birthday in 6 months time.
I have recently acquired 105kg of standard weight plates second hand. I went for the cheaper option to make sure I am committed before spending too much.
Before jumping into a weights routine, I have been advised to do a bodyweight routine for 6 weeks (or more) beforehand. I Here is the routine, recommended by Jason Ferruggia on his forum:

Day 1
1a) DB Split Squat 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps
1b) Chin Up 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps
1c) Parallel Bar Dip 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps

Day 2
1a) Back Extension 3-4 x 10-15
1b) Inverted Row 3-4 x 8-12
1c) Weighted or Suspended Pushup 3-4 x 8-12

60 seconds rest between each set. You just rotate between day 1 and 2, four days a week. Day 1 on Monday, Day 2 on Tuesday, Day 1 on Thursday and Day 2 on Friday.
I'll be playing the odd game of soccer (2x a week depending on the weather).

As winter is coming in, my conditioning will consist of jump rope intervals for up to 15 minutes twice a week.
That's all I can think of for now. I start on Monday. Advice or discussion welcome. Also should I take/post a "before" photo?

RidleyRider

Best of luck with this. Base your workouts around the big movements and add your accessories to that. At your weight, I'd be horsing back the food. You seem knowledgable enough to know that lifting weights alone is only 50% of gaining mass.

burrenguy

RidleyRider wrote: »

Best of luck with this. Base your workouts around the big movements and add your accessories to that. At your weight, I'd be horsing back the food. You seem knowledgable enough to know that lifting weights alone is only 50% of gaining mass.

thanks, I'm hoping to get on a Stronglifts/Starting Strength type program after I've built a bit of a foundation with bodyweight exercise. And yep, I've a feeling the next few months are going to be me filling myself with food repeatedly... can't wait :pac:

burrenguy

first workout done.
Split squats: 6,6,6
Chin ups: 6,6,6
Dips: 6,6,6
60 seconds rest between each set. Started off at the bottom range of each exercise. This will allow me to build up gradually, adding a rep here or there whenever I can.

burrenguy

second workout done. Major DOMS today.. that shows its been a while :P
Back extensions: 10,10,10
Inverted rows: 8,8,8
Push ups: 8,8,8

found the rows tough enough. Started from the bottom with each exercise.. better to build up gradually.

runawaybishop

burrenguy wrote: »

thanks, I'm hoping to get on a Stronglifts/Starting Strength type program after I've built a bit of a foundation with bodyweight exercise. And yep, I've a feeling the next few months are going to be me filling myself with food repeatedly... can't wait :pac:

Either of those programs are a good foundation. You shoudl start now organising your diet, especially on getting enough protein into you.

Yes, take a pic of yourself every month if you can be bothered, but definitely take a starting pic. No need to post them here, you can just use them yourself to see how you are getting on. You'd be surprised how much progress you can see in pics that you wont notice yourself.

burrenguy

just did a a light session with the skipping rope. Set a timer and just focused on getting as many consecutive jumps as possible throughout the time. I'll start skipping straight for specific periods next week. I'm thinking starting with a 2 minute round, then building to 3/4 mins.. when i reach that point, I'll start doing interval skipping.. 1 minute on/1 minute off.

burrenguy

bodyweight workout today.
Split squats: 7,7,7
Chin ups: 7,7,7
Dips: 7,7,7

Took slightly more than 60 seconds rest on the dips as I got interrupted a few times.
Found the chin ups rather difficult. My form isn't great on them. The squats seem easy.

burrenguy

Bodyweight session today.
Back extensions: 11, 11, 11
Inverted rows: 9, 9, 9
Push ups: 9, 9, 9.
felt relatively easy to get through.. 60 seconds rest between each set. Not too shabby!
I'll max out the reps on the three sets before adding a fourth set of any exercise.

Ablork

Nice going man, im around the same age and had the same visions as you, (want to get bigger) i started mid august and have seen a dramatic change up until now! keep it up and you will see results, just keep the diet in check and keep the form precise!

burrenguy

Ablork wrote: »

Nice going man, im around the same age and had the same visions as you, (want to get bigger) i started mid august and have seen a dramatic change up until now! keep it up and you will see results, just keep the diet in check and keep the form precise!

nice to hear from someone else young! It's gonna be tough going sometimes, but I'm going to push ahead.. I need to make a change badly. What kind of progress have you made so far if you don't mind me asking?

Ablork

burrenguy wrote: »

nice to hear from someone else young! It's gonna be tough going sometimes, but I'm going to push ahead.. I need to make a change badly. What kind of progress have you made so far if you don't mind me asking?

Shure its going to be tough, these things dont come easy, hard work, dicipline, and a good diet is what its all about, and if you want to get bigger, eat like an animal,! Since late august ive seen more definition, bigger gain in muscle and strength, have upped all my weights and thouroughly enjoy it, 6'3 67 kg starting (pure ectomorph) and today i am 6'3 72kg, it may seem small, but in another 3 months i hope to have another 5kg and so on, you will notice it in your cothes and just now other people are starting to notice.. Its amazing what you can do when you push yourself

burrenguy

Bodyweight workout.
Split squats: 8, 8, 8
Chin ups: 8, 8, 4!
Dips: 8, 8, 4 (again)

Felt tired and weak today.. not sleeping enough I think. Need to eat more/ warm up better/ sleep more..

burrenguy

workout done.
Back extensions: 12, 12, 12
Inverted rows: 10, 10, 10
Push ups: 10, 10, 10

Didn't get back from school properly till after 8.. still made time for this though, as I know I won't always have the energy!

burrenguy

Todays workout..
Split squats: 9, 9, 9.
Chin ups: 8, 6, 3.
Dips: 9, 7, 4.

Really focused on full range of motion for the chin ups, as I've been prone to swinging and not going all the way down before.
Arms... why do you fail me?

burrenguy

Todays workout...
Back extensions: 13, 13, 13
Inverted rows: 11, 11, 11
Push ups: 11, 11, 11.

Slept so badly last night. Happy enough with my form on all exercises.

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 8, 6, 4
Dips: 9, 7, 3.
Ok, not too bad. Going to try hit the same numbers across all sets before adding further reps.

burrenguy

todays session..
Back extensions: 14, 14,
Rows: 12, 12, 10
Push ups: 12, 12, 12
Got rushed through this one as I was trying to squeeze it in before a dinner that arrived much too early.

burrenguy

todays workout..
split squats: 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 10, 6, 3
Dips: 10, 9, 4.
Really need to work on breathing properly.. I go so red when I'm exercising.
Doing things slightly different now. Since my end goal is 3 sets of 10, I'll just do as many reps as I can cleanly in each set.
I also need to really make my form perfect for these exercises.

Also did a skipping workout yesterday where I went 30 seconds on, 90 secs off five times over... easy enough, obviously. Will shorten the rest periods I think.

burrenguy

todays workout..,
Back extensions: 15, 15, 15
Inverted rows: 12, 12, 12
Push ups: 12, 12, 12
Making decent progress... breathing was okay today.

burrenguy

todays workout..
split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 10, 7, 3
Dips: 10, 5, 6.

Shoulder didn't feel great today. I have a history of my right scapula winging. I need to watch my form more carefully I think.

burrenguy

todays workout..,
Back extensions: 15, 15, 15
Push ups: 12, 12, 12
Inverted rows: 12, 12, 12

Grand workout today. think its time to add a fourth set on each exercise.

RidleyRider

Regarding breathing, breath in on the concentric part of the rep and exhale on the eccentric part of the movement I.e breath in on the way down and out on the way up.

burrenguy

todays workout..
split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 10, 5, 5
Dips: 10, 6, 5
Tried to avoid form breakdown today, reps suffered a little as a result.

burrenguy

Back extensions: 15, 15, 15, 15
Push ups: 12, 12, 12, 12
Inverted rows: 12, 12, 12, 9.

added a fourth set to each exercise. Inverted rows still cause me some trouble. I'm going to consider upping the reps on the sets of push ups.

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 10, 6, 4
Dips: 10, 5, 6

I've been doing dips off a window sill and a little table I pull over... the table is a bit lower than the window sill. I fixed this today by putting a book on the table. Dips feel better now. Chin ups are done fast (and a bit of a swing) but with good extension at the bottom.

fat and slow

try do less chinups or dips in the first set. try for 8, 8, 8 = 24, instead of 10, 6 and 5 = 21. ten seems like a near maximum effort that takes a while to recover from. When you get 8,8,8 go for 9,9,9, you might get 9,9,4 but wait till you get to 9,9,9 before going for 10s

burrenguy

fat and slow wrote: »

try do less chinups or dips in the first set. try for 8, 8, 8 = 24, instead of 10, 6 and 5 = 21. ten seems like a near maximum effort that takes a while to recover from. When you get 8,8,8 go for 9,9,9, you might get 9,9,4 but wait till you get to 9,9,9 before going for 10s

Good idea, thanks!

burrenguy

Back extensions: 15, 15, 15, 15
Push ups: 12, 12, 12, 12
Inverted rows: 12, 12, 12, 12.

Inverted rows the hardest thing here. Overall feeling good though.

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 7, 7, 7
Dips: 7, 2

Cut the workout short today because I felt bad during. I think eating lunch too soon beforehand is to blame.
Unfortunate, but at least I'll know for the future.

burrenguy

todays workout..,
Back extensions: 15, 15, 15, 15
Inverted rows: 12, 12, 12, 12
Push ups: 12, 12, 12, 12

Grand workout. May have accidentally done one set too many of the push ups.

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Dips: 7, 7, 7
Chin ups: 7, 7, 6

Going okay. I think I'm going to keep going with this workout until i hit 3 x 10 anyway on the dips and chin ups.
This week would be my last, but i think I'm going to keep going till the new year anyway.

burrenguy

Back extensions: 15, 15, 15, 15
Inverted rows: 12, 12
Push ups: 12, 12, 12
Cut 1 set off the push ups and 2 off the rows as I'm going off to do a music exam in an hour and can't have my arms being too tired! I find the rows really wear out my forearms.

burrenguy

brief skipping intervals today. Focusing on my breathing as the last day I did it I got a splitting headache during!

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Dips: 7, 7, 7
Chin ups: 6, 6, 6

Didn't get to log this yesterday. Accidentally backslid a rep on the chin ups/ No harm though, the tip of my finger is a little swollen and I can't put too much weight on it anyway.

burrenguy

todays workout..,
Back extensions: 15, 15, 15, 15
Inverted rows: 15, 15, 15
Push ups: 15, 15, 10

upped the reps a bit. Inverted rows were tough on my grip. I ended up taking a bit too long of a break between set 1 and 2 on push ups because i got interrupted... still couldn't hit all the reps though.

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 7, 7, 7
Dips: 8, 8, 8

tweaked my dip form a little, and it hurts my chest less now.. not too bad.

burrenguy

started doing a little mobility routine based off the one found here. I also added in some extra exercises for my winging scapula.
In regards to my workout, I came back in from school at 7:30 and didn't really feel up to much. I just did one set per exercise to keep the habit.

burrenguy

workout today..
Split squats: 10, 10, 10, 10
Dips: 8, 8, 8
Chin ups: 8, 6, 3.

not feeling the best today, got a thing with my throat. Still got in the workout at least. Chin ups bad enough...
Hoping to push on another bit before the new year.

burrenguy

todays workout..,
Back extensions: 15, 15, 15, 15
Inverted rows: 12, 12, 12, 12
Push ups: 12, 12, 12, 12

got off for christmas today.. two school free weeks

burrenguy

taking a break this week.. my body kinda needs it, my wrist has been at me a bit the last few days. Back again next week.

burrenguy

brace yourselves... new years resolutions are coming :P
There seems to be a stigma against people seriously setting goals at this time of year, assuming that they're yet another person jumping on the "New Year, new me" bandwagon. My timing is as much coincidence as it is anything. However, I think that despite the usual tendency this time of year to set goals and never follow through, I have set some of my own in the hope that I'll achieve them. They're not massive goals: they're actually quite modest. But it's enough to get me training I think. Here they are:

46kg overhead press x 5
86kg squat x 5
106kg deadlift x 5
56kg bent over row x 5
15 strict pull ups
25 BW dips
40 push ups

The reason for all the 6kg's is that I'm training using a standard bar that weighs about 6kg, and I'm including that in the goal weight.
In addition to these strength goals, I also aim to bulk for the whole year (providing my body fat doesn't go too high). I prefer the idea of a clean bulk where I add the weight more slowly. I'll be aiming for maybe a pound a week.. so that's about 2kg in a month. In a perfect world I'll weigh about 170lbs/77kg this time next year.
I'll be training at home with a standard barbell, 105kg of plates (for now) and a homemade rack.

My routine will be as follows:
Day 1
Deadlift: 3x5
Overhead Press: 5x5
Bent over row: 5x5

Day 2
Squat: 5x5
Pull ups/chin ups: 3 x max (up to 10)
Dips/push ups: 3 x max (dips up to 15, push ups up to 20)

I intend on doing this program 3 x a week. I'll add weight progressively as long as I can hit the correct number of sets and reps. The first two sets of the weight lifting exercises will be ramped up. I'll use 60%, then 80% of the working weight for the remaining sets. For the bodyweight exercises, I'll go till I can't do another rep with good form and then stop the set.
I'll try to keep the rest to no more than 2-2.5 mins for all sets.
I will build up a small amount of strength (more than lifting just the bar) before posting form check videos.

burrenguy

Morning weight: 118lbs
BF%: 6.6%
I will be weighing myself once a week on Monday mornings to get a general feel for my progress.

First workout down.
Deadlift: 3x5 (10kg, 20kg, 25kg)
Overhead Press: 5x5 @ 16kg
Bent over row: 5x5 @ 10kg.
All easy. Adding weight the next time.

burrenguy

Day 2.
Squat: 5x5 @ 26kg
Dips: 3x5
Chin ups: 3x5

Was a bit tired today but managed everything grand. Squat form was okay but not brilliant, dips and chin ups were fairly good I feel.

burrenguy

So stiff today, chest and shoulders tight. Bad complaint for a young person to have!
Deadlift: 3x5 (10kg, 20kg, 30kg)
Overhead Press: 5x5 @ 18.5kg
Bent over row: 5x5 @ 15kg

Not too bad. Need to get my sleep in order though.

burrenguy

Squat: 5x5 @ 31kg
Dips: 6,6
Chin ups: 5, 5, 5

Cut the dips short as I'm pretty sure my wrist tendinitis is flaring up again... not good at all.

burrenguy

This is what I planned on doing...
Deadlift: 3x5 (30, 35, 40kg)
Overhead Press: 5x5 @ 20kg
Bent over row: 5x5 @ 17.5kg

However, this is what I ended up doing.
Deadlift: 2x5 @ 30/35kg, then 1 rep @ 40kg
Overhead Press: 3x5 @ 20kg
Bent over row: 3x5 @ 20kg

Lessons have been learned. I slept badly again last night and plunged straight into this with no warm up. My abs started to hurt doing the deadlifts and I was afraid of injury... with 40kg. I am ashamed. Was too tired to do full amount of sets so cut to 3x5.
Note to self for the future...
SLEEP BETTER
WARM UP

burrenguy

Squat: 5x5 @ 36kg
Chin ups on rings: 5, 5, 5
Push ups: 3x10

Did a lot of running around today playing a game of football during my lunch break. Was pretty tired and was considering leaving off my workout till tomorrow, but I decided to push through.
-The squats were a bit tough due to my legs already being fatigued. The form was off a little on the third or fourth set. I found that really tightening up helped make it easier and keep my form good.
-I did the chin ups on rings today which were a lot tougher but easier on my wrist, which is a big plus.
-I did the push ups on push up handles to keep my wrist from being flexed, as this seems to be when the tendinitis is the worst.

For the weekend I plan to reduce the load on every exercise drastically and focus on form.

burrenguy

Morning weight: 120.4lbs

Deadlift: 3x5 (25, 30, 32.5kg)
Overhead Press: 1x5 @ 16kg, 1x5 @ 21kg, then 3x5 @ 23.5kg
Bent over row: 1x5 @ 15kg, 1x5 @ 20kg, then 3x5 @ 22.5kg

Workout went grand. Warmed up before hand, so that helped. Overhead press was compromised slightly by my wrist problem.

burrenguy

Squat: 1x5 @ 31kg, 1x5 @36kg, 3x5 @38.5kg
Push ups: 3x11
Chin ups on rings: 6, 6, 2

All grand today. Chin ups were very tough but done correctly.

burrenguy

Todays workout.

Bent over row: 1x5 @ 15kg, 1x5 @ 20kg, then 3x5 @ 25kg
Deadlift: 3x5 (25, 30, 35kg)
Overhead Press: 1x5 @ 21kg, 1x5 @ 23.5kg, then 2x5 @ 26kg

I seem to have caught a dose: bad cold and cough and had a bit of a temperature. I said I'd workout anyway since I'm not moving much weight anyway. The deadlifts felt strangely easy. The rows were grand. I cut the overhead press short because I was starting to get a bit wobbly on the 4th set and didn't want to risk hurting myself.
I better try to recuperate now for the weekend I suppose!