Teenager trying to put on some muscle/weight

Manutd_4life

Could anyone give me some good advice on what exercises I should be doing to upper my body physique and muscle. I am a teenager weighing at about 58-59 kg(125-128 pounds) and I want to start building myself up.

Can someone maybe give me a circuit of exercises I can do at home to build up my muscle. I heard push ups and pull ups are a good way to go. By the way I dont have access to any equipment atm except for a door chin up bar. So yeah a circuit I should build myself up to and keep on going consistently that will give me results as long as I am eating the right foods.

Along with that how many times should i work out (carry out the circuit) per week to remain fit.

atilladehun

Not sure about the getting bigger aspect. fixing your diet to eat more protein and no bad carbs with lots of natural unprocessed foods seems to be the general advice.

Working out at home with little equipment I can suggest convict conditioning. Push yourself hard, try to progress and most of all be consistent will get you stronger (not necessarily bigger, food does that).

tenifan

You don't need a lot of equipment but I suggest investing in a pair of dumbells.
You can use them for upper body, and legs (squats and lunges).

conzy

You will need to track your calories for a while to get an idea of what kind of intake you currently have. You then need to increase your intake to the point where you are slowly gaining weight, after a while you will stall and need to add more calories. You can get a good estimate of your maintenance calories here

There are lots of other resources on that site and training plans that require minimal equipment. You will probably find you need to eat a lot more than you are currently eating, you need to be as consistent and disciplined as someone trying to lose weight. You will probably feel full a lot, some ideas for getting extra calories in

Drink a pint of whole milk with meals
Put real butter on everything
Peanut Butter
Avacados
Fattier meats like 15% mince.

If you have a blender bananas and oats and milk

Tefral

Manutd_4life wrote: »

Could anyone give me some good advice on what exercises I should be doing to upper my body physique and muscle. I am a teenager weighing at about 58-59 kg(125-128 pounds) and I want to start building myself up.

Can someone maybe give me a circuit of exercises I can do at home to build up my muscle. I heard push ups and pull ups are a good way to go. By the way I dont have access to any equipment atm except for a door chin up bar. So yeah a circuit I should build myself up to and keep on going consistently that will give me results as long as I am eating the right foods.

Along with that how many times should i work out (carry out the circuit) per week to remain fit.

What age and height are you?

runawaybishop

Manutd_4life wrote: »

Could anyone give me some good advice on what exercises I should be doing to upper my body physique and muscle. I am a teenager weighing at about 58-59 kg(125-128 pounds) and I want to start building myself up.

Can someone maybe give me a circuit of exercises I can do at home to build up my muscle. I heard push ups and pull ups are a good way to go. By the way I dont have access to any equipment atm except for a door chin up bar. So yeah a circuit I should build myself up to and keep on going consistently that will give me results as long as I am eating the right foods.

Along with that how many times should i work out (carry out the circuit) per week to remain fit.

Give yourself a days rest between sessions, so 3 days a week would be grand - mon, wed, fri or something similar. If you lack equipment then you need to rely on bodyweight exercises - pushups (stick a backpack with a few books in it to increase difficulty maybe) , pullups (since you have a bar), dips, bodyweight squats and lunges. Maybe do 5 sets of 8 - 20 reps depending on the exercise.

A cheap dumbbell set would help you a lot - you can usually pick them up for peanuts off donedeal or adverts. Get a bench and squat rack, again second hand, once you know you will stick with it.

Make sure you are eating enough protein, without the correct fuel your efforts will go to waste.

Have a read of http://simplesciencefitness.com

MightyMandarin

Have you considered getting a gym membership? Home gyms aren't a bad idea, the problem is the equipment can be expensive and you will get stronger very quickly, so the weights you need now will be too light in a few months.

Quin_Dub

Teenager is a fairly broad range..

If you are at the lower end of Teenager then you probably shouldn't be going near weights to be honest..

I would advise anyone under about 17 not to bother with weights yet .

Plenty you can do with just your own body weight for now - Sit-ups , pulls up , press ups etc.

MightyMandarin

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Teenager is a fairly broad range..

If you are at the lower end of Teenager then you probably shouldn't be going near weights to be honest..

I would advise anyone under about 17 not to bother with weights yet .

Plenty you can do with just your own body weight for now - Sit-ups , pulls up , press ups etc.

Why? Please don't bring up that silly argument that weights will stop you growing, that theory's been long disproved. If the OP uses good form then why not use weights?

runawaybishop

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Teenager is a fairly broad range..

If you are at the lower end of Teenager then you probably shouldn't be going near weights to be honest..

I would advise anyone under about 17 not to bother with weights yet .

Plenty you can do with just your own body weight for now - Sit-ups , pulls up , press ups etc.

There is absolutely no reason to not lift weights as a teenager.

Quin_Dub

MightyMandarin wrote: »

Why? Please don't bring up that silly argument that weights will stop you growing, that theory's been long disproved. If the OP uses good form then why not use weights?

runawaybishop wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason to not lift weights as a teenager.

I guess it's down to the definition of "Using weights"..

A younger teenager generally should not be lifting heavy weights (e.g. not trying to do max lifts etc.) as they run the risk of injury due to immature skeletal system and musculature..

They'd be prone to tears and other kinds of soft tissue damage..

Using light dumb-bells or a light bar for high rep work-outs would be fine , but for the most part they same could be achieved using just their own body-weight as resistance.

Just a personal preference from my perspective..

runawaybishop

Quin_Dub wrote: »

I guess it's down to the definition of "Using weights"..

A younger teenager generally should not be lifting heavy weights (e.g. not trying to do max lifts etc.) as they run the risk of injury due to immature skeletal system and musculature..

They'd be prone to tears and other kinds of soft tissue damage..

Using light dumb-bells or a light bar for high rep work-outs would be fine , but for the most part they same could be achieved using just their own body-weight as resistance.

Just a personal preference from my perspective..

This just isn't true, weightlifting is less stressful on your joints than running.

conzy

I wish I spent 2000 hours lifting instead of playing Unreal Tournament in my teens.

Quin_Dub

runawaybishop wrote: »

This just isn't true, weightlifting is less stressful on your joints than running.

Generally speaking you are correct , I guess what I'm saying is proceed with caution..

Start with Body weight resistance and build up slowly from there.

I have a 14 year old son that is looking to start weights and what I've said to him is that I won't let him use any weights until he is capable of doing high reps in sit-ups and press-ups etc. with good form. Something he cannot yet do..

No point in me giving him a bar and weights when he still can't do 25+ sit-ups or press-ups properly..

Link

Although weightlifting can be a safe exercise for a 15 year old, certain dangers do exist. During the early teen years, the bones, tendons and joints are still developing quite rapidly. As such, they can be overworked quite easily. If you feel pain or unusual discomfort while weightlifting, stop immediately. Exercising through an injury could result in permanent damage to your body.

runawaybishop

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Generally speaking you are correct , I guess what I'm saying is proceed with caution..

Start with Body weight resistance and build up slowly from there.

I have a 14 year old son that is looking to start weights and what I've said to him is that I won't let him use any weights until he is capable of doing high reps in sit-ups and press-ups etc. with good form. Something he cannot yet do..

No point in me giving him a bar and weights when he still can't do 25+ sit-ups or press-ups properly..

Link

Link isn't medically referenced. I agree that everyone should look after themselves when exercising, of any type. Like I said though, running would have larger impact that lifting on your joints. There's no reason teenagers can't lift, assuming proper technique and form is used throughout.

Brian?

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Generally speaking you are correct , I guess what I'm saying is proceed with caution..

Start with Body weight resistance and build up slowly from there.

I have a 14 year old son that is looking to start weights and what I've said to him is that I won't let him use any weights until he is capable of doing high reps in sit-ups and press-ups etc. with good form. Something he cannot yet do..

No point in me giving him a bar and weights when he still can't do 25+ sit-ups or press-ups properly..

Link

Sit ups are a terrible exercise.

Mellor

Quin_Dub wrote: »

I have a 14 year old son that is looking to start weights and what I've said to him is that I won't let him use any weights until he is capable of doing high reps in sit-ups and press-ups etc. with good form. Something he cannot yet do..

He probably just as likely, perhaps more so, to give himself an injury by attempting high rep sit-ups everyday.

Nobody suggested anybody go straight to attempting maxes. That would be equally stupid for anyone, not just teenagers.
Bodyweight training is a good place to start, I agree. But it's very limited imo.