14, Building a Lean &Efficient Body

Hey I’m 14 years old and have been lurking this website and reading as much as i can for the last month or so, most of what I’ve found has been to do with build mass (DUUUH), but that does not suite my present goals. Before I get into what my goals are I shall give you and idea of what I’m working with.

I’m 5’5" and I weight 121 pounds with 11-13% body fat (abs not visible without flexing). The gym equipment I have access to includes a pull up bar, a set of gymnastic rings, a set of dumbbells going up to 20 kilograms and a smith machine. I can currently both squat and deadlift with 20 kilograms in each hand and can pistol squat 3 times comfortably with an additional 12 kilograms of weight. I can do a pull up with an additional 20 kilograms as well.

Now onto my goals, I’m trying to get my body and lean and efficient as I can for the sport I play, parkour. If you guys don’t know what that is I suggest looking it up on youtube. for this sport I need to be able to move my body as quickly as possible, while remaining nimble. I need to be able to run fast, jump high, and pull myself up and over any obstacle.
My current routine looks like this

Monday Legs:
Pistol squat 3X2so
DB straight leg DL 3X5
Bulgarian Split Squat 5X5
Single Leg Calf Raise 2X10
Natural GHR 5X3

Tuesday Back and Chest:
Pull ups 5X6 (with 10 pound weighted vest)
Push ups 5X20 (with 10 pound weighted vest)
Handstand push ups against wall 5X5 (can’t get full ROM yet)

Wednesday off/training parkour

Thursday Legs:
Jump Squat 2X6
DB straight leg DL 2X8
DB lunge 2X8
Natural GHR 5X5

Friday Back and Chest:
Same as Tuesday

Saturday and Sunday is either running/cycling or more parkour training.

I’m currently eating 3 meals a day Paleo diet style. here a sample day

Breakfast: 3 omega-3 eggs (scrambled or omelette)

Lunch: Smoked Turkey breast with celery+carrot+cucumber+tomatoes
and an apple

Snack: cottage cheese with flax seeds or an apple

Dinner: whatever my mom makes. usually steak/chicken with veg (lots of broccoli, asparagus and spinach)

Basically I’m looking for whatever advice you guys can offer me in the way of how I should change my routine or diet, keep in mind I do not want to be a bodybuilder, I want to drop to about 8% body fat yet retain as much strength as possible, and hopefully gain strength. I also do not want to take any supplement other than fish oil and flax seeds (if they even count as supplements any more)

Hey great to see another 14 yr old on the site!

I guess if you want to stay “nimble” for your sport then you are on the right track. With what your eating you can expect to not gain any weight, and you will just be spinning your wheels for years to come. But you are on the right track for your goals of being a nimble parkour guy.

I don’t know a thing about parkour, but your exercise selection seems appropriate based on the youtube video I just watched.

You did say that you want to be lean, so I would recommend eating more often. If you go to the nutrition section of this website, you will find all sorts of articles suggesting eating 5-7 times per day to keep your metabolism running and your body lean.

I have no problem with adding more meals into my day, but what is enough food to count as a meal? and what is enough food to up my metabolism without adding too many calories?

I wouldn’t worry about having a certain amount of calories to qualify as a meal. You just want eat often enough so you never get to the point where you feel super hungry. At that point, your body starts to slow your metabolism down, not what you want when you are trying to get lean.

First, has your bodyweight been constant lately? If so, then count all your nutrients and calories for the next couple of days, this is your necessary nutrients/calories to maintain your current mass. I would take that number and spread it out more.

Example:
If your current totals are this: 2200 calories, 3 meals/1 snack
700 Breakfast, 500 lunch, 200 snack, 800 dinner
Then try this: 2400 calories 3 meals/3 snacks
600 breakfast, 200 snack, 400 lunch, 200 snack, 800 dinner (I didn’t change this because you said your mom cooks it), 200 snack

This is just an example keep in mind, I am not a nutritional expert. I included more calories in the new set up because as you eat more often, your metabolism will get faster and you will get hungrier. You will probably still lean out even while eating a little more because you are so active.

Plus, with your lifting, you have to consider that you might start adding some muscle…and more muscle means you need more calories.

So I should have a slightly smaller breakfast and just add in a couple of snacks to keep me gong? seems simple enough

Well, I didn’t mean for the totals to be taken literally. But I would add in several meals/snacks through out the day. Main point, don’t go too long without eating, don’t let yourself get really hungry. Drink lots of water, too.

I would definitely recommend using a food log to get an idea of the calories and macronutrients you are taking in daily. Eventually, you will get so programed about what to eat and when that you won’t really need the food log anymore.

Damn! I just watched a youtube video of that parkour shit and that is fucking wild. Do you actually do that shit? What city do you do that stuff in? Seems like it would be mostly just driving around til you find some cool shit to play on.

so as long as I eat something my metabolism will boost itself to digest it. for these snacks what sort of stuff would you recommend? the morning snack between breakfast and lunch will most likely end up being an apple and the one between lunch and dinner will probably be cottage cheese with flax seed, does this seem good?

Yes, your metabolism will adjust.
primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/0698metabolism.htm
www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pierce45.htm

Those snacks seem fine, although the cottage cheese and flax would also be excellent pre-bed because it would be slow digesting. Something to consider is timing some food around when you are doing your parkour. I’m sure parkour burns tons of calories, so don’t be afraid to take in some high GI, fast digesting carbs to restore glycogen levels and don’t forget protein to help maintain lean mass.

Eat some source of protein with your apple, and you’ll be good to go.

Cool, thanks for the help, I’ll take a little extra turkey, or maybe, natural peanut butter.

Dude you are damn smart for being 14. At least I know I was a clueless little twerp when I was your age. Good job (already) on your efforts.

As far as the diet goes, I agree with what’s been said, you could add a little more food and be fine.

Also,
-Slow and steady wins the race. Always challenge yourself but don’t think you NEED to life some # or whatever by your 15/16/17 bday…not worth hurting yourself.

  • Stay focused on good clean fun. School, lifting, sports, friends whatever. Don’t mess with alcohol, drugs, or steroids. You’d be amazed by how much drinking beer is shit for you. Even at 20 (my buddies) its obvious who’s soft and drinkin 2-3-4 nights a week and who isn’t.

Best of luck

haha, Thanks Douglas, I’ll keep all of that in mind. Its nice to hear I’m clever, even if its from someone on the net