Hey im only 17 years old and im 5’9 185 lbs. i have been working out solidly for 2 years strait eating like a horse taking in tons on protein and use cell tec…my prob is i am stuck at a pussy bench (230) and a godawful squat …What can i do to get bigger and stronger im not leaning towards a steroid but what about ANDRO or ne other supplements
Sick 'em, T-Dawgs!
The best reply gets a free Testosterone T-shirt.
Don’t do barbell bench for a while. Weighted dips and dumbell bench presses for maybe 4 weeks. During that time read everything written by Dave Tate on the T-mag site, to make sure your form is correct. Also, try the 1-6-1-6 method. It always seems to help. Good luck.
Massive eating my friend. That and massive weights. Toss aside the pansy lifts and look to multi-joint movements with heavy heavy weights.
Post what you are doing now and we’ll go from there
first off eating like a horse tells us nothing. Let’s get some Macro break down from you ( Protein, Carbs, Fats). Second, What are you training for? how often are you working out? as far as supplements go I would ditch the cell tech and get something with a better grade of creatine in it EAS, Scitec, Biotest, even Prolab. Don’t look to andro as a crutch to make up for poor training and eating habbits. Give us more info and we’ll be able to help you more. later
dude, im 17 and have been training for 6 years and i can tell you right now, just worry about food and training (not supplements). i am still making awesome gains just by changing my routines frequently and eating good. look into the westside stuff if your into the strength thing or if your trying to get bigger try some routines from this site. i really dont think you know what you want though since your title has to do with size and then in your actual post you just talk about strength. you cant just do it all at once. if you wanna get strong work on getting strong. if you wanna get big work on getting big. these can both be accomplished by diet and training style. just read this fucking magazine you fool. there is so much information.
it is your diet stupid…how many calories, what about grams of carbs, protein, and fat…what is your current training style, if you want to improve your bench and squat try the west side method, read every article written by dave tate on t-mag and check out elitefitnesssystems and deepsquatter. …BTW andro is not only illegal for a 17 year it is stupid as well because you don’t need it, check the “youth gone wild” articles at T-mag as well.
Here’s the approach schematic that I would use-First off, over the next week calculate your daily caloric intake. Determine what portions are coming from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and how much you are consuming totally. Afterwards, evaluate your daily intake needs (John Berardi has a good method in last weeks issue). Following the structured outline of his meal combinations, now you must re-evaluate your training regimen. at 17 years old you have alot of testosterone to your disposal, and your goal is serious strength. I suggest Utilizing the “Bring the Pain” methodology for upper and lower body with focuses on your core movements(like a powerlifter) Incorperate some good qaulity protien into your supplementation if you are dying to supplement, but first and foremost gear your supplement efforts towards some surge to ensure adequete post workout nutrition (Because with the Hardcore training prescribed you’ll need it!) if you do this for a month and don’t get huge success you either have the testosterone of a celery stick, or are not human. Robusto
First things first… I’m only helping you because of the free tee shirt offer. So you want to get bigger and stronger? I can sense overtrained but I’d have to see your workouts first to be sure. I need you to post on here and tell us what your workout program looks like. How much bigger do you want to get? How do you want to look? And, are you an athlete? Scour the archives, us T-folks are pretty rigorous and scientific about their workouts and you need to develop that approach. Your best bet would be to work on strength first… FUNCTIONAL strength, ala Renegade style. Read all of the John Davies articles (Gun for Hire, Renegade training) to get an idea. What this will do is whip you into shape and increase your work tolerance. Make functional strength your goal for about 6 months. That’s enough time to do 2-6 strength cycles. For the cycles, choose a program from the likes of Charles Poliquin, Ian King, or Pavel Tsatsouline. If you have enough balls, do the Renegade GPP and bodyweight work before you hit the weightroom. I like to run sprints and do plyometric jumps. During a strength phase your caloric needs drop, but if you’re doing the Renegade training then they will not change. Dont eat packaged crap. Coach Davies says the only thing he eats out of a box is oatmeal. Anyways, at the end of the strength training your muscles will be ready to grow. At this point, cut back on conditioning and eat like crazy. Dont be like one of those mullets that’s scared of gaining fat. Any fat you gain in a bulking phase can be shed off AFTER the phase is over, and there’s enough knowledge on this site to show you how its done. For the bulking workouts, choose one of the Ian King programs… such as a 12 weeks to pain or the limping series. Well my man, I can give you more specific advice if you give me more specific details… your current workout, body fat %, your goals. Oh, and one last thing, are you keeping a training log?
First of all, I guarantee ur diet sucks. Im also 17 and was stuck at the same old 235 bench for months and months and at the same weight. i thought i was taking in mega amounts of protein, but not until i read massive eating did i realize that i wasn’t taking in shit. Also, I looked up training routines on here for increasing strength. I mena i figured there had to be something on here. (TESTOSTEERONE HAS ANSWERS TO EVERYTHING) I wanted strength so i went westside with my routine. Its a hard routine to learn, but i read and read and read about it. My bench went up from 225 3 times to 225 11 times in just a few short weeks. I monitored my training and diet and i exploded. All this without any supplements except for protein shakes to up ym calories. Trust me on this. Read the past articles on here and u will learn that maybe u need to change alot. Also strength has alot to do with the CNS so read up on it.
Kevin-hey man sounds like you are on the right track. You say you are eating a butt load of protein, good. But how much. It is so important that you right down everything you eat and keep track of calories. Go read “the missing ingredient” by Chris(issue 162). So many people over look the importance of a good diet. Also you are still in high school. Chances are you learned everything you know in the weight room from a out of shape football coach.(you know, he taught you to bench first then go to incline, also do three sets per exercise and repeat this cycle through out the school year) You MUST go back and read “12 weeks to super strength” by ian king. I am not to familiar with coach Davies yet but he is doing some great stuff for t-mag, so keep your eye open for him. Also don’t worry about the andro, you can make great gains with proper diet and food log.(food log is just as important as eating). I have to many friends that tell me that they eat X amount of calories when really they have no idea because they don’t calculate cals in their food log.
1)food log 2)12 weeks to super strength 3)watch for coach D. Hope this helps…JOEL…
It’s your diet stupid!!!
Do you keep a food log? I bet you don’t, until you can tell us how much cals you eat every day, how many grams of prot, carbs and fat you eat everyday and i mean day in and day out, how do you expect to make gains on a shit diet?
Supplements until your diet is in order, don’t even think about it, they are as the name suggests, supplements ie to supplement your training and diet to further your goals, they don’t do any magic unless you do some seriously hard work in and out of the gym with your training and diet. Also Cell-tech now come on, you can at least use a biotest supplement can you not.
Regarding the steriods and andro, are you out of your mind, at 17 your body is like a steriod factory, you don't want to mess with that, you could do some seriouse damage to your endocrine system, damage which may be unrepairable!
Also you havn’t stated any real goals, your heading is get big yet you mention a how your bench is week and you don’t really state what weight you would like to be. Figure these out first then tailor you diet and training to it.
What routine are you using and how long have you been on it, if its been two years well you need a change don’t you think?
My advice is get your diet and training in order, for this read the diet manifesto on this site, pick a diet ( massive eating is an great choice ) and then pick a routine which best suits your goals, from which there are hundreds to choose from also located on this site, and do your self one of the biggest favours and read all the back issues.
Do all this and you will progress to T-man hood.
Happy training and productive workouts!
(Char-dawg doing his best Chris Shugart impression): Tell us exactly how much protein and how many calories you get per day. No guessing or “estimates”. If you can’t do that, we’ve found the problem.
Now for my real reply: For christ’s sake, you’re only 17! Give your body another few years before you even think about trying Androsol or anything similar. Yeesh, you kids. “I want it, and I want it NOW!!!” (BTW, at your age and weight, a 230 bench ain’t bad.)
doude don’t even think about messing with ANY kinda hormones right now. staick to basics and eat quality food, maybe some protion powder or MRP’s but thats about it. you probably are just stopping growing around now, your body will start to fill out in the next year or two naturaly. your hormones have more important things to do then build muscle right now. youll kick in to a growth fase REAL soon. just stick to heavy basics (and DEADLIFT). peace
i am not here to really help on this thread. I just want to make some corrections. At 17, Andro is not illegal, it is not reccomended. Also, he may not have that high of t-levels. They may be as high as they are ever gonna be, but they forceably could be lower than a much older persons (like brock’s natural levels are way fucking high). The only 3 bits of advice i have are A)Vary the volume of weight lifted B) experiment around with weight routines and diets to find what toots your horn C)Be persistant and never give up.
“YOU GOTTA’ SQUAT!”
Much of the advice you received is of poor quality, deriving from popular bodybuilding mythology. Do you want to grow? Then follow my advice.
You say you eat a lot and yet have problems adding muscle. This implies one of two things: (1) you are not gaining any weight from week-to-week; (2) you are gaining weight, but it’s almost entirely fat. If (1), then you need to eat more, no matter how much you are currently eating (basically, eat until you gain 0.5 - 1 lb per week). If (2), then chances are, you are either (a) too fat, or (b) have a shitty diet. If (a), then I recommend dieting down to 8-10% BEFORE attempting to pack on more mass (see Berardi’s recent article, which I can heartily recommend from personal experience). If (b), then I recommend following the MASSIVE EATING diet outlined here on T-mag.
I would suggest NOT trying to focus on strength while you are adding muscle. Studies show that low reps seem to be best for gains in 1 RM, while higher reps seem to have an advantage for muscle mass. So focus on one or the other for periods of time.
At 17, you have average or below average testosterone levels. Supplementation with Androsol could help you increase both strength and lean mass, and the chances of negative side effects are essentially zero. However, I would NOT recommend using Androsol because you might neglect the most important issue – your diet – in looking for a quick fix. You should also realize that Androsol IS a steroid, chemically speaking, and produces results similar to the more commonly known steroids (but toned down quite a bit, obviously).
My advice is to continue doing so-called “core” exercises, with the possible exception of the bench press, which is of only limited value to a bodybuilder. But while you do these exercises, do not neglect isolation exercises for each muscle group. You will not look like a bodybuilder by training like a powerlifter.
I haven’t said much about your routine because with most people, the training routine is NOT the limiting factor. But if you have questions on exercises I can certainly help you out there.
Good luck!
just try and focus more on the triceps to help improve your bench, dips, close grip benches, and skullcrushers should help that bench at least a little.peace.
Double your Cell-tech use!!!
just kidding, E
If you’re using CellTech, man, I don’t even know where to start! I’ll have to think about this one.