Hello, I just joined the forum and I’m looking to improve my strength and athleticism.
To give a little background, I am a High School senior in Pasadena CA. Right now I am quite weak because I got lazy over the summer break and haven’t broken back into serious lifting. In my junior year I was very focused and lifted almost every school day and I was quite strong relative to everyone else at my school. I’m looking to regain and improve upon that strength.
I’m aiming to trim up somewhat, gain muscle, and gain endurance & toughness. I’m also trying to get into shape for swimming but this is somewhat secondary. I don’t really have a solid nutritional plan, besides taking my vitamins, drinking water, eating what tastes best to me, particularly grilled meat, and avoiding sweets.
I eat better then most teenagers, but that’s not saying much. I need to eat far more vegetables and I also need to eat more regularly, especially breakfast. The other big issue I have is not getting enough sleep and messing around too much.
My currant plan looks like this:
M: light running & body weight, some other track, Olympic lifts, and lifts related to Olympic lifts.
T: Swim for 1 - 1.5 hr, some light biking.
Wed: light running & body weight, some other track, power lifting, and related stuff.
Th: Swim for 1 - 1.5 hr, some light biking.
F: light running, some other track, lots of body weight, some burnouts (bench, curl, military press), misc lifts.
sometimes long (70mi) bike ride.
sometimes back burnout (then I rest SAT too)
S: high intensity activities
bike 70 mi (and bike back the next day)
or
play brute ball
or
punching bag, going body with friends…
Sun:
rest and recovery
Once a month I want to bike down to muscle beach, swim in the ocean, run in the sand, and lift in the pen, then take the train back. I could bike both ways, but I think biking after lifting would be a little hard on my back.
This will start when I get off of break, 1/7. In the mean time I’m going to just do a lot of push ups, pull ups, light running so that starting a serious program wont be such a shock. Specifically, at least 150 push ups with 3 different types, 300 crunches, 25 pull-ups and a one-mile run for the next week.
To be honest, I’m not going to start in till the 2nd because the next few days are going to be pretty occupied with messing around and preparing for New Years Eve. I’ll still try and get a 100 push ups a day in though.
This plan is built around the resources I expect to have when school starts up. After school on M, W, and F there is an open weight lifting class with the football coach. At the beginning he has you do some high intensity supersets (if I understand the meaning of the word); so far it has been 3 circuits of flat bench-incline bench-lat pull down-shoulder press machine.
Afterwards you have some more flexibility about what you do. Right before school ends on those days (M W F) I have a PE period where I can do whatever I want, including ditching which has been a big problem. This is where I want do some track stuff and do some body weight exercises.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I’m pretty confidant I can get after school access to the pool, though I would be on my own so I wouldn’t have the motivation of a coach. I’ll start with swimming a mile a day in till that becomes a warm-up while gradually adding specific training for my events. The biking would be mostly to and from work, maybe a quick ride to the top of lake (a local avenue that ends at the base of the mountains).
To stay on track I have a journal, and I’ll write down both what I plan to do that day (in advance) and what I end up doing. This will include exercise, nutrition, and school work.
If I have trouble keeping a journal, I’ll try posting it here so you guys can rag on me.
Before my break ends I want to have at least a general nutrition plan worked out, and a months worth of training mapped out in my journal. I would greatly appreciate any comments or suggestions that would guide me in a better direction.