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#1

I know this type of question has been asked before but it was hard to find something that seemed to pertain to what im trying to do since the search button is broken.

I’m 16 and looking to start getting serious about my performance in sports and my overall physique. I’ve realized, seeing some of my friends graduate, that the time i have in hihg school for sports is limited and i need to do everything i can to be the best. It also doesn’t hurt that the girls like a guy who’s got some nice muscles. I’m reasonably well built alot more muscular than the average person, but i really want to take it to the next level.

Over the next 4 months my goal is to gain around 10 lbs of muscle and lose fat for football. Now my body fat is around 12%. I would like to get to around 7%. im 6ft and around 170 pounds. i lift for our school gym class first thing in the morning for around 40 minutes 3 times a week with core work on the days in between. i have wrestling workouts 4 nights a week. if necessary i could go to the gym and lift more after school.

I try to eat healthy when i can but there are just so many resources its hard to decide on a good diet plan for myself. i know that what you put in your body has a huge role in muscle development. I tfried researching diets, but for the most part it seems as if the diets are either for guys looking to do alot of bulking, guys training for bodybuilding, or overweight people looking to lose alot of fat. i’m not really looking to do any of those. i’m more of a combination of all three.

Also any supplements i should think about? As of now i take a whey protein shake directly after lifting in the mornings

#2

[quote]pistolpete wrote:
I’m 16[/quote]

I just wanted to quote this part, for anyone else about to give advice.

Word of advice, get your mind off of hitting a certain bodyfat percentage because it’s too hard to consistently judge. Base your results on what you see in the mirror.

But 10 pounds of muscle in four months is absolutely possible.

Holy crap. Adding muscle should be your number one priority. I was right where you are (I was 6’2", 170 in high school), and believe me, life as a lanky dude isn’t much fun.

What, exactly, do your workouts look like right now: days, exercises, sets, reps.

More time in the gym isn’t the answer. At your current size, you’re okay wrestling in your current weight class? Could you move up a class?

What, specifically, did you eat yesterday?

How much control do you have over your food - meaning, do you (or can you) cook your own meals? Can your folks stock the fridge with foods you ask for?

It sounds like you’re a naturally skinny guy, and you’re burning even more calories with training and practice. You’ve got to get in enough calories everyday.

You want a diet to add muscle, trust me. That will improve your strength, physique, and performance.

No, there really isn’t anything I’d suggest for now, especially without knowing more details about your training and diet.

The whey shake is plenty for now. Actually, I’d rather see you with a specific post-workout mix, like Surge, but whey will do for now, as long as you’re taking some carbs with it.

And in case you’re wondering, even creatine won’t help right now.

#3

The program we have right now for school goes like this:

MONDAY- Box Squat, Towel Bench, RDLs
TUESDAY- core and flexibility
WEDNESDAY- Power cleans, hex bar deadlift, incline bench/incline dumbells
THURSDAY- core and flexibility
FRIDAY- Squat, bench, 3-way delts
for reps, we rotate weeks
Wk 1: 3x3
wk2:3x5
wk3:1x5,1x3,1x1
wk4:1x10,1x8,1x6 (4,4,2 for hexbar and squat)
The third lift for each day is 3x8
I add in armwork when i have time
We repeat the weeks once and then test for max.

Right now its just off season for wrestling. i’d like too stay within a few pounds of my current weight til the end of april, as i have a large tournament coming up. After that,i can go where i want.

Food for Yesterday
7 am breakfast: 2 eggs,yogurt,orange juice, GNC sport vitamin
11 am lunch: ham, turkey, cheese wrap w/ lettuce, tomato and mayo. bag of lay, apple, 3 skim chocolate milks
3:45 pm snack: south beach diet protein bar, an orange
6:30 pm Dinner: large chicken breast, stuffing, lite gravey, salad w/ lite ranch, a pear

Most days are the same for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is the usually the same type of thing: meat/fish, starch, salad/vegatable, fruit.

I mix in orange juice to the protein shake

#4

First off, congratulation on putting together what, by all accounts, is an impressive first post (as in it displays a certain amount of literacy).

Secondly, I have no idea what Colucci’s going to suggest, but listen to him, he knows what he’s talking about.

My first inclination is to just say eat more. Try and keep your diet clean, don’t eat crap, and just eat more in general.

But, since you want to stay in your weight class for wrestling for the time being, I’m not really sure that would be the best idea.

So, sorry dude, but I’m tagging out for this one, I’m going to leave it to people smarter than me. I just wanted to say welcome to T-Nation. If you’re first couple of posts are anything to go by, you should fit in well (just stay away from the SAMA forum, you’re about 3 years too young for that shit).

#5

[quote]pistolpete wrote:
The program we have right now for school goes like this:

MONDAY- Box Squat, Towel Bench, RDLs
TUESDAY- core and flexibility
WEDNESDAY- Power cleans, hex bar deadlift, incline bench/incline dumbells
THURSDAY- core and flexibility
FRIDAY- Squat, bench, 3-way delts
for reps, we rotate weeks
Wk 1: 3x3
wk2:3x5
wk3:1x5,1x3,1x1
wk4:1x10,1x8,1x6 (4,4,2 for hexbar and squat)
The third lift for each day is 3x8
I add in armwork when i have time
We repeat the weeks once and then test for max.[/quote]

I’m not really crazy about that routine. Where’d it come from? Are you able to do your own routine, or is this something the class/team has to do?

It’s great that it includes power cleans and squats (although I’d consider switching the box squat to some kind of lunge), but I think it completely overemphasizes benching (there’s no reason at all to be benching three days a week) and it’s totally neglecting the back - no rows or pull-ups/pulldowns.

The other thing is that, for size, you’re going to want to work in the 8-12 rep range a little more often, in addition to heavier, lower rep stuff.

No problem, but you can still start increasing calories a bit now. As long as you keep an eye on things (weigh-in once, maybe twice, a week), you’re not going to jump up a ridiculous amount in four weeks. After that, we can go at it full throttle.

[quote]Food for Yesterday
7 am breakfast: 2 eggs,yogurt,orange juice, GNC sport vitamin
11 am lunch: ham, turkey, cheese wrap w/ lettuce, tomato and mayo. bag of lay, apple, 3 skim chocolate milks
3:45 pm snack: south beach diet protein bar, an orange
6:30 pm Dinner: large chicken breast, stuffing, lite gravey, salad w/ lite ranch, a pear[/quote]

I’m guessing you have breakfast, and then train and have your whey/O.J. shake, and then lunch, right? If you can, I’d make your breakfast a little bigger (another egg or some toast, something), if you can stomach eating some more without wanting to yak during training.

I like that you’re eating more fruit in a day than most kids your age eat in a week. That’s a good thing. The first two ingredients in the South Beach bars are soy protein and sugar. That’s not a good thing.

Instead, try to pick up some Metabolic Drive bars or at least a real protein bar from Vitamin Shoppe/GNC. If that’s not possible, I’d switch the bar for some almonds or other nuts.

Try to add another higher-protein meal (a few eggs or maybe a shake with whey and milk) sometime between dinner and going to sleep. I get the feeling you’re not asleep by 9:00pm, so you’re leaving a lot of hours without eating.

As a heads up, once you get rolling with a bulking diet, most of your meals will probably be about the size of your current lunch, calorie-wise.

#6

The routine is a program that the school does. WE’re supposed to follow it, but I don’t think that the teacher would really care if I improvised a little. Once summer hits, we lift at a much better facility for football where there are a much wider variety of machines (like for pulldowns) and alot more time and space for other lifts.

It shouldn’t be a problem having a little more to eat in the mornings. I have a freak metabolism so all the food is out of my stomach in around half an hour. I don’t start training til about 45 minutes after i eat, so i should be fine.

For the protein bars, would something like these be alright?
http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3175589&cp=2167077.2474584.2947450.2844878
They looked fairly comparable to the Metabolic Drive bars. My mom also has a card to GNC so she gets discounts.

I’ll try to start having the extra food before bed. I usually go to bed at around 10, so would eating at around 8:30 be good?

#7

[quote]pistolpete wrote:
The routine is a program that the school does. WE’re supposed to follow it, but I don’t think that the teacher would really care if I improvised a little. Once summer hits, we lift at a much better facility for football where there are a much wider variety of machines (like for pulldowns) and alot more time and space for other lifts.[/quote]

The sooner you can add some back work, the better. I’d go for dumbbell or barbell rows on Monday and pull-ups or pulldowns on Friday. Even adding them after your last exercise of the day would be a start.

You might want to keep the barbell rows at 5 or 6 reps or higher (per set) on barbell rows for now, since they can be tough on the lower back and it’s relatively-easy to get messed up with them.

[quote]For the protein bars, would something like these be alright?
http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3175589&cp=2167077.2474584.2947450.2844878
They looked fairly comparable to the Metabolic Drive bars. My mom also has a card to GNC so she gets discounts.[/quote]

Those are definitely better than the South Beach bars, yeah.

8:30 or 9-ish, sure.

[/quote]

#8

ok. Thanks alot. We’re on spring break right now but i’ll try and start getting into it next week.