Let Myself Go Bigtime. Time to Smarten Up

SEPTEMBER 2009 - 16 years old, ~190 lbs, 5’8. typical teenage garbage diet. Bench/Squat/deadlift, 225/245/265.

 I was playing football, practice and a game every weekday, and also playing ball hockey once a week. lots of walking to and from school. Only weight training in offseason.

MAY 2011 - 17 going on 18, ~250lbs, 5’11. Equally garbage diet. bench/squat/deadlift, 315/395/405.

 Football season is done, now goin on lacrosse season. gym at least 4 times a week.

As you can see i put on A LOT of weight. quite a bit of fat too. okay maybe a lot. so now im getting fed up and tired of being so pudgy. time for a positive change. lifts have gone up dramatically, but thats probably due to the weight put on. my upper body is a lot bigger and equally defined. but unfortunately my stomach has equally grown, soi dont look bigger up top, just a bigger scale version.

My workout routine has been working for me and my PRs have responded accordingly, setting a new one every couple months.

so obviously its the diet. bad eating habits have caught up to me due to the lowering of physical activity. time to eat clean, time to CUT?

my diet plan looks something like this:
meal 1: 4 eggs, oatmeal, milk
meal 2: whole wheat tortilla, chicken breast, salsa, cheese
meal 3: banana, protein bar
snack: blueberries, granola/oats
post workout: banana, protein, rice cakes, peanut butter
meal4: chicken breast/steak, broccoli (rice or pasta on days where i have lax practice/game??)

ANY ADVICE ON DIET, EXERCISE, MENTAL APPROACH?? its obviously been tough realizing this. this post is good thing, getting out my frustrations, maybe it’ll help with my goal.

I’m a little confused.

Diet looks fine, ultimately that comes down to just not eating like crap (something we all did in high school), but what else are you asking?

You also grew 3 inches. Going to add on weight there.

[quote]sous52 wrote:
SEPTEMBER 2009 - 16 years old, ~190 lbs, 5’8. Bench/Squat/deadlift, 225/245/265.

MAY 2011 - 17 going on 18, ~250lbs, 5’11. bench/squat/deadlift, 315/395/405.
[/quote]
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll tell you that you did it right. Seriously. Most kids in the gym are so scared to lose their abs that they’ll never make it to this level of strength. Most people in general are so preoccupied with losing weight that they’ll never reach a decent size.

Quick diet cleanup and three months of busting ass will get you where you want to be. Then you can get back to getting bigger.

All in all, I gotta say: Great job.

And work on that deadlift (it’s probably a technique issue)

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
I’m a little confused.

Diet looks fine, ultimately that comes down to just not eating like crap (something we all did in high school), but what else are you asking?[/quote]

Just asking if my diet plan is appropriate for my goals. And if anyone has any other tips for a young guy trying to cut.

[quote]JayPierce wrote:

[quote]sous52 wrote:
SEPTEMBER 2009 - 16 years old, ~190 lbs, 5’8. Bench/Squat/deadlift, 225/245/265.

MAY 2011 - 17 going on 18, ~250lbs, 5’11. bench/squat/deadlift, 315/395/405.
[/quote]
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll tell you that you did it right. Seriously. Most kids in the gym are so scared to lose their abs that they’ll never make it to this level of strength. Most people in general are so preoccupied with losing weight that they’ll never reach a decent size.

Quick diet cleanup and three months of busting ass will get you where you want to be. Then you can get back to getting bigger.

All in all, I gotta say: Great job.

And work on that deadlift (it’s probably a technique issue)[/quote]

Thanks man. I guess I’ve been too preoccupied with getting my bench up LOL. Deadlift is always something i’ve had trouble with, i have reeeally short legs compared to the torso. Gonna focus on it for sure though.

What Jay said.

Clean up the diet, but I wouldn’t try and aggressively diet…that isn’t a great idea since you’re young. Focus on increasing your lifts, eating clean, but still a good amount, and maybe add in some conditioning work (sprints, complexes, etc).

[quote]JayPierce wrote:

[quote]sous52 wrote:
SEPTEMBER 2009 - 16 years old, ~190 lbs, 5’8. Bench/Squat/deadlift, 225/245/265.

MAY 2011 - 17 going on 18, ~250lbs, 5’11. bench/squat/deadlift, 315/395/405.
[/quote]
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll tell you that you did it right. Seriously. Most kids in the gym are so scared to lose their abs that they’ll never make it to this level of strength. Most people in general are so preoccupied with losing weight that they’ll never reach a decent size.

Quick diet cleanup and three months of busting ass will get you where you want to be. Then you can get back to getting bigger.

All in all, I gotta say: Great job.

And work on that deadlift (it’s probably a technique issue)[/quote]

You have no idea if he did it right or not. You need a picture to know this.

5 11 250 with only a 315 bbench and 405 dead is not impressive. That’s why Im pointing this out.

[quote]sous52 wrote:
SEPTEMBER 2009 - 16 years old, ~190 lbs, 5’8. typical teenage garbage diet. Bench/Squat/deadlift, 225/245/265.

 I was playing football, practice and a game every weekday, and also playing ball hockey once a week. lots of walking to and from school. Only weight training in offseason.

MAY 2011 - 17 going on 18, ~250lbs, 5’11. Equally garbage diet. bench/squat/deadlift, 315/395/405.

 Football season is done, now goin on lacrosse season. gym at least 4 times a week.

As you can see i put on A LOT of weight. quite a bit of fat too. okay maybe a lot. so now im getting fed up and tired of being so pudgy. time for a positive change. lifts have gone up dramatically, but thats probably due to the weight put on. my upper body is a lot bigger and equally defined. but unfortunately my stomach has equally grown, soi dont look bigger up top, just a bigger scale version.

My workout routine has been working for me and my PRs have responded accordingly, setting a new one every couple months.

so obviously its the diet. bad eating habits have caught up to me due to the lowering of physical activity. time to eat clean, time to CUT?

my diet plan looks something like this:
meal 1: 4 eggs, oatmeal, milk
meal 2: whole wheat tortilla, chicken breast, salsa, cheese
meal 3: banana, protein bar
snack: blueberries, granola/oats
post workout: banana, protein, rice cakes, peanut butter
meal4: chicken breast/steak, broccoli (rice or pasta on days where i have lax practice/game??)

ANY ADVICE ON DIET, EXERCISE, MENTAL APPROACH?? its obviously been tough realizing this. this post is good thing, getting out my frustrations, maybe it’ll help with my goal.

[/quote]

1)Diet looks good man. Keep it up. Work your butt off in the off season (weights, energy systems work, skill specific training) if keep your diet tight and you’ll lose some of the chub

  1. Try to get some more sleep too, texting/facebooking/IMing some hot chick from your history class does not count, even if you are in your bed.

AND If you’re drinking booze or smoking (cigs/weed) then you might as well give up on a diet…I’m not joking

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]JayPierce wrote:

[quote]sous52 wrote:
SEPTEMBER 2009 - 16 years old, ~190 lbs, 5’8. Bench/Squat/deadlift, 225/245/265.

MAY 2011 - 17 going on 18, ~250lbs, 5’11. bench/squat/deadlift, 315/395/405.
[/quote]
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll tell you that you did it right. Seriously. Most kids in the gym are so scared to lose their abs that they’ll never make it to this level of strength. Most people in general are so preoccupied with losing weight that they’ll never reach a decent size.

Quick diet cleanup and three months of busting ass will get you where you want to be. Then you can get back to getting bigger.

All in all, I gotta say: Great job.

And work on that deadlift (it’s probably a technique issue)[/quote]

You have no idea if he did it right or not. You need a picture to know this.

5 11 250 with only a 315 bbench and 405 dead is not impressive. That’s why Im pointing this out. [/quote]
Compared to the vast majority of teenagers, he’s doing fucking great. At 250? No his lifts aren’t impressive, but he’s laid down a great foundation that could take him a long way.

I agree with bonez.

My best advice to OP is to get significantly stronger.

[/quote]

AND If you’re drinking booze or smoking (cigs/weed) then you might as well give up on a diet…I’m not joking[/quote]

Anyone who’s a social drinker should give up on a diet?

[quote]heat49 wrote:
[/quote]

AND If you’re drinking booze or smoking (cigs/weed) then you might as well give up on a diet…I’m not joking[/quote]

Anyone who’s a social drinker should give up on a diet?[/quote]

It’s certainly not the most conducive thing to dieting…and of course, it all depends on how serious one is about dieting.

[quote]heat49 wrote:
[/quote]

AND If you’re drinking booze or smoking (cigs/weed) then you might as well give up on a diet…I’m not joking[/quote]

Anyone who’s a social drinker should give up on a diet?[/quote]

If you are getting lean…I don’t think it matters much, depending on how much you’re drinking and what kind of drinks…Getting bombed once a week isn’t doing much, I’ve dropped quite a bit of fat and still go out and have a good time. I am just tight with more workouts and diet at all other times.

However, if you’re getting contest lean, you don’t want to be drinking. Although I remeber hearing Kevin Levrone would drink before competitions lol…And to be honest the morning after drinking, because you usually get dehydrated, you look better, at least in my experience lol.

^ Dude i look and feel like absolute ass after a night of drinking

I usually feel like a million bucks.

[quote]heat49 wrote:

Anyone who’s a social drinker should give up on a diet?[/quote]

Yeah there are a lot of high school kids that drink a glass of wine with dinner LOL.

Don’t just take my word for it:
CDC says: “Although drinking by persons under the age of 21 is illegal, people aged 12 to 20 years drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States. More than 90% of this alcohol is consumed in the form of binge drinks.”

Link: Underage Drinking | CDC

Simply:

Alcohol screws up your hormones (test down, IGF-1 down, estr-ogen up, blah blah blah) and slows down protein synthesis. The more you drink (quantity and frequency) the greater the negative side-effect.

Clarification: I’m not saying a glass of wine or a few beers with dinner a few times a week is going to do a whole lot, or even one heavy night of drinking to celebrate your best freinds wedding is going to ruin your physique.

What I am saying is a lot of people worry about peri-workout nutrition timing, precise food measurement, whether they should do 5 x 5 or 5/3/1 to get stronger, when their getting hammered both nights on the weekend every week, screwing up the stuff listed above, plus the usual things that accompany it, missing training sessions, crap nutrition, no sleep, dehydration, ect.

[quote]deat wrote:
Simply:

Alcohol screws up your hormones (test down, IGF-1 down, estr-ogen up, blah blah blah) and slows down protein synthesis. The more you drink (quantity and frequency) the greater the negative side-effect.

Clarification: I’m not saying a glass of wine or a few beers with dinner a few times a week is going to do a whole lot, or even one heavy night of drinking to celebrate your best freinds wedding is going to ruin your physique.

What I am saying is a lot of people worry about peri-workout nutrition timing, precise food measurement, whether they should do 5 x 5 or 5/3/1 to get stronger, when their getting hammered both nights on the weekend every week, screwing up the stuff listed above, plus the usual things that accompany it, missing training sessions, crap nutrition, no sleep, dehydration, ect.

[/quote]

I have seen (and known) plenty of guys who drink copious amounts of alcohol every weekend and still are big and lean. So besides the negative health benefits, I really don’t see alcohol being a reason to “ditch your diet” if you should choose to consume it.

If you want to try something cool, eat healthy and clean ALL week long with no cheats. Then on Friday night go out and have a large pizza or whatever for a cheat meal. Later, go out drinking. The next morning, I am usually leaned out from all the pissing and carb loaded from the pizza.

[quote]Rhino Jockey wrote:

[quote]deat wrote:
Simply:

Alcohol screws up your hormones (test down, IGF-1 down, estr-ogen up, blah blah blah) and slows down protein synthesis. The more you drink (quantity and frequency) the greater the negative side-effect.

Clarification: I’m not saying a glass of wine or a few beers with dinner a few times a week is going to do a whole lot, or even one heavy night of drinking to celebrate your best freinds wedding is going to ruin your physique.

What I am saying is a lot of people worry about peri-workout nutrition timing, precise food measurement, whether they should do 5 x 5 or 5/3/1 to get stronger, when their getting hammered both nights on the weekend every week, screwing up the stuff listed above, plus the usual things that accompany it, missing training sessions, crap nutrition, no sleep, dehydration, ect.

[/quote]

I have seen (and known) plenty of guys who drink copious amounts of alcohol every weekend and still are big and lean. So besides the negative health benefits, I really don’t see alcohol being a reason to “ditch your diet” if you should choose to consume it.

[/quote]

Rhino,
In your post you mention the experience of “keeping you diet clean all week, having a cheat meal and then using alcohol to dehydrate you to lose some bloat/water”.

  1. Most athletes diets are within the range of strong to very strong suckiness
  2. Most athletes who drink excessively screw up their diets further, not to mention the aestetic benefits of being dry might be fun for bbers, but hydration levels are critical to performance and recovery for athletes

I being a former D1 athlete at BCS school I also know plenty of guys who drink alcohol who are big and lean. I also know guys who didn’t/don’t lift weights but have more LBM and lower body fat then nearly everyone on this site with the exception of some of the assisted guys. For example a guy who has been playing the NFL for the last 4 years, 6’1" 240 bod-pod tested at 6-7% bf didn’t lift prior to transfering as a JUCO player, he did however carry around a gallon jug of Orange Drink…

Athletes have much higher training volume and anything that negatively affects their hydration, nutrition, sleep and hormones in a negative should be addressed.

The OP is a high school athlete, looking for advice to improve his physique and performance.

I’m basing my opinion on:

  1. The advice of many well respected strength coaches and physique experts (multiple well respected contributors to this site)
  2. My personal experiences and the experiences of those I have competed with at the college level
  3. My experience working with numerous HS athletes
  4. All the science mumbo jumbo (lol)

Sorry for the piles of text and rambling. :slight_smile: