T Nation

Mass Building for My 17 yr Old Son

Beginners
#1

I competed (PL) at a fairly high level for many years and am now training my son. You would think with my experience he would listen, but he is very thick headed. Hopefully you guys can help.

Like most 17 years olds he wants to get “ripped”, so his stats pre diet were 6’ 165. he goes on a fairly strict (for a 17 year old) keto Diet and loses about 12lbs in 4-5 weeks. All of his lifts in the gym have about stayed the same…and some have gone up a little. I keep telling him that big muscle gains / strength gains are VERY difficult while dieting down that hard. I am actually surprised that he has maintained and even made some gains. I

Please. I need input from putside sources for him to read so we can get over this nonsense. In the meantime I have put together a 6 week mass building diet for him that is very clean and will prove my point…he needs to gain more muscle with the slight fat increase, then diet down after to get what he desire

#2

If you son is a bullheaded as I was when I was 17 you might be pissing into the wind. You’d think that with a father that competed in PL he’s wise up to what the old man would have to say.

If he wants to be “ripped” let him be “ripped.” If he’s anything like some of the training partners i’ve had over the years he’ll eventually get it. A lot people start lifting wanting to get the muscle mag cover model look. They say “I don’t want to get much bigger I just want to ‘tone.’”

They make progress just like your son will but their lifts will inevitably stall and no amount of different “shock programs” will help(no matter how good the bootleg copy of P90X you have is). Eventually they come to realize if they want to lift more weight and have bigger muscles you have to eat more.

It’s a simple axiom: You have to eat big to be big.

#3

Maybe let your son become a member of TMuscle, give him a week and he will definately start understanding eat and lift big… lol make him read professor X and wayalanders threads!! haha or organise a webcam conversation with X, would definately get your son in the right direction lol!

#4

Beat the shit out of him.

That, and, maybe if you just try and trick him into lots and lots of physical activity outside of the gym he’ll break down and eat a couple of pizza’s and hamburgers.

a high g-flux is good for gaining size/staying lean:

#5

Everyone’s different. If he wants to be “ripped” and sexy and lean and all that, there might not be much you CAN do. Are you stronger than him? I know that part of what motivated me, and continues to motivate me, is constant competition with my long-term training partner. I don’t want him to be stronger than me.

We try to maintain a reasonable physique, but we never worry about being ripped. I actually trained my father for a while. I was stronger than him the entire time, but I know that if he had come in stronger than me, it would’ve driven me crazy. If I was your son, that is how I would recommend you motivate me.

Of course if you’re fat, weak, out of shape, etc. (no offense), this won’t really work lol. Still, that is my best advice, just based on personal experience as a teenager. Maybe work on it, if you’re not already.

Or beat him up until he gets strong enough to kick your ass. Whatever.

#6

I’d say if I looked back at High School and how things are now, if you’re a ripped dude then you’re gonna get way more action and interest from women than if you’re a bigger dude, even if you’re lean.

If I did 17 again I’d wanna be ripped too :slight_smile: I workout now for myself, I’m 5’10" 230lbs 10-12% BF and if I were doing it for the ladies I’d be trying to hit 195lbs for about 10% BF…

#7

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Beat the shit out of him.

That, and, maybe if you just try and trick him into lots and lots of physical activity outside of the gym he’ll break down and eat a couple of pizza’s and hamburgers.

a high g-flux is good for gaining size/staying lean:


[/quote]

Hahaha…if it was 20 years ago all things being the same I might crack him…not in this day and age.

#8

[quote]eeu743 wrote:
Everyone’s different. If he wants to be “ripped” and sexy and lean and all that, there might not be much you CAN do. Are you stronger than him? I know that part of what motivated me, and continues to motivate me, is constant competition with my long-term training partner. I don’t want him to be stronger than me.

We try to maintain a reasonable physique, but we never worry about being ripped. I actually trained my father for a while. I was stronger than him the entire time, but I know that if he had come in stronger than me, it would’ve driven me crazy. If I was your son, that is how I would recommend you motivate me.

Of course if you’re fat, weak, out of shape, etc. (no offense), this won’t really work lol. Still, that is my best advice, just based on personal experience as a teenager. Maybe work on it, if you’re not already.

Or beat him up until he gets strong enough to kick your ass. Whatever.[/quote]

Yeh… I am a bit stronger. Even after two years off due to PL injuries in a meet I am hitting 350 raw with a pause in the bench…at 205lbs. There will be a day he can kick my ass, not quite yet though…lol

#9

I’m 17 and thinking of starting into PL…can i switch places? lol.

But I admit, some people I know are the most stubborn teens I’ve ever heard of, and can be terrible to discuss something with. With that being said, all teens like a challenge or a wager or a bet. Try something like that, say if he does what you say for one month and doesn’t show any improvement whatsoever, etc.

Hopefully he won’t sabotage that to prove his own point.

Another option might be to let him try things out and make choices, but to boost whatever decision he makes, for example give him advice tailored to whatever he does, but not try to convince him to do what you want.

And if nothing else, just say “Don’t do anything stupid and don’t injure yourself.” and let him do his own thing. In a year or two he may see how lucky he is to have a father that has experience with lifting to guide him. Hopefully his best years are not gone by then.

#10

[quote]ozzyaaron wrote:
I’d say if I looked back at High School and how things are now, if you’re a ripped dude then you’re gonna get way more action and interest from women than if you’re a bigger dude, even if you’re lean.

If I did 17 again I’d wanna be ripped too :slight_smile: I workout now for myself, I’m 5’10" 230lbs 10-12% BF and if I were doing it for the ladies I’d be trying to hit 195lbs for about 10% BF… [/quote]

so if you were lifting to get girls you would want to lose 30ish pounds of muscle and possibly 2% more bodyfat? whaaa?

.greg.