Teen Athlete/Bodybuilder

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hey T-Nation, I have a question, I want to pack on mass and be defined. I am currently weighing 170 Lbs, i eat around 3000 calories a day. here is my current work out routine. Just so you guys know i throw interval cardio truing in every other day, ( 20 sec hard, 40 rest, for 30 min on the bike)

Day 1 Legs and abs

Back squats 5 x5-10
Stiff leg deads/strict deads 5 x5-10
Roman chair 5 x20
Oblique bend 5 x20
Leg extension 5 x5-10
Sit up with med ball 5 x20
Front squat 5 x5-10

Day 2 Chest

Flat Bench 5 x5-10 (week 1)
Incline Dumbbell press 5 x5-10
Dumbbell pull over 5 x5-10
Incline Dumbbell fly 5 x10-15

Flat Dumbbell press 5 x5-10 (week 2)

Day 3 back

Dead lifts 5 x5-10
T-Bar Rowe 5 x5-10
Lat Pull downs 5 x5-10
Barbell Rowe 5 x5-10
Dumbbell Rowe 5x 5-10
Scare crows 5x 10-15

Day 4 arms and shoulders

Barbell curl 5 x5-10 (week 1)
Skull crusher 5 x5-10
Shoulder press 5 x5-10
Lateral raises 5 x5-10
Push downs 5 x5-10
Concentration curl 5 x5-10

Dumbbell curl 5 x5-10 (week 2)

any suggestions? Please help me out fellas!!

2

Pictures?

3

i don’t like to post them, i am 5’10" 170 lbs 14 % BF

bench: 155lbs
squat: 155 lbs
dead: 275 lbs

(maxes)

i know pretty weak…

4

[quote]stevekweli wrote:
Pictures?
[/quote]

no man sorry but i don’t like to post them I’m 5’10" 170 lbs 14% bf (around there)

5

Why is pretty much everything 5x5-10? That looks like you’ll be in the gym forever on some days. Is everything the same weight for all 5 sets? 5-10 is a big range, do you do all sets at 5 reps one week, then 6 reps next week, then 7 next week? Or what? I’m not really sure how everything fits together here. Do you really think you’re going to be feeling ready to front squat for 5 sets after all of that before hand?

6

Vary your rep ranges and set/rep schemes, but do so intelligently. Doing 5x5 and 5x10 is a big difference, so you need to have a clear plan. You are also doing a lot of volume, especially on your leg and back days. You don’t need to do 5 sets for everything. Sometimes more can be beneficial, sometimes less.

5x5-10 deadlifts might feel okay now, but once you get a little stronger, I can all but guarantee that it will completely demoralize you.

Many of your exercise orders make no sense, notably those on Day 1 and Day 4. As an example, you’re doing skullcrushers before pressing. Pressing is already a very triceps heavy movement, so pre-exhausting your tris isn’t going to help you train your shoulders.

You also should indicate your rest days. With a 4 day split, you will have, ideally, only one day with back-to-back training. Legs/Chest, Chest/Back, or Legs/Shoulders and Arms are all reasonably decent choices for the back-to-back workouts.

In all honesty, this is not really an ideal workout plan. You can fix all of these issues by picking a pre-existing program that suits your goals. Unfortunately, saying you want to be an “athlete/bodybuilder” is a little vague. Perhaps a general strength program of your choice might be a good place to start?

7

[quote]staystrong wrote:
Why is pretty much everything 5x5-10? That looks like you’ll be in the gym forever on some days. Is everything the same weight for all 5 sets? 5-10 is a big range, do you do all sets at 5 reps one week, then 6 reps next week, then 7 next week? Or what? I’m not really sure how everything fits together here. Do you really think you’re going to be feeling ready to front squat for 5 sets after all of that before hand?[/quote]

I do 5 sets, and they look like this ( 10, 8, 8, 6/7, 5)
i have about 30 sec -45 sec break between sets.

8

[quote]Apoklyps wrote:
Vary your rep ranges and set/rep schemes, but do so intelligently. Doing 5x5 and 5x10 is a big difference, so you need to have a clear plan. You are also doing a lot of volume, especially on your leg and back days. You don’t need to do 5 sets for everything. Sometimes more can be beneficial, sometimes less.

5x5-10 deadlifts might feel okay now, but once you get a little stronger, I can all but guarantee that it will completely demoralize you.

Many of your exercise orders make no sense, notably those on Day 1 and Day 4. As an example, you’re doing skullcrushers before pressing. Pressing is already a very triceps heavy movement, so pre-exhausting your tris isn’t going to help you train your shoulders.

You also should indicate your rest days. With a 4 day split, you will have, ideally, only one day with back-to-back training. Legs/Chest, Chest/Back, or Legs/Shoulders and Arms are all reasonably decent choices for the back-to-back workouts.

In all honesty, this is not really an ideal workout plan. You can fix all of these issues by picking a pre-existing program that suits your goals. Unfortunately, saying you want to be an “athlete/bodybuilder” is a little vague. Perhaps a general strength program of your choice might be a good place to start?[/quote]

I do 5 sets and the rep range looks like this (10, 8, 8, 6/7, 5)

Okay so how should i go about with my splits, they are starting to look dumb… i can only do a 4 day split with my school schedule and i take my REST day after day 1 and 2 the day 3 and 4 rest

Could you make me an example work out split then? i just want to look good, (athletically, be strong)

Geared more towards an athlete

9

[quote]jake_richardson wrote:
Could you make me an example work out split then? i just want to look good, (athletically, be strong)

Geared more towards an athlete [/quote]

This is something that would help with fat loss, so why are you doing it now? Also, what’s “truing”?

[quote]bench: 155lbs
squat: 155 lbs
dead: 275 lbs [/quote]
Bench and squat shouldn’t be the same unless you’ve been slacking on leg work, overemphasizing the bench, and/or have some kind of structural issue or past injury.

It’s fine to rest a full minute or longer before the last/heaviest sets. Keeping rest times as short as you are can negatively impact your strength.

What, exactly, did you eat yesterday?

10

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]jake_richardson wrote:
Could you make me an example work out split then? i just want to look good, (athletically, be strong)

Geared more towards an athlete [/quote]

This is something that would help with fat loss, so why are you doing it now? Also, what’s “truing”?

Just to keep fit, i do it for sports and of course fat loss.

[quote]bench: 155lbs
squat: 155 lbs
dead: 275 lbs [/quote]
Bench and squat shouldn’t be the same unless you’ve been slacking on leg work, overemphasizing the bench, and/or have some kind of structural issue or past injury.

I have had past knee injuries, for about a year i had to take it easy.

It’s fine to rest a full minute or longer before the last/heaviest sets. Keeping rest times as short as you are can negatively impact your strength.

Okay, i am considering doing the “Jim Wendler 5/3/1”

What, exactly, did you eat yesterday?[/quote]

Breakfast
3 eggs
oatmeal
banana

snack
protein shake and an orange

lunch

chicken wrap with 1 l of water and a baked sweet potato

pre work out
whole grain spagetti and meat balls

dinner

chicken breast brown rice caesar salad and milk

before bed

protein and a banana

11

Okay cool, that’s actually much better than I expected.

If you are trying to put on size, you just need to make sure the scale goes up each week. Weigh yourself once a week, first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom but before eating or drinking anything.

You should be able to find ways to “sneak in” extra calories through the day. An extra egg or two at breakfast, milk in protein shakes instead of water, etc.

Also, whenever you gain bodyweight, you should also make sure you’re gaining strength in the gym. That’s a good rule of thumb to make sure you’re building muscle along the way. If the scale goes up way faster than strength gains, it’s a sign that something needs adjustment.

12

[quote]jake_richardson wrote:
Okay so how should i go about with my splits, they are starting to look dumb… i can only do a 4 day split with my school schedule and i take my REST day after day 1 and 2 the day 3 and 4 rest

Could you make me an example work out split then? i just want to look good, (athletically, be strong)

Geared more towards an athlete [/quote]

I wouldn’t say it’s dumb. It’s better than a lot of the bro splits I see, but I was just trying to illustrate the point that if you want to design your own program and do it right, there are a lot of factors to consider. It’s much easier to use someone else’s programming and until you start to figure out what kinds of programming works well for you, it’s usually more efficient too.

I’d say the program CC suggested is a good place to start. I took a quick look and it’s balanced and works with your schedule. I saw great gains early on using a fairly basic upper/lower 2x a week split so you should be in good hands.

As an alternative, some form of 5/3/1 would probably do the trick as well. It’s a very easily customizable program, but you have to understand the program first.

Also, 30 min of HIIT is a lot.