Teenage Bodybuilding

I’ve seen it mentioned on here a few times and it’s been told to me in the past too, what age have you noticed results really start improving? For instance I know I used to beat myself up in the past about not being really muscular after a year or two of training, but I also realize that a lot of that had to do with me being 15. I was in the gym the other day and someone was talking to me about how he didn’t really start getting big until he was a freshman in college and that growing at 17-18 is really difficult for most people, with 20+ really being when gains come faster. So as above, what age do you think is really optimal for most and when people make their best gains (and do you think it will be much harder for most teenagers to make really significant gains)?

I dont think age has as much to do with it as maturity and experience. I started lifting as a freshman in high school for football. I really didnt see good gains until I was in college either though. However, I put this more on the fact that my knowledge base was poor, my intensity was poor, my diet was poor, and I just didnt know anything about my body.

I made gains, dont get me wrong, but they werent as substantial as they could have been because of my inexperience. At this point (Im 24 now) I have vastly increased my knowledge base, my intensity is better, my diet is stapled, and I know how my body reacts to different splits, exercises, and volume. Sometimes you just have to learn the hard way…

I noticed the first real improvement a few months away from turning 16. Shit just started to click, and it felt like I finally got my beginner gains almost a year after I had started lifting for football. Really I think it moreso has to getting everything together in terms of base, proper technique, dedication, and finding what works for you individually.

One thing I think most of us teens tend to do is lack true intensitiy, and underestimate the importance of diet

This is just a theory in bro science and not an excuse for any ones lack of progress but I always felt that 20-24 were the best years to gain substantial strength and size. i think its when your test levels peak, that; and most teenagers eat like shit, sleep like shit, and lift like shit too.

I don’t know for sure, but I followed a really good diet since starting, in addition to always pushing myself. I gained something like 30lb. the first year but I started underweight (like 130lb. at 6ft). Then I didn’t really grow much until I turned 18 or so (other reasons than just age there, 2 injuries and a surgery), but yea there was definitely a noticeable difference around that age.

When I began casually lifting a few years ago, I had no idea how important diet was. Only this last summer I realized the importance of diet and began making good quality gains.

Just to be clear this is assuming diet is in order

[quote]David1991 wrote:
Just to be clear this is assuming diet is in order[/quote]

With that being assumed, I myself, or anyone for that matter, cannot give you a specific date when one should start making the best gains as it obviously would vary from person to person.

With that being said, I think determining that answer will only come in time through hindsight but here are some things I can think of for you to assess just how close you are to prime “natural steroid” levels. None are extremely scientific, but should still give you a good idea.

  1. Would you consider yourself to have noticed the increase of testosterone in puberty yet? (for me I just remember sometime in my sophomore year where It felt like I was just discovering how to wack off again, everything was suddenly sex related and I could literally feel and notice a difference in testosterone production). For me puberty came in very very quick stages of change, usually separated a few years apart, with my last one being the aforementioned one. It is then where my body changed and I truly felt as If I was a man, and the gains started coming quickly and notciably. I’m sure some don’t have such a noticeable increase, but for me it was just instinctual, and extremely noticeable in terms of how I felt, how I thought, and how I trained. A lot of my friends experienced their own Renaissance of Boners when they were 16-17ish, kinda like one last stretch before becoming fully grown, so if you haven’t really felt the one last surge yet, maybe that is why your progress has stalled

2)Even though you believe your diet is most probably in check, I really think people underestimate just how much protein one can take in. I used to take in maybe a gram per lb of bodyweight, but since I’ve been on a minor cut I have drastically increased my protein in order to retain as much muscle to deal with the caloric deficit, and I have actually GROWN muscle. I do not know your financial situation, but if you allow it drink maybe 1-2 more shakes of whey a day and see if you notice a change. Mine so far has been dramatic.

Keep lifting and eating, adapt what you think works and disregard what doesn’t, it will come.

For me it was after I hit 20. I was training twice a day in HS and was benching 275 but was a measly 135lbs. I got strong as hell because I was constantly lifting. I had the highest strength to weight ratio in my entire graduating class. (we used to put our lifts on the board to track progress). Yet I couldn’t gain a pound.

Then I hit 20 years old and began seeing slightly more progress, then I decided to get serious and went on a serious bulk where I gained 50 lbs. Now had I done a serious bulk in HS could I have gained some weight? yes, but it was when I hit 20 where I felt my body was changing and being more susceptible to change, which is what motivated me to start really lifting.

So for me 20 years old.

The key for me was to start eating MORE and stop to do more than necessary!! I train for a years without alot of gain(training,training,training…and training, I tought that if I train often my muscle gonna grow faster! but at this time I did not event know what whey protein was, my post workout meal was a footlong and some cookies because I was really hungry after my 2hour workout!!!) One day I started to read about bodybuilding diet so I finally discover Whey protein and some good tips to eat better! During the summer after high school I started working, so I had less time to train…but I got more time to eat…After a couple of week I noticed decent change at my body!! I realized how important is food! So Train hard but DO NOT neglect food and you are going to make great gain!

[quote]Kevin Nobert wrote:
The key for me was to start eating MORE and stop to do more than necessary!! I train for a years without alot of gain(training,training,training…and training, I tought that if I train often my muscle gonna grow faster! but at this time I did not event know what whey protein was, my post workout meal was a footlong and some cookies because I was really hungry after my 2hour workout!!!) One day I started to read about bodybuilding diet so I finally discover Whey protein and some good tips to eat better! During the summer after high school I started working, so I had less time to train…but I got more time to eat…After a couple of week I noticed decent change at my body!! I realized how important is food! So Train hard but DO NOT neglect food and you are going to make great gain![/quote]

Amen to that. Train hard and eat a lot. I think that horse has been beat to death, but its still the absolute truth.

For me I was always just gaining fat, I had no problem eating enough to gain but it just seemed too much was fat. Things seem to be changing now though even though I’m not doing things much differently, although there have been some good changes. More carbs for one I think is helping actually, lower fat.

To the guy about saying he benched 275 at 135lb, that’s really impressive. How tall are yo?

I started Weight Training when I was just barely 12 years old.

I made some gains in size between 12-18, but I was not training as a BB’er.

14-18 seemed like pretty good years for mass, but again I was training to put it succinctly for combat.

Most guys I knew did pretty good between 16-19.

I started a little earlier I guess.

I was also more active at a ‘very’ early age.

I did, chins, dips, bw lunges, push ups, when they let us out to play in first grade.

The sooner you put down the keyboard, and pick up your balls the sooner you get shit done in this.

ask Dominick cordone the 16 year old FREAK!

I think it would be wise if CT got involved in this discussion. How you train at certain young ages depends on your maturity level and it’s vitally important to your health a.k.a. bones, muscle mass, future growth, injuries, etc. A young man at 15 that is shaving/higher testosterone levels/early maturity should train differently than a young man the same age who has very little body hair, little visible muscularity (low testosterone levels).

Me personally, I did not shave daily until I was a Senior in COLLEGE. I also gained 60lbs in College, but didn’t reach my athletic potential until after college and in my late 20’s early 30’s. Because your 17 yr. old buddy is shaving and maxing out in the gym doesn’t mean you should be and as CT hopefully will explain, it could be hazardous to future growth. Pay attention to the science, it’s there for a reason. rw

I started training just before I turned 16. I always lead a sedentary life, reading hundreds of pages and sitting in front of the computer for hours. So, I was obese and weak as fuck. Now (I’ll be 19 in november) I’m a bit hyperactive, I need lot of moving around to calm myself.

I also noticed, that before I started training, I could get away with 4-5 hours of sleep per day, but the heavier I train, the more sleep I need. Now I’m having at least 8 hours, prefarably 9.

I got my best results with training 5 times per week. (two days in, one out). I can train my legs and back without getting any soreness, but my arms-chest are suck in recuperation. So pretty much I’m back-leg dominant, whereas I always had hard time with my arms.

I usually train one or two muscles per day, currently someting like this:
-back and traps
-chest and tris
-shoulders and bis
-legs

I take rest as I see I need. sometimes I take rest after every session. I also noticed that my gym performance fluctuates a lot. Although I must admit I’m borderline anorexic and carbo-phobic, but I have my reasons, as I gain fat easily and every single person in my family is FAAT. (especially those who resemble the relatives of my father… I have a cousin 15 yo 310 lbs, with breasts beating his testicles which I bet he haven’t seen in the last 10 years)

I have most of my friends-mates from the same age group (17-20) and they are also training their asses off. They managed to stay away from pharmaceuticals so far. Unfortunately, most of the young guys start taking chemical enhancement drugs between 15 and 16 (mostly danabol) but most of them end their bodybuilding-training carreer once they hit 16 inch arms (which, IMHO is retarded, as it’s pretty much average… :slight_smile: )

I am 14 6’2" 165lbs I take in 4500 calories a day and about 180 grams of protein and lift about 5-6 times a week My bench is only 165 trying to get that up with extra push ups every night sqat 245 deadlift 265 millitary press 125x3 and have been doing the calories and all the lifting constantly for about four months and have not put on one pound.

So would you guys say that its just my body needs to go through whatever hormonal till i can put on weight i am getting my lifts up quite significantly actually though.

[quote]pink14 wrote:
I am 14 6’2" 165lbs I take in 4500 calories a day and about 180 grams of protein and lift about 5-6 times a week My bench is only 165 trying to get that up with extra push ups every night sqat 245 deadlift 265 millitary press 125x3 and have been doing the calories and all the lifting constantly for about four months and have not put on one pound.

So would you guys say that its just my body needs to go through whatever hormonal till i can put on weight i am getting my lifts up quite significantly actually though.[/quote]

I went through a similar thing when I was 12.

I think you just need to eat more.

What are your other activities? They could get in the way.

But again, just eat more.

If you are not gaining weight you are not eating enough.

It’s that complicated.

[quote]Kevin Nobert wrote:
The key for me was to start eating MORE and stop to do more than necessary!! I train for a years without alot of gain(training,training,training…and training, I tought that if I train often my muscle gonna grow faster! but at this time I did not event know what whey protein was, my post workout meal was a footlong and some cookies because I was really hungry after my 2hour workout!!!) One day I started to read about bodybuilding diet so I finally discover Whey protein and some good tips to eat better! During the summer after high school I started working, so I had less time to train…but I got more time to eat…After a couple of week I noticed decent change at my body!! I realized how important is food! So Train hard but DO NOT neglect food and you are going to make great gain![/quote]

DAM! 22years old and beastly nice…

[quote]pink14 wrote:
I am 14 6’2" 165lbs I take in 4500 calories a day and about 180 grams of protein and lift about 5-6 times a week My bench is only 165 trying to get that up with extra push ups every night sqat 245 deadlift 265 millitary press 125x3 and have been doing the calories and all the lifting constantly for about four months and have not put on one pound.

So would you guys say that its just my body needs to go through whatever hormonal till i can put on weight i am getting my lifts up quite significantly actually though.[/quote]

It took me 5000-6000 calories a day to get from 145-180. I went from 180 to 200 now only eating about 3500 a day though, weird.