Will Weights Screw Up My Cardio?

I’ve have just started doing weights, i am an ectomorph and I’m 5’6, and 115 pounds, and am 14 years old. I am practicing learning muay thai, i was wondering if doing weights will ultimately screw up my cardio. I can lift 25 pounds curls, 5 reps, 3 sets. I am thinking about to put on 15 pounds for the summer. I usually have two cardio workouts a week, 2 long hours of muay thai pad training. I was wondering what i could do to gain my weight, and also for it not to effect my cardio, because for the people who don’t know kick boxing matches are usually cardio-oriented.

So my main questions are

  1. Is putting on 15 pounds of muscle a reasonable goal for 2 months,if i dedicate myself.
  2. How much times should i be lifting weights per week.
  3. Should i work on weights, before or after cardio workouts.
  4. How much grams of protein to consume in a workout day and non-work out day.
  5. Will doing weights stunt my growth. (height)

Thank you for reading, and if you know anything that can help me, it would be great if you could post.

Don’t chase butterflies. Get hella stronger, and eat adequate, and just see.
What equipment do you have access to?
Do you know how to perform basic movements?
Latch onto someone that can teach you. It’ll pay off forever. Mosey over to the beginner forum.
Lift more than you read here. If you are spending more time reading here than you are lifting, you are wasting your time.

Thanks, uhm, I’ve only read a few entries from the forum. I have access to adjustable dumbbells, max 50 lbss. I also have a gym membership to where there are chin up bars, weights, and some machines that im not familiar too. I can probably ask a few guys at the gym, if i need to for proper form.

Edit; The dumbbells i got came with tutorials for pectoral and biceps exercises, i have that part down. :slight_smile: No, that and the fact that some people in my school are lifting 35-40 pounds already…so i want to make sure that I’m not that far behind them. I also want to make weight if i decide to learn mma too. Thank you for your advice. ~

  1. It’s been suggested, if I recall correctly, that the most you should expect to put on in a week is ~1 lb of muscle under ideal conditions. Therefore, it would seem more reasonable to shoot for 10 lbs or so of muscle and probably some fat along with that.

  2. It really depends on your split. If you’re new to lifting (which I take it you are) I would suggest looking at one of the full body templates on this site to get things started, which would equate to 3 days a week.

  3. I would suggest weights then cardio if they have to be the same day. However, I like to split them up and do them on different days.

  4. Unlikely/no.

I didn’t answer four since it’s about to be answered. I would suggest that if you really want to get bigger, and if you truly are an ectomorph, don’t worry about counting grams or calories, just eat a lot. Shoot for eating 7 times per day (never go 3 hours without eating). If you want to try and minimize fat gain, I would suggest sticking to natural foods (meat, nuts, non-processed grains, fruits, veggies, milk, eggs, etc), but at your age, you can probably eat just about anything and be fine. If you’re trying to put on some weight, its WAY better to eat too much than too little.

Thank you, very much appreciated. :slight_smile:

can we step back a minute: you’re taking muay thai, right?
what does your coach recommend for your training practice right now? is it to put on mass or to get stronger and faster and leaner?

can we step back a minute: you’re taking muay thai, right?
what does your coach recommend for your training practice right now? is it to put on mass or to get stronger and faster and leaner?

I’d suggest putting on weight regardless of what your coach says, honestly. It’s your body, and I feel like a light bastard myself, but I’m 130 at 5’3, and my body fat % is like 15 tops. If I’m a shrimp, and I’m heavier than you, you need to start eating your meat.
I know how it feels having to put on weight, just keep active, and the appetite will come. Good luck :slight_smile:

[quote]heim wrote:
I’d suggest putting on weight regardless of what your coach says, honestly. It’s your body, and I feel like a light bastard myself, but I’m 130 at 5’3, and my body fat % is like 15 tops. If I’m a shrimp, and I’m heavier than you, you need to start eating your meat.
I know how it feels having to put on weight, just keep active, and the appetite will come. Good luck :)[/quote]

im lean muscularr, ;D, i can probably outrun and out-eat a lot of guys too, eating 5 big meals a day… meh, im lifting 25lbs dumbells atm like 7 reps 4 sets, pushups, situps, 2 hour cardio boxing workouts. when it aint cardio, its weights. idc that much about my weight now, ill just get stronger now do more weights, wait till i hit 20, so protein pills wont stunt my growth.

thx anyways guys

In all honestly i wouldn’t bother with weights at the moment. You are young and so wont see much benefit from them in the way that you want to use them.

If i were you id work with your body weight and do squats, pull ups, dips, and press-ups.

Keep this up concentrating on form over reps etc until you hit 16. Once you are 16 concentrate on your big 3 (squat/dead lift/bench press) and Overhead press. Also start adding weight onto your body weight exercise for less reps. Again Form over weight or reps. Maybe even start looking at the oly lifts and plyos (its worth investing in a coach for these)

Once you are 18 Pick you direction if you would like to continue your martial arts then by all means train for it. If you have become obsessed with your one rep max and get wood at every personal best then get into power lifting. If you would like to be told that your body is better than 10 or so men around you who have trained just as hard then get into Bodybuilding.

Do it this way and you will have a solid foundation to specialize and the experience to know what you and your body are best at.

Obviously this is just a general guidance for you and is open for people to critique as i am new to the profession and would love to learn on the opinions of others. I do feelo however this is the best way to go at a young age as you will (by 18 years of age) have 4 years training experience and 2 years big lift experience and should hopefully dwarf the capabilities of less serious guys (and hopefully girls) your age.

Good luck whatever you do and id stick on T-Nation if i were you as it offers a view of both sides of the fence on most if not all gym theories.

I say hit the weights now. You will DEFINITELY see a benefit from them! Do a 3 day full body workout, maybe check in with your strength coach for the football team he should have something to get you going. Let’s not forget that 14 is a freshman in high school guys. I started lifting when I was 14, I could bench like 95 lbs.

Eat everthing in sight, especially meat. Start reading the articles on here, you have found the right place for building muscle.

ok, since no word on the coach, the balance of research is that weights training fully supports cardio.

here’s a 2010 example of strength training added to elite cyclists

all good

from 2008 on running performance

all good

heavy weight training for running economy, 2009

all good

hope that helps
mc

Thanks guys, much appreciated, I am still wondering though, if lets say i put on 10 pounds over the summer, of muscles, will my cardiovascular ability drop since my body cannot handle its weight? I’ve been doing bicep curls,and my left arm is struggling a lot more… although my right arm can still do probably another few more sets, my question is should i stop lifting for my right arm? Or should i keep on doing the bicep curls till i just cant?

I figured that numbers are just numbers, I’ve been curling till my arms can barely lift. :slight_smile:

So, basically, my left arm is weaker than my right…my right pectoral is also slightly bigger…

Thanks for the comments and replies guys, i’ve been making a hell lot of improvement of how much weights i can lift, but my weight is still stuck the way it is…again my goal is too hit protein pills asap, i eat as much as i can alreadyy. :slight_smile:

No it should not since you are adding functional weight, the muscles will support themselves as well as the rest of your weight better the way you put it. Curling to failure is not useful in anyway. Maintaining symmetry is a good place to start so what i do is i start with my weaker side and do it’s workout then i workout my stronger to match that rep/scheme. Forget curls untill you can do at least 10 wide grip dead hang pull ups. To start out stick with the bigger compound lifts.

From an athletic point of view I can tell you right now that the biggest favour you can do yourself is to learn the olympic lifts! Get a competent coach (by that I mean someone that can actually do it not some jock who answered a 40 question multiple choice axam) to teach you. It WILL improve your explosiveness, coordination and strength as well as overall conditioning.

First of all, forget the f@#n curls. Dude seriously. They mean nothing…especially when it’s 25lbs ughh… Get educated and DO start lifting. Basic movements like deads, bench, squat and overhead presses. And DO eat. And when I say eat, it means EAT. Drink a gallon of milk a day! You should provide a food log so we can review it.

Also being conditioned doesn’t mean looking like a survivor of the black plague. And dude 115lbs is NOT muscular. Please eat. Lift. Today’s athletes are conditioned and big and strong.

Also please don’t ask your Thai coach about weightlifting… ask a strength and conditioning coach about that. Anyway, the truth is you gotta do your own research.

You’re not a pro fighter and the truth is you should focus on getting stronger, at this point don’t even worry about weight classes. Case in point in MMA 155lbs fighters will often cut weight from 175-180. Then when they rehydrate they come in as big as possible.

Same applies in jiu jitsu, boxing, etc…

I just have something to prove to myself man. :slight_smile: I’m gonna work my ass one way or another, thx for the input guys. I’ll do wide grip pull ups @ my gym, and weights at home. I jammed my toe lately so 2 weeks of non cardio workouts. >: )

givin your current height and weight you are probably a very attractive young lady.

[quote]Scrotus wrote:
givin your current height and weight you are probably a very attractive young lady.[/quote]

With your ability to belittle young children you are probably a very sad old man.

[quote]Scrotus wrote:
givin your current height and weight you are probably a very attractive young lady.[/quote]

Haha, quite funny.
Needs of intimidation means that you have a very low self esteem and that you yourself needs to make fun of others to feel good about yourself. Good Job Troller. Thanks for the comment anyways cause i mean, the bullshit i take in will just motivate me to do better. :slight_smile:

Pick a template that has the athlete in mind. Personally, if I were in your position, I would do westside for skinny bastards and adjust the volume and intensity to my ability to recover. Play it by ear. Remember, it’s not rocket science.

If you want to gain and your not, eat more. If your feeling tired and lethargic from the exercise your doing, lighten up on either your muy thai and/or lifting and/or eat more. Use some common sense. And I recommend following a template like 5/3/1, WS4SB, Starting Strength, or something like that.

At this stage, I think there’s a good chance you may not know proper form so hammer it in hard. You don’t want shoulder injuries from improper bench technique for example. You probably are not familiar with proper programming so that’s why I’m suggesting you use a tried and tested basic strength program.

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