Skip to main content

Journal of Strength: Teenage Muscle-Building



     As of late, I have—for multitudinous reasons—found it hard to write very much.  (Please forgive me, in fact, if I have yet to respond to anyone’s email questions—I will as soon as possible.)  Not that writing itself, per se, is hard.  Once I sit down to my computer, open up Word, or once I sit down on my couch, notebook in hand, I find writing to be—while not the easiest thing—not much of a chore.  No, I have been busy with so many other things that, unfortunately, I just haven’t found the time to write much on my blog.  And when I have found the time, I have attempted to work on some articles, or some other stuff that actually makes me money writing—or, at least, has the potential to make money.
     Despite my inability to write as much as I need to, I would really like to write on this blog more, despite the fact that I don’t know if I always have something very important to write about.  (Most of my writing here, in fact, is very much the same stuff said different ways, but, I suppose, that’s how it is with most muscle magazines, power training articles, and the like.)
     Until now, I had not found a solution out of my dilemma—my dilemma being how in the world do I post multiple writings each week, as opposed to a few times a month, or maybe just once every month or two?
     The solution is what you are currently reading: a “journal” of sorts, where I will write my various thoughts for the day involving workout principles, diet strategies, or—when the mood strikes me—musings of a more philosophical bent.
     My goal is write a couple “journals” each week, along with my usual stuff.  I hope you will find the result at least somewhat interesting.
Journal of Strength
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
     On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my sons walk over to my house from their high school, and we (of course) lift.  (They stay with me on the weekends, and we train every Saturday, and Sunday, as well.)
     My youngest, Garrett, who is 14, wants to compete in a powerlifting meet soon.  He’s small—only weighs 105 lbs—but he bench presses 165 lbs.  Not shabby.  He alternates between days when he squats, days when he deadlifts, and days when he just bench presses.  His goal is to be as strong as possible for his bodyweight, and so far the workouts are paying off.
     Typically, when training someone Garrett’s age, I wouldn’t allow him or her to train with such a “split” routine unless the sole goal is strength, so this kind of workout is fine for Garrett.  It would also be fine for any teenagers who need strength—but not necessarily more muscle mass—in their chosen sport.  An example would be a teenager who wrestles or competes in martial arts.
     My oldest son, Matthew, 15, simply wants to be as big as humanly possible for a teenager his age.  I would, in fact, say that he’s a bit obsessed with it.  Here’s his current program:
Saturday: Upper body “density” day
Sunday: Lower body “density” day
Tuesday: Full body “high rep” day
Thursday: Full body “maximal strength” day
     The two density days are performed with multiple exercises, using multiple sets of low to moderate reps.  The goal is to get as many reps as possible in a relatively short period of time with relatively heavy—or at least moderate—weights.  Typically, for instance, Matthew begins Saturday’s workouts with chins, performing multiple sets of 3 reps with very little rest between sets.  He usually gets 20 to 30 reps done in ten to fifteen minutes.  He then follows—hypothetically; the exercises change—with something such as bench presses, overhead presses, power cleans, power snatches, and curls.
     Sundays it’s more of the same for the lower body.
     Tuesday is a full-body workout using such things as squats, benches, overheads, lunges, curls, farmer’s walks, and sled drags.  The sets are about 3 to 4 per exercise with relatively high reps in the 15 to 25 rep range.
     “Maximal strength” Thursday means that he will pick two—maybe three— exercises and work up to a heavy set of 5 reps (typically).  Bench presses and deadlifts are good choices, as are overhead presses and squats.

     This program, by the way, is a sound way for any teenager to train—so long as he or she has cut their teeth on full-body workouts.  Matthew, for instance, put in his share of full-body workouts centered on nothing but squats, bench presses, and (either) deadlits or heavy overhead presses for a long time before he switched over to this workout.  (And, I must admit, I let him perform an even more “bodybuilding-friendly” program before this one.)
     The program is, for the most part, still centered on full-body workouts—a “must” for teenage lifters—but, because the weekends are “split” workouts, it also allows the teenage lifter to do stuff that I might not always be that fond of—such as lots and lots of dumbbell curls—but that most teenage boys seem to love.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Classic Bodybuilding: Don Howorth's Massive Delt Training

Before we get started on this "Classic Bodybuilding" piece, one word of note:  If you really  pay attention to this blog, then you will notice that in the "sub-header" at the top of the page, I have added "Ageless Bodybuilding" as one of the subjects that will be discussed.  This is for a decided reason... I have been developing a system of training that I have been using on myself and a few "older" lifters that occasionally train with me, but still follow my training program that I have them using even when they are training at a commercial gym instead of my "garage gym".  This system is for those of you who are 40+ such as myself, but it may be even more effective for those of you 50 and older.  In fact, of my two occasional training partners, one of them is 51, and the other is 55. I wouldn't be so arrogant as to call this ageless bodybuilding system  revolutionary, but I can say that it is radically different from most syste

Old School Arm Training Secrets: John McWilliams's Arm Training Routine

Old-School Arm Training Secrets: John McWilliams’s Arm Routine      My most popular posts here at Integral Strength typically fall into two categories: old-school bodybuilding programs or serious strength and power routines.      With that in mind, I thought I would do a series of articles on various old-school lifters and bodybuilders (the two overlapped once-upon-a-time), and on various old-school methods for training different bodyparts or lifts.   Thus, this first entry is on old-school arm training, but others will be on old-school chest, shoulders, back, legs, squats, bench presses, overhead presses, power cleans, etc.   And for this first entry, I decided upon an old-school bodybuilder cum powerlifter that many of you may never have heard of: John McWilliams. McWilliams's back double-biceps pose.  He was impressive even in his 40s.      When I first came across an article about McWilliams (written by Gene Mozee) in the early ‘90s, I had certainly neve

Old Time Mass Tactics: One-Exercise-Per-Bodypart Training

     Starting with the current post, I thought I would do a mini-series on how the "old-time" bodybuilders used to train.  In doing so, I also thought I would start with what I consider the greatest of the old-time mass tactics:  one-exercise-per-bodypart training.      When I first began to lift weights seriously (which was sometime in my high-school years; I'm 35 now, so you do the math), the bodybuilders that I loved were the ones that—even then—were considered the "old-timers."  I remember seeing pictures of Freddy Ortiz, Don Howorth (above), and Marvin Eder; I was amazed by their look.  For one, they definitely looked strong (which they were), but they also had excellent size, shape, and symmetry—small waists, large calves, boulder-sized shoulders; the whole "x-frame" look.  But—and I think this is what I still love about them—they didn't appear to be cardboard cutouts of one another.  They all had different "looks."  They were