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16 year old exercise routine?
I am 16 and i want to start exercising to build muscles. I am a twig and want a more in shape body. Plus I want to be healthier. Is there a way to exercise and not loose weight and gain muscle for a younger person. I am not super athletic so a little bit easier stuff please. thanks in advance!
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Hey there,
Well, if you want to build muscles nothing compares to weight training. By far the most effective thing you can do is join a gym and start lifting (this is irrespective of whether you are a boy or a girl).
Now, I am not sure if you are willing to do this, but it is the only serious answer for muscle gain. So I will proceed from the assumption that you will have access to a gym.
Regarding weight loss vs weight gain, that is simply a function of whether you have a calorie surplus or deficit. In other words, you should eat about 500 calories more than what you use in a day. You really dont need to worry about counting calories if your goal is to gain weight, you can easily adjust your diet through experimentation.
Just eat healthy but eat often with decent size portions. Eating every 3 hours is ideal, and each meal should contain carbs, proteins, and some fat. Good fats are found in quality oils, fish, nuts, seeds, etc (but NOT in dairy). More than half of your daily fat intake should be from good fats (and ideally even more than that).
Now onto a routine. I would recommend alternating between two full body programs. You can do them 2-3 times a week, leaving at least a day break between workout sessions. So you might train Mon-Wed-Fri, or alternatively just Mon-Fri. Three times is most commonly recommended but I find it really depends on the individual.
Sample full body program (DB stands for dumbbell):
- Squat
- Romanian deadlift
- Flat bench DB press - on stability ball
- Standing DB military press
- Pull downs / Pull ups (wide grip)
- Triceps pushdown
- Barbell curl (for biceps)
- Cross body crunch
- Back extensions
- Deadlift
- Incline DB press
- One arm side laterals (DB)
- DB rows
- Hammer curls
- Standing one arm DB triceps extension
- Crunches
- Leg raise (for lower abs)
You can find an explanation with pictures of all exercises here: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
For all exercises focus on getting the right form first and dont push too hard for the first few weeks. This is particularly important for things like squats and deadlifts. Do 3 sets per exercise of 8-12 reps except for all crunches and back extensions where you should do higher reps.
For teens, it is advisable to be extra careful with over straining yourself. This is because your body is still developing. You can read more about weightlifting for teens here: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
You can substitute some of these, but the one thing to remember is always base your routine around compound, free-weight exercises. Compound means exercises that use multiple joints (like squats, deadlifts, presses, pulls ,etc) and free-weights means dumbbells & barbells (cables are ok too) but not machines. Machines do not train supporting muscles resulting in slower gains, higher chance of injury, and less usable strength.
Good luck.
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Hi,
I'm 17 and am in the same position as you.
There are lots of really good videos on youtube to help you, with workouts designed for particular parts of the body.
If you're anything like me, you'll hate being told 'oh but you don't need to gain wait' and 'you're so lucky you're thin'.
But in my opinion I think it's harder to put weight on than it is for people to take it off!
So I guess you need to do what I did. I started with the part of my body which I felt I could improve the most quickly-so then that'd spur me on to do the rest of the body! I did simple lunges, squats and step ups to music, which focuses weight gain on my bum and thigh area.
They key is though to continue to eat healthily, and eat 'high calorie' and 'good fats', such as nuts, dairy products, eggs etc.
If you want to put the weight on it doesn't matter if you've got a high metabolism (athletic) or not-we all have to try as hard as each other. But once you start seeing improvements, you'll want to continue.
Good luck
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