Weight Training
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I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how I could build bulk fast for football. I want to stay all natural with no supplements. I am 14 years old and can only bench 215 for 6 reps. That is more than my friends, but I still want to do more. I seem to be stuck at this weight and rep limit. My main concern is getting bulky though, and I thought this might be accomplished through a diet. Do you have any diet suggestions, like some exact foods? I have found the ones that say so-and-so percent of this and so-and-so percent of this, but I don't really have the time to figure all this stuff out. Could you help me?
Thanks
Gil
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Gil,
At age 14, you need to give your body quality, well balanced meals. Example?
Breakfast: Cereal (not the frosty kind), milk, fruit.
Snack: Protein bar - minimum of 20 carbs and 18 grams of protein.
Lunch: Salad or vegetable (green is very important), meat and a starch.
Snack: Whole grain bread sandwich, fruit.
Dinner: Steak or fish, salad, veggies and starch.
In other words, eat healthy, well balanced meals (what your mom tries to feed you probably). Don't fill up on garbage (chips, cookies). Quench hunger with quality foods first. Hang in there...natural is the way to go for a lifetime of healthy, athletic enjoyment.
EG
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| Gil, at age 14 your doing pretty good if you can rep 215 six times. As a 16 year old who lifts for football, I can say that it is pretty difficult to gain the weight you want, but you have to stick with it. I myself can only bench 275, but I make up for that with a 435 lbs squat and 425 lbs dead lift. I am stuck at 275 now for a few weeks, but I keep lifting knowing that I will get out of the rut. All I can say to you is keep on lifting. You're already doing good.
I also have a few questions for you. How much can you squat and dead lift? How many times a week do you lift and what is your workout routine? Word of advice, STAY ALL NATURAL. I have made the mistake of taking supplements and have regretted it since then. Good luck with your lifting.
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| At your age, your bench is probably one of the least important things. Granted, yours is very impressive. I am a junior football player, and a captain of next year's team. I think you should concentrate on your squats. Get your form really good now, and watch the results more later.
Form before weight is the number one rule of weight lifting. Squats are the best lift you can do. They will make your bench go up, believe it or not. Total body lifts like squats, hang cleans, power cleans, clean and press, and deadlifts are much more important to a football player than bench press. Try getting your form really good on all of these, and your bench will go up in time. Also, if your training for football, quickness is as important as strength. Jumping rope may seem like it's for girls, but it will give you unbelievably quick feet. Give those a try. Let me know if they help.
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Hey man, if you are doing that kind of weight at age 14 you are alright. But, I've been playing football for most of my life, and what I have noticed is that you need to work the lower body a little more than the upper body (still very important). So, work on that instead. Trust me, it pays off in the long run.
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A 14 year old has no business bulking up for football. If you want to be a better football player at 14, spend less time in the gym and more time outside running.
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| I'm 15 years old and I also play football. I'm up to reping 220, so don't worry bout being stuck at a weight. A few months ago, I was stuck at 185 for about 3 or 4 weeks. Just keep working hard and you'll get over it. You also need to squat. That's what you really need to work at because almost all of football is based around legs. If you get those strong, you'll be unstoppable. Keep up the hard work.
Derrick
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| Hey man, at age 14, benching 215 for 6 reps is excellent! But for football, although the bench is very important, the squat is the master, King, Zeus, if you will. I'm 15 and going into 10th grade and staring tight-end and middle linebacker for my varsity football team. If you want bulk, just train heavy. You need both 1-rep max strength, along with endurance strength for football. I'm fully convinced that the size of your muscle grows along with the amount of weight you use. As long as you keep your butt on the bench, lift as much as possible. To build up endurance and 1-rep max strength together, do sets of 3 for one workout, and the next bench day do a sets of 10, and keep alternating like that.
As far as being stuck at that one spot, I had the same problem. This is a very unusual solution, but it works. Trust me, it does. Do the following on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 1 or 2 weeks:
Dumbbell Bench Press 2 sets 50 reps
Pec Dec: 2 sets 50 reps
Leg Extensions: 2 sets 50 reps
Lat-Pulldowns: 2 sets 50 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder press: 2 sets 50 reps
Tricep Pressdown: 2 sets 50 reps
Alternate Dumbbell curl: 2 sets 50 reps
When I'm not training for football, I do very low reps and very heavy weight on many sets because I compete in powerlifting contests. The program I gave you is completely opposite of my normal routines, so it snapped me out of my slump in a week and a half. Give it a try, and tell me how it works. One more thing, if you do more chest than triceps, try doing bench first then just slam your triceps twice a week with 8 rep sets because your triceps are a HUGE part of benching. Good luck man! Hope to hear from ya!
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Hey man, for only 14 your bench is pretty good. I'm 16 and I bench 365 for two reps. You're not going to get real bulky that young. Once you get more testosterone, you will see that you bulk up much quicker. When I was 13, I started lifting weights with a bench of 95lbs. With 3 years of working out, I have found the best way to bulk up. Don't concentrate so much on the amount of weight you do. Concentrate most of all on form. They key thing is form. I currently way 155lbs. My goal is to be benching 415 by the summer of next year. Here's a sample of my workout:
Wednesday:
Squats (3 sets)
Leg extension (2 supersets)
Deadlifts (3 sets)
Calves (4 strip sets)
Ab crunches (4 sets of 50)
Friday:
Flat bench press (3 sets)
Incline dumbbell flies ( 2 supersets)
Shoulder presses (3 sets)
Side raises (2 supersets)
Tricep pushdowns (4 sets)
Abs Reverse incline leg raises (3 sets of 45)
Sunday:
Wide Grip pulldowns (3 sets)
Lat bar pulldown (2 supersets)
EZ bar bicep curl (3 sets)
Incline dumbbell curls (3 sets)
Ab crunches (4 sets of 50)
My dad's a professional football player for the Stealers. That's one way I learned how to lift. The worst thing you can do is over train. It's way worse than under training. Make sure you eat 2 grams of protein per pound you weigh. Hope this benefits you.
Paul
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| OK, check it out. I'm 17, have been lifting for about one serious year. My max bench is 235, deadlift 415, power clean 235, and although I have never maxed in the parallel squat, I can handle some pretty big weights. I weigh about 178, but I'm trying to get down to about 170. OK, now you're probably asking yourself, isn't this supposed to be about weight gain. Look, my philosophy is that it's about overall muscle gain and not weight gain.
I too used to be obsessed with gaining weight, constantly checking the scale. And I was gaining weight alright, but most of it was fat. Look, fact is the least amount of body fat you have, the best you look and the better you feel. You can still be super strong. For instance, Yoko Aloha, 2-time world's strongest man only weighed 268 at his last competition, which is measly compared to all of the other 350 pound competitors. He is the lightest, the strongest, and you know what else, he virtually has no body fat.
So here's what I recommend you do. Stay natural, don't use anything other than vitamin supplements, flax oil, and whey protein. Eat one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. Experiment with the carbs to see how much your body can handle. Don't restrict your fat intake below 40 or 50 grams a day. Lift extremely hard, and include at least one cardio session per week in your regimen to keep your heart in good condition. And good luck.
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