Teenage Growth

[vanillamountain]

Background: Hey, I'm Arthur. I'm almost 19 and I'm 5'9", 135 pounds with a 31 inch waist. I've started working out before, but I always lost inspiration somewhere down the line (because I had so much schoolwork and whatnot.) Also, I used to do a lot of distance running so I didn't lift too much because I didn't want to gain weight or anything.

I have an interesting body type, in that I have a pretty developed lower body (because of running,) but a not so developed upper body. I have pretty wide (albeit currently bony) shoulders which I really like as they help make my waist look smaller and slightly largeish hips which I don't really like too much.

In case you're wondering, I used to be a little bit heavier. Up until last year I was about 155 pounds; I've lost some weight since then by walking and exercising more. I like the weight I'm at currently; when I was heavier I had a bit of fat on my face and stomach which I didn't like much at all.

My primary goal in working out is to get stronger. I don't know if I want to get too much bigger (because I've been bigger and didn't like it too much,) but I certainly wouldn't mind getting more definition. People have told me that I have the body type to carry a bit of muscle, though, so I'm a little torn on that.

That's pretty much me in a nutshell, heh. I'm going to be working out later today and I'll let you guys know how it goes. Hopefully, keeping a "journal" like this will help keep me motivated and you guys can give me some feedback.

[vanillamountain]

The Workout: I worked out today for the first time in like forever, which was pretty fun. I went in the afternoon instead of the evening because I was afraid that there'd be too many people in the gym otherwise and I don't really like working out with lots of people watching me and stuff.

Biceps are probably my favorite muscle group to work (which is ironic since mine are really small,) so I decided to work them first. I started out with 15 reps of 10 pounds which were really light; that made me really happy, actually, because I remember that back in the day I could barely lift that much. I then moved on to 15 reps of 15 pounds and then I did 10 reps of 17.5 pounds; I didn't feel like going heavier than that so I just did about 20 reps of 5 pound weights.

I then decided to work my shoulders so I did about 10 reps of 20 pounds on the shoulder press and about 10 reps of 10 pounds. My shoulders were a little sore after that so I decided not to do anymore today (I TOLD you guys I had no upper body strength, LOL.)

I then went on to my back, and did about 15 reps of 40 pounds on the lat pulldown which wasn't too difficult, and 10 reps of 30 pounds on the chest press and 15 reps of 40 pounds on the weighted crunch machine.

I then moved on to my lower body workout. I did 20 reps of 90 pounds on the leg extension and about 10 reps of 50 pounds on the machine that works your hamstrings (I don't remember what it's called.)

I then had to get to class, so I decided to call it a day.

Diet:

Breakfast: It's always been a problem for me to get enough protein in my diet, so I'm trying to change that. Right after my workout, I had one egg white (I was going to have more, but I really can't stand the taste of eggs) as well as a protein bar (11 grams of protein; 170 calories) So that's about 13 grams of protein right there and about 250 calories. I was feeling really thirsty and wanted some soda so I had two glasses of Coke (200 calories) which wasn't the healthiest thing I suppose. Total calories = Approx. 450; 13 grams of protein.

Snack: I had another protein bar (10 grams of protein) and a bag of Glenny's Soy Crisps (9 grams of protein) Total calories = 310; 19 grams of protein.

Lunch/Dinner: I had a really late lunch today because I had work. So I just had two slices of pizza, a couple of french fries, and a large cup of ice cream. I ate at the dining hall and I have no idea what the totals for this come up to, but I'm guessing there's about 10 grams of protein somewhere in here.

All in all, it's been an interesting day. I didn't get nearly as much protein as I would have liked; I'm going to see about purchasing Whey Protein eventually to bump up my protein intake. Ideally, I would like to be consuming 70 grams of protein, whereas I only got about 42 grams today or something like that.

[jdhdawg]

Arthur,

Congratulations on re-committing to the gym. I understand your dilemma on your training goals. If you're looking to put on a little size but primarily remain lean and toned, I would suggest something along the following,either:

1) a "whole body workout" using machines (most gyms have a circuit lined up) with 2 sets per machine and reps in the 10-12 range, 2-3 times/week
2) a "split body workout" doing half your body one day and the other half another--again min 2x a week, but 3 would be better; in this program, do 3 sets per machine still in the 10-12 rep range

Also, for your diet, regardless of your body goal, you've got to eat more protein. 42g just won't cut it . If you're not a big eater, try snacking on low-fat cheese or cottage cheese (with fruit if you don't like the taste). Milk is also a good, cheap protein source.

Good luck~

[vanillamountain]

Thanks so much for your advice. I will certainly give the full body, two set workout thing a try when I go to the gym next time.

I haven't done a whole lot today, so far. I've been really, really, sore - which I expected. It's kind of cool, though, because I certainly do feel a little bit stronger, and I know that the soreness means that I got in a pretty decent workout yesterday.

Here's today's nutrition breakdown:

Breakfast: I had a protein bar (170 calories; 10 grams of protein,) another protein bar shortly after (300 calories; 23 grams protein) and a carton of chocolate milk (260 calories; 10 grams protein). That's about 730 calories; 43 grams of protein. That's much, much, better than yesterday.

Lunch: I had a lateish lunch which consisted of a slice of pizza (approx. 475 calories; I'm guessing about 3-4 grams of protein) and a large carton of yogurt (200 calories; 7 grams of protein.) So the total here was about 675 calories and 10 grams of protein.

I'm aiming for about .5 grams of protein per bodyweight, so I definitely want to get about 70 grams of protein by the end of the day. We'll see how that goes; I've already gotten about 53 grams so far, so I think it's totally doable. I may also go running later today which would be cool.

[vanillamountain]

Since my last post, I have had the following:

Another protein bar (300 calories; 23 grams of protein)
A small slice of pizza (I'm guessing about 300 calories)
Veggie Burger (300 calories; I'm guessing about 5-6 grams of protein.)

I also had a small handful of french fries, a glass of soda (100 calories) and an oatmeal cookie (80 calories).

Yeah, I ate quite a bit today, I think - I had around 2500 calories today. I think I'm going to go for a walk later or something later on. Protein wise, I did really well, though, since I got almost 80 grams of protein which is virtually double what I got yesterday. So that's cool.

[vanillamountain]

I was all set to do a total body workout today, but my upper body was still really sore from Tuesday's workout, so I decided to do a split routine instead; I did lower body today and I'm planning on doing upper body tomorrow. Hopefully, my arms won't be so incredibly sore by then.

The Workout:

I started out with leg extensions: I did 3 sets of 12 at 80 pounds. I then did 3 sets of 12 reps on the leg curl machine at 50 pounds. I was going to work my calves afterwards, but the machine was broken so I decided to do weighted crunches instead. I did 3 sets of 15 at 50 pounds.

The Diet:

Today has been pretty weird, diet-wise. I haven't really been eating proper meals because I've been in the library, but I've gotten quite a bit of protein (which is pretty cool.) I've had two protein bars (these have 23 grams of protein and are 300 calories apiece.) I also had a medium-sized carton of skim milk (110 calories; 10 grams protein) and two cups of yogurt (7 grams and 200 calories of protein apiece.)

So far today, I've about 1100 calories and have consumed about 70 grams of protein, which is pretty awesome (I'm trying for at least .5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight,) and I haven't even had dinner yet. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

[vanillamountain]

Okay, I just had a veggie burger and a small glass of milk (about 10 grams of protein right there,) and another protein bar (23 grams.) So that brings today's total protein count to over 100 grams; I'm guessing I've had about 2000 calories today.

[vanillamountain]

I didn't lift weights yesterday - there simply wasn't time. I did, however, get about 60 grams of protein which was pretty decent.

I did upper body today. I started out with three sets of 12 reps of weighted crunches; I did 12 reps at 50 pounds, 12 reps at 60 pounds, and 12 reps at 70 pounds. I could really feel the burn in my stomach muscles, which was cool.

I then went over to the shoulder press. I did two sets of 12 reps at 30 pounds. I then did lat pulldowns (two sets of 12 reps at 40 pounds) and bicep curls (two sets of 12 reps at 17.5 pounds and 15 pounds respectively.) I finished out the workout with a chest press (two sets of 10 at 25 pounds.)

Diet-wise, I haven't done too badly so far. I've had two Power Bar Protein Plus bars (23 grams and 300 calories apiece) and a carton of orange juice (which has 200 calories and 4 grams.) So far I've had 800 calories and 50 grams of protein.

[vanillamountain]

Here's a picture of what I look like. I apologise in advance for the poor picture quality (I took it with my cell phone.)

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ain/trying.jpg

[vanillamountain]

And here's one of my legs...er, leg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ntain/legs.jpg

[vanillamountain]

A biceps shot:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ain/biceps.jpg

[Frankly]

You seem like you have the determination to grow but your program is way out of whack.
Firstly, you should be eating about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, Per day.
Secondly, Do not lift in the 20 rep range, it is pointless. If you want to add muscle, you should be working with weights where you can do No more than 8 reps no less than 4. 4-8 is ideal for muscle hypertrophy.
If you want to get bigger, EAT, EAT and EAT MORE.
Plus, please do more than biceps and chest. Back, legs, traps, shoulders, tris, all are important.
At this point, don't worry about adding a little fat, you are fairly lean so eat as much as you can every day to grow, lots of protein though. Any questions PM me.

[buffdoc]

Vanilla, check out this thread. It will show you how to construct a training diet to help u gain mass. PM me with questions.

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/showthread.php?t=890

[vanillamountain]

Thanks for your suggestions, you guys.

Frankly, I think you're quite right - I'm not eating enough protein per day; it's hard, though, because I'm a vegetarian. I went out and bought some whey protein to remedy that though. I'm also going to try to lift heavier weights for 5-10 reps as well.

buffdoc, thank you so much for that link - it helped a lot, especially where you talked about insulin spikes and protein absorption.

I did lower body today as part of my split body routine. I started out with leg extensions. I did two sets of 110 pounds with 10 reps each - which was pretty exciting for me because I've never done that much before.

I then did two sets of 70 pounds on the Galileo Circuit machine that works your glutes, inner thighs, and hips. I then two sets of 10 reps (at 60 pounds) on the leg curl machine, and two sets of 10 (at 30 pounds) on the calf-raise machine. All in all, I feel like I got in a pretty good workout.

Diet-wise, I started out the day with brunch: a 6 inch sub from Subway (500 calories, at least 2 grams of protein) some orange juice (100 calories,) chips (140 calories,) and a protein bar (370 calories; 25 grams of protein.)

At like 2:30, I had two scoops of Whey Protein mixed with water (260 calories; 40 grams of protein.)

I just worked out, so I then came home and had a carton of orange juice (200 calories; 4 grams of protein) to help cause an insulin spike as well as a protein bar (300 calories, 23 grams of protein.)

***
So, all in all, I have had about 1900 calories and 94 grams. Because I weigh 135 pounds, I'm aiming for about 135 grams of protein now (because, as others have pointed out, I should be having one gram of protein per bodyweight.) So I think I'll have another two scoops of Whey Protein mixed with water (260 calories; 40 grams) later today before I eat dinner.

[vanillamountain]

So, at dinner, I had 8 ounces of whole milk (I wanted skim milk, but they didn't have any.) So that's 150 calories and an additional 8 grams of protein. I also had about 4 blocks of fried tofu (which were about 1.5 inches long.) I don't know how many calories that is, though, but I'm guessing that's about 100-200 calories at least.

So that brings today's calories to about 2700, with about 144 grams of protein (at least.) That's about 9 grams more than I was shooting for, which is awesome.

I'm going to be doing upper body tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

[Frankly]

glad to see you following a plan. I do have a couple of suggestions though.
1, even though you are a vegitarian, you can still very easily take in more protein from normal foods. Supplements like whey protein shakes and protein bars are good but they are Supplements. Most of your protein should be coming from real foods. you said you are a vegitarian, whatever your reasons, you should be able to eat cottage cheese, tons of protein, Eggs, if you do, and Fish as well, also, only if you normally eat these. Try to take in more real food and fewer supplements. Keep it down to one protein shake a day, after a good workout.
2, Try to cut out the garbage. You said you don't want to gain fat but put on a little muscle. That's all well and good, Called a clean bulk, but you have to cut out the chips and the pizza and the empty calories and replace them with whole wheat pasta, whole grain bread, and high quality protein. You will gain much less fat if you eat less crap. Basically, think of it this way, what goes in is what you get out. If you are eating fatty greasy chips, they are making you fatty and greasy. well not really but you get my point, garbage in, garbage out, good food in, good growth out.
3, workouts are truly everyone's preference. If you prefer to do a full body, half body, or individual musclegroup style workout, that is fine. What i do recommend is focusing on free weights instead of machines. Machines have there place every once in a while but they keep you too confined that you don't work all the muscle fibers that you could if you were using free weights. In general, free weights are just more efficient.

Again, any questions, give me a shout. Also, if you want to learn, check out some of the articles on bodybuilding.com, smart people giving good advice.

[vanillamountain]

You're right - I should be eating more food and less supplements. It's hard, though, because I don't like the taste of a lot of protein-dense foods; it's easier I guess to take supplements and stuff. I'll try and change that, though.

I did upper body first thing today. I started out with weighted crunches; I did three sets of 10 reps at 80 pounds. This is more than I'd done before and I could really feel my stomach muscles working. I think they'll be plenty sore tomorrow. I also did:

*Shoulder press: two sets of 10 at 40 pounds.
*Seated rows: two sets of eight at 60 pounds.
*Chest press: two sets of eight at 40 pounds.
*tricep raises: two sets of 8 at 50 pounds.
*Bicep curls (free weights): two sets of eight at 17.5 pounds.

I then came home and had a carton of orange juice (220 calories; 4 grams protein,) for an inuslin spike of sorts, as well as two scoops of Whey protein (260 calories; 40 grams of protein.)

As my mid-morning snack, I had a protein bar (340 calories; 25 grams of protein.)

At lunch, I had a slice of pizza (about 500 calories, ugh) and low fat soy protein crisps (these are only like 140 calories and have about 9 grams of protein in them.)

In the mid-afternoon, I had another two scoops of Whey protein (40 grams protein, 260 calories.)

So far today, I've had about 1720 calories and about 118-120 grams of protein. I'm shooting for 140 grams of protein by the end of the day, and I'm sure I'll be able to do that after dinner.

[vanillamountain]

Since my previous post, I've had about another 35 grams of protein, which brings today's total to 154 grams of protein and 2400 calories for the day. I was only shooting for like 135-140 for the day, so this is awesome.

[vanillamountain]

I didn't have time to lift yesterday, but I had about 110-120 grams of protein. I did upper body today, though:

*Shoulder press: three sets of 10 at 40 pounds.
*Seated rows: two sets of ten at 60 pounds.
*Chest press: three sets of ten at 40 pounds.
*tricep raises: three sets of 10 50 pounds.
*Bicep curls (free weights): two sets of ten at 17.5 pounds.

I'm going to do weighted crunches tomorrow since my stomach is still pretty sore from Tuesday's workout and I want to give it more time to recover.

Diet-wise, today hasn't been very good I'm afraid; at lunch, I had pizza and a couple of french fries and soda and a slice of pound cake which threw things off slightly. I've had about 2100-2200 calories and about 60 grams of protein so far, I'm guessing. I'm going to aim for 100 grams of protein at the very least by the end of the day.

[vanillamountain]

I had another protein shake with my dinner, which along with everything else brings my protein intake for the day to about 100 grams flat. My target was about 135-140 grams, but I'm a little reluctant to eat any more food since I'm already at 2500-2600 calories for the day and I'm pretty full as it is.

[vanillamountain]

What I look like at the moment

So yeah, I kind of gave up lifting for a little while. I got really busy with school, and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to bulk up in the first place (I thought I'd just do more cardio and see if I could get a little more toned.) But it's the start of a new season and I think I want to give the weight training thing another try.

Only this time I'm going to do it differently. I'm going to work out three days a week. On the first day (that was today,) I'll do biceps and chest. Wednesday, I'll do shoulders, triceps, and back. And Friday, I'll do legs and abs. I'll take the weekend off. In this way, I'll be working out each muscle once a week and I'll be lifting three times a week, pretty much. On Tuesday and Thursday I'll see if I can get some light cardio in.

Okay, diet wise: I had a whey protein shake and a banana for breakfast this morning (28 grams protein, 210 calories.) I had a protein bar as a mid-morning snack (210 calories, 10 grams protein.) For lunch, I had a veggie burger (12 grams protein, I'm guessing 400 calories,) and yogurt (7 grams protein, 200 calories.) I also had a mid-afternoon snack of some granola (400 calories; 10 grams protein,) and some bread and soup (like 200 calories.) I also had a glass of juice (100 calories) and a glass of soda (100 calories; I needed the sugar!)

Just now I had a myoplex shake (200 calories; 42 grams protein.) So far, that makes for like 97 grams of protein and 2000 calories.

In case you're wondering, I currently weigh 140 pounds. I want to try for a very slow bulk to 145 pounds. Therefore, as buffdoc pointed out, I need 145 grams of protein. We'll see how that goes.

Okay. So any comments/feedback from the peanut gallery? Is 145 an ideal goal or should I go higher? Cut? Use Creatine to give me a little boost (because Lord knows it couldn't hurt me at this point...)?

[vanillamountain]

Click here to see

Originally Posted by vanillamountain

What I look like at the moment

So yeah, I kind of gave up lifting for a little while. I got really busy with school, and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to bulk up in the first place (I thought I'd just do more cardio and see if I could get a little more toned.) But it's the start of a new season and I think I want to give the weight training thing another try.

Only this time I'm going to do it differently. I'm going to work out three days a week. On the first day (that was today,) I'll do biceps and chest. Wednesday, I'll do shoulders, triceps, and back. And Friday, I'll do legs and abs. I'll take the weekend off. In this way, I'll be working out each muscle once a week and I'll be lifting three times a week, pretty much. On Tuesday and Thursday I'll see if I can get some light cardio in.

Okay, diet wise: I had a whey protein shake and a banana for breakfast this morning (28 grams protein, 210 calories.) I had a protein bar as a mid-morning snack (210 calories, 10 grams protein.) For lunch, I had a veggie burger (12 grams protein, I'm guessing 400 calories,) and yogurt (7 grams protein, 200 calories.) I also had a mid-afternoon snack of some granola (400 calories; 10 grams protein,) and some bread and soup (like 200 calories.) I also had a glass of juice (100 calories) and a glass of soda (100 calories; I needed the sugar!)

Just now I had a myoplex shake (300 calories; 42 grams protein.) So far, that makes for like 97 grams of protein and 2100 calories.

In case you're wondering, I currently weigh 140 pounds. I want to try for a very slow bulk to 145 pounds. Therefore, as buffdoc pointed out, I need 145 grams of protein. We'll see how that goes. I may drink another myoplex shake before bed just to get my protein up for the day.

Okay. So any comments/feedback from the peanut gallery? Is 145 an ideal goal or should I go higher? Cut? Use Creatine to give me a little boost (because Lord knows it couldn't hurt me at this point...)?

[vanillamountain]

Click here to see What I look like at the moment

So yeah, I kind of gave up lifting for a little while. I got really busy with school, and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to bulk up in the first place (I thought I'd just do more cardio and see if I could get a little more toned.) But it's the start of a new season and I think I want to give the weight training thing another try.

Only this time I'm going to do it differently. I'm going to work out three days a week. On the first day (that was today,) I'll do biceps and chest. Wednesday, I'll do shoulders, triceps, and back. And Friday, I'll do legs and abs. I'll take the weekend off. In this way, I'll be working out each muscle once a week and I'll be lifting three times a week, pretty much. On Tuesday and Thursday I'll see if I can get some light cardio in.

Okay, diet wise: I had a whey protein shake and a banana for breakfast this morning (28 grams protein, 210 calories.) I had a protein bar as a mid-morning snack (210 calories, 10 grams protein.) For lunch, I had a veggie burger (12 grams protein, I'm guessing 400 calories,) and yogurt (7 grams protein, 200 calories.) I also had a mid-afternoon snack of some granola (400 calories; 10 grams protein,) and some bread and soup (like 200 calories.) I also had a glass of juice (100 calories) and a glass of soda (100 calories; I needed the sugar!)

Just now I had a myoplex shake (300 calories; 42 grams protein.) So far, that makes for like 97 grams of protein and 2100 calories.

In case you're wondering, I currently weigh 140 pounds. I want to try for a very slow bulk to 145 pounds. Therefore, as buffdoc pointed out, I need 145 grams of protein. We'll see how that goes. I may drink another myoplex shake before bed just to get my protein up for the day.

Okay. So any comments/feedback from the peanut gallery? Is 145 an ideal goal or should I go higher? Cut? Use Creatine to give me a little boost (because Lord knows it couldn't hurt me at this point...)?[/QUOTE]

[vanillamountain]

Did 2400 calories and 137 grams of protein today (I took today off.) I'm going to start a cycle of creatine tomorrow.

[MuscleMage]

Not the most flattering pose, flair out your elbows a bit.

[vanillamountain]

Yeah, I'll try to do that next time. It's a bit hard to do when you've a cell phone in your hand though :P