Young, Skinny, Wanting to Build Up

[AlexParadox]

Well hello sosuave community. my name is Alex, im 14 (yes i know a year too young, but hell im way ahead of alot of people on this forum and im half their age). Well everyone has a problem and of course we want a solution. Mine is that im tall and thin, i hate it. I love being tall, but being thin comes with so many negative things. I allways try and look past it, but it allways catches up to me. I have a hell of a metabolism that makes it impossible to gain weight via food.

So latley ive been thinking about hitting up the gym once or twice a week, and gain some much needed weight and muscle mass. but i have a few questions:
first, is it too early for me to start, i know theres all this talk about stunting my growth but im 6'0 and im friggin tall enough already. How much should I work out, what should i focus on. Thanks in advance to all who reply with constructive critisism.

 

[Throttle]

Free weights, period. No Machines. Squats, deadlifts, incline or decline bench, in that order. Everything else is window dressing. But we all need some window dressing so here's the next few you might try: military or shoulder press, pull-ups and dips (machine assisted if need be, otherwise, weighted), weighted sit-ups. That should get you more than started. Avoid isolation, go for compound exercises.

you'll need to eat even more than you think is ridiculous now. lift at least twice a week. stick to short workouts, less than an hour absolute tops, and practice good form from the very beginning. The biggest concern at your age isn't stunting growth, but getting hurt due to enthusiasm & lack of experience.

 

[spesmilitis]

consult your doctor or some professional about lifting. It depends on body type. A good way to prevent any growth stunts is to make sure your core is strong. But at 6 feet tall at 14 years old, i don't think you have much to worry about, but im no doctor.

Since you're young, your still growing and full of harmones, you'll get bigger as long as you exercise. I gained weight during cross country, which is the worst thing you can do when you want to bulk up.

 

[Adone]

So latley ive been thinking about hitting up the gym once or twice a week, and gain some much needed weight and muscle mass. but i have a few questions:
first, is it too early for me to start, i know theres all this talk about stunting my growth but im 6'0 and im friggin tall enough already. How much should I work out, what should i focus on. Thanks in advance to all who reply with constructive critisism.

Most research claims that lifting doesn't stunt growth, so it's probably true. I can only give you my experience: my brothers and I (I'm 19, they are 18 and 16) were always among the tallest guys in our grades during elementary and junior high. I started lifting light weights at 12-13 and I progressively lifted heavier and heavier and my growth stunted at 14 at 5'8. My brothers have never lifted any weight and at 14 they were 5'11 and 6'1. The youngest one is now 6'2 and growing and the 18-yr-old one is 6'1. I'm still 5'8.

Don't think that 6'0 is ALWAYS enough. My 6'1 brother is just slightly taller than average in his grade and would pay to get to 6'3.

 

[AlexParadox]

Free weights, period. No Machines. Squats, deadlifts, incline or decline bench, in that order. Everything else is window dressing. But we all need some window dressing so here's the next few you might try: military or shoulder press, pull-ups and dips (machine assisted if need be, otherwise, weighted), weighted sit-ups. That should get you more than started. Avoid isolation, go for compound exercises.

you'll need to eat even more than you think is ridiculous now. lift at least twice a week. stick to short workouts, less than an hour absolute tops, and practice good form from the very beginning. The biggest concern at your age isn't stunting growth, but getting hurt due to enthusiasm & lack of experience.

Free weights: essientail
Machines: the icing on the cake

thanks for the advice Throttle, 2 times a week is pretty much all i can really fit into my schedual + free time for ladies and friends. one last thing: should i use the gym to improve my leg muscles for track n field / cross country or is just doing runs more effective?

thanks again to all who reply

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

Free weights: essientail
Machines: the icing on the cake

thanks for the advice Throttle, 2 times a week is pretty much all i can really fit into my schedual + free time for ladies and friends. one last thing: should i use the gym to improve my leg muscles for track n field / cross country or is just doing runs more effective?

thanks again to all who reply

Don't try to lift too heavy either. Even if you go light you are going to be way ahead of the game. Start slowly and over the next year or two build up your joints, ligaments, and tendons. By the time you're 16 you'll be lifting heavy and be an animal.

Work your legs to help your runs. I run every distance (1/4 mile sprints to 25+ miles) at every speed (sprints, 5:30min/mile to 9:00min/mile) and still work my legs hard.

 

[Throttle]

you'll have to go into leg work nice and easy (you'll want to do that to make sure you get the form right anyway) and temporarily cut back the intensity of your running, but once you find your groove you can ramp them both up.

The guys I know who bench press while insisting that running does all the leg-work they need end up with the runt-leg syndrome and look like them might tip over. And girls make fun of them, if that means anything to you

Oh, and everything McGee just said.

 

[mrRuckus]

I recommend lifting 2 days a week and on the 3rd day spend it learning spelling and grammar before your brain is too set in its erroneous ways.

 

[donjuanjovi]

Start off easy and light. Get your form down before you start into heavy weights or else you're just asking for a major injury. I would also talk to a doctor since 14 is very young to start lifting weights.

 

[[S]alvatore]

The only advice I can offer in regards to you being too young to train is stick to compound exercises for a few years. This will help prevent injury because they are functional & natural movements.