The Fitness Guide

[Jugs]

Where the fuck were you a year ago when I was actually studying this shit at school. You would've helped me actually get fit for my fitness program I made (although I got an A+ for it, I didn't benefit it all, which I mentioned in my conclusion or whatever).

[Joe']

Is it healthy for 14 year olds to workout?

It's actually a must if you play basketball at high level (ie: if you play in a team with older people.) Your arms won't be strong enough to even shoot the ball and overall your body will be small; You won't be phisically able to compete with guys that do workout because even if you're taller than them, faster than them, smarter than them, etc, you will always come to a situation in which your body has contact with another in the game of basketball and if you're not strong enough, you'll get hurt (You'll either get phisically hurt, - ie falling to the ground, getting hit in the face or other part of your body - or you'll lose the ball in one or another way.)

I started working out 2 years ago when I was 13 and, if you're wondering about this, my growth didn't stop.
I did grow about 4 inches in two years and I'm 5'11" now, which means I'm about 2-3 inches (about 8-10 cm) taller than the average 15-year old caucasian guys.

[LakersRule24]

Is it healthy for 14 year olds to workout?

How would it not be? What's going to happen? You suddenly die from a premature stroke? All sarcasm aside, I'm assuming you're afraid of stunting your growth. I don't think it's proven that you're going to stop growing if you lift. I started lifting when I was about 12 or 13 I think. I'm about 5'10 right now so I guess that's average. I guess it all depends on how you want to look or who you want to impress...

@ Cy, do you recommend eating just egg-whites rather than the yolk too or does it matter?

Is it healthy for 14 year olds to workout?

It's actually a must if you play basketball at high level (ie: if you play in a team with older people.) Your arms won't be strong enough to even shoot the ball and overall your body will be small; You won't be phisically able to compete with guys that do workout because even if you're taller than them, faster than them, smarter than them, etc, you will always come to a situation in which your body has contact with another in the game of basketball and if you're not strong enough, you'll get hurt (You'll either get phisically hurt, - ie falling to the ground, getting hit in the face or other part of your body - or you'll lose the ball in one or another way.)

I started working out 2 years ago when I was 13 and, if you're wondering about this, my growth didn't stop.
I did grow about 4 inches in two years and I'm 5'11" now, which means I'm about 2-3 inches (about 8-10 cm) taller than the average 15-year old caucasian guys.

It's not that growth stuff that I worry about(I don't even believe it). It's just that I've been doing all this stuff for the last 3-4 months and I haven't gotten much stronger. So I was wondering if it was safe, or if it actually worked for younger people.

I'm 5'4 and only 105 pounds. I really have the body of a 12 year old.

And which muscles give you the strength to shoot the ball?

[Joe']

The muscles that give you more strenght in the arms generally (not only to shoot the ball) are mainly the brachii biceps and the forearms.
Search for exercises based on those muscles over the internet, I'm sure there's plenty of them

[cyanide]

Axel: Could it be possible that your drinking of Mountain Dew all day suppress your appetite? Your foods seem fine, but you're not eating enough of it, hence your low weight. I'm thinking it's the Mountain Dew, but really, the only way to gain weight is to eat more. You might want to talk to a dietitian/nutritionist for more info.

Nick: It becomes like cardio if your body can handle more than 12 push ups and sit-ups. Doing more than 12 push ups aren't bad, per se, but you can get more out of other cardio that uses your entire body. For your body to grow, the range should be 6-10 reps to failure.

Jugs: You got an A+ so you didn't need me after all

lakerskobe247: It's been studied that 12 year olds can do weight training, but more caution is placed in starting with lighter weights and understanding proper form because going too heavy too fast and doing wrong forms is a definite risk for injury—this applies to all beginners.

The entire arm is used to shoot a basketball, but most of the shooting mechanism lies within the triceps.

The muscles that give you more strenght in the arms generally (not only to shoot the ball) are mainly the brachii biceps and the forearms.

Just wanted to throw in that biceps pull the arm forward (ie: lifting) and triceps are used to extend the arm. There's also more muscle in the triceps than biceps.

[[Q]]

i say you gotta use your legs more a la Ben Gordon

[Jackal]

Given I started lifting on a consistant basis a few weeks back, I totally love this thread. I didn't do enough cardio until this thread though, I'm going to try to run more from Monday onwards.

[mvpshaq32]

In your post, is it really true pushups and situps wont help you if I can do more than 12?
Also, on the nutrition label they list the daily values, are those helpful? And I see most foods list only saturated and trans fat and the food with the good fats like fish, would it be bad if it was like fish sticks?
Lastly, could I drink water instead of eating food because the food around my school is fat and greasy.

[[Q]]

Also, on the nutrition label they list the daily values, are those helpful? And I see most foods list only saturated and trans fat and the food with the good fats like fish, would it be bad if it was like fish sticks?
Lastly, could I drink water instead of eating food because the food around my school is fat and greasy.

yes, the nutrition label is very helpful if you know what you're looking at.

it's bad when all you see are saturated and trans fat on your labels. you need to change your diet. again, saturated fats (animal, solid fat) is not good in high amounts. trans fats are man-made and are never good period. the only "good" fats are mono- and polyUNsaturated fats (liquid at room temp). and no, fish sticks aren't the same thing as fish. fish sticks are frozen and have all kinds of man-made crap in it that all frozen food has. you might as well buy a tub of lard and eat it. replacing food with water isn't exactly a great idea considering water has no calories and no nutritional value, despite it being esseential to our well-being.

[Jugs]

Jugs: You got an A+ so you didn't need me after all

Yeah but I actually wanted to get fit from my fitness program lmao.

[mvpshaq32]

Something else I don't get is that some foods list polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat but has 0g of it. Some foods don't list it at all.
I can barely find foods with the good fats. Besides I'm 14 so I can't cook a fish or ask for one for dinner everyday.

[Axel]

Saturated fats actually aren't that bad for you. They're the more natural of fats, such as lard, and are in dairy products. Peanuts and peanut butter have lots of saturated fat and aren't bad for you - I'd suggest just keeping away from anything with a lot of trans fats, or hydrogenated oils. Keep in mind that just because the nutrition label says 0g for transfats, a lot of times it is still listed in the ingredients. If you see Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable oil, or anything else hydrogenated, stay away from it. It's impossible to avoid it completely because it is in so many foods, but you really dont want more than a gram or two a day...

[mvpshaq32]

Today I literally walked for 3 hours. Ate cereal, half a bagel, and pineapple bun. So....3 meals.
Am I off to a good start?

[Steve [The Spiderman]]

That's all you ate? Are you trying to starve yourself?

[Matt]

Cy, what kind of cereals do you recommend....i eat Nesquick, good ole chocolaty goodness.

EDIT: for breakfast i simply MUST eat cereal.

[mvpshaq32]

That's all you ate? Are you trying to starve yourself?

No, that was for half a day. I just ate dinner.

Cy, what kind of cereals do you recommend....i eat Nesquick, good ole chocolaty goodness.

EDIT: for breakfast i simply MUST eat cereal.

I love chocolate cereal too. Cocoa Puffs for me but I'll eat plain cereal with raisins too.

[Axel]

I eat honey bunches of oats. Best cereal invented.

[cyanide]

Great answers, Qballer and Axel

Matt: That's probably sugary, and like you, I must have cereal every morning. The good ones I can think off the top of my head (and use) are Vector, Just Right, Special K (add a bit of sugar), Rice Krispies (add a bit of sugar), Corn Flakes, and definitely the best one of the above mentioned but also the hardest to eat, imo, are Bran Flakes. It's fine to eat whatever else cereals that are supposedly good but not that sugary. I guess Honey Bunches of Oats and Honey Nut Cheerios can go into that category.

[mvpshaq32]

In your post, is it really true pushups and situps really useless if I can don't struggle to do more than 12?

What about this question?

[Matt]

I guess i'll switch back to Special K....I used to eat that way back in the day.

[[Q]]

Man I used to eat cereal for breakfast every morning since i was a kid, but last year, it started giving me stomach aches and massive gas. I don't think i've become lactose-intolerant because I still drink chocolate milk and regular milk straight up with no problems, so it must be something about the sugar in the cereal that's messing with me.
Honey Nut Cheerios has to be the best cereal known to man.

Brian, there's a message in my soup. I think it's trying to tell me something. It says "OoooOOoOOo"

[cyanide]

In your post, is it really true pushups and situps really useless if I can don't struggle to do more than 12?

What about this question?

I did mention that doing more than 12 reps is basically cardio. Even though push-ups and situps are used in basic training for decades, it's pretty much cardio for your chest + arms for endurance and stamina and maintaining strength rather than increasing strength. Unless you're doing like 500 pushups then maybe something good would happen, but I'd rather do 8 reps of bench presses.

[BigKaboom2]

Brian, there's a message in my soup. I think it's trying to tell me something. It says "OoooOOoOOo"

It was Alpha Bits!

[mvpshaq32]

Spaghetti would be pasta too right? Because that is the only food I can think of that is healthy at my school. And what if I did like 250 crunches? Would that be helpful because I'm a student so I don't have equipment.

[Fenix]

is there some thing such as one handed bicep curl?

Sure. You can do it either on Scott's bench or with the active arm lying on your leg. They're both isolation excercises for the biceps (obviously) and they go like this:



Anyways, I'm trying to get all muscle-ish and stuff, so I stopped doing my metrosexual routine and started training like a man. I still train way too much (6 times per week), although I limited aerobic excercises. My goal is 185 pounds@5-6% BF. Yes, it's not much considering I'm 6'3, but I can't afford more, because I have to keep my gay model looks.

1. Chest
2. Shoulders/bi
3. Abs/lower back/20 min of aerobic excercise/yoga
4. Back/tri
5. Legs
6. Abs/lower back/pushups/20 min of aerobic excercise/yoga

I isolated chest (I usually do it with biceps) simply because it so far behind the rest of my upper body. My chest routine is also completely different from every other day (when I use 4 excercises/13 sets formula for each body part). I do only three excercises, with the emphasis being on the bench press, where I do 5 sets, move on to incline bench press with dumbbells (4 sets) and finish the day with 4 sets of dumbbell flyes/butterfly (superseries). Try it sometime. It hurts like hell and your chest totally explodes.