It is possible for teenagers to train reasonably well in bodybuilding or weightlifting. Today, let's talk about the most common mistakes teenage bodybuilders make.
When teenagers start bodybuilding training, they are prone to making many mistakes. You may think that if you train really hard and follow a proper fitness diet, you will look like arnold schwarzenegger in 3-4 months, especially if you do everything "By the book" And in a scientific way. Although this is your initial training period, you may make significant progress, but you are still far from looking like arnold.
Unrealistic fitness goals are just one of the many mistakes that teenage bodybuilders make when they first start out. Learn how to avoid them and you'll be on the fast track to great fitness results.
Unrealistic goals
When you start bodybuilding training, it's easy to have unrealistic expectations. While we can't say exactly how much muscle you'll gain because everyone grows at a different rate, we can tell you that if you gain 10kg of pure muscle in your first year, then you're already doing amazingly well.
Forging a championship level body takes time and consistent application of good training, proper diet, and plenty of rest. Bodybuilding is a sport that requires patience. However, you can stay motivated and if you track your progress, you can also make sure you are moving in the right direction.
Take a digital photo of yourself every four weeks to record your weight and latitude measurements. If you can find a professional who can help you with skin caliper measurements even better. This way, every four weeks you will be able to see what your body is doing and adjust your plan accordingly. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and you will be amazed at how much more progress a picture can tell you than a simple measurement.
For example, if you measured your arms without taking a picture and you measured 35 cm and four weeks later they measured the same length (your weight stayed the same), you might think you hadn't made any progress.
However, if you take photos you can see more changes in shape and proportion in your photos then this tells you that even though your measurements have remained stable, muscle mass has increased while fat has been burned.
If you also recorded the skin caliper readings and the skin caliper measurements went down then you know you must have lost fat and gained muscle. If you use an excel sheet to record all this information (you can even save photos on excel), you will be amazed at how much progress you will make over the course of a year if you are consistent with every detail of your fitness programme.
Lack of consistency in bodybuilding training
Some teenagers think that if they lift weights for three weeks and take two weeks off, they can go back to where they left off and start again. However, this is far from the truth. This lack of consistency in training over three days will hold you back and prevent you from achieving your goals.
Make up your mind to stick to every aspect of your fitness programme (training, diet and rest)! At the end of the day, daily consistency will be your guarantee of lasting gains.
Going to the gym to work out with absolutely no plan
Some teenagers (and even adults) hang out at the gym and just do exercise after exercise, doing the best they can with big weights, without a training rhythm or any goals. This can lead not only to mediocre results but also to injuries.
It is important to have a good training plan in place before you go to the gym. You can start by referring to professional training articles online to learn more about what a good fitness training plan should look like.
Blindly copying championship routines
On the other hand, some of our teenagers will have a planned workout which may be the training plan of a high level bodybuilding champion. However, this program is too "Advanced" For the junior to intermediate youth bodybuilder.
Once a bodybuilder has been training for over a decade, he or she will know how their body responds best to training. At that point in time, the training program is designed to address the relatively weak body parts while maintaining the dominant body parts. There may also be professional reasons for more isolation exercises, which do not apply to junior or intermediate youth bodybuilders. Ultimately, the volume and frequency of training in a professional training program simply reflects the unique volume capabilities of the individual fitness champion, which may be much higher than what is required of a teenage bodybuilder.
Because of what has been stated above, advanced training programs from professional bodybuilders or high level athletes can lead to teenage bodybuilders overtraining in some areas and undertraining in others. In addition, if the volume and frequency of training is too high, this may lead to overtraining and injury.
Using the wrong training habits
Again, this is a mistake when following a more advanced training schedule (long training sessions). The main training schedule should be short (1 hour maximum) and at the same time should focus mainly on free weights, basic training movements and multi-joint workouts. Too much stationary equipment and too many isolation exercises will lead to slow progress results.
Too much weight and improper form
We have all seen over-ambitious youth bodybuilders who put too much weight on the bench press in order to reach their 'max'. Teenage bodybuilders should not blindly max out because at this age, muscles grow faster than tendons and ligaments. "Maxing out", also known as overexertion, refers to the maximum amount of weight one can lift in a single repetition and it can exponentially increase the chance of injury, especially if one is not guaranteed to use proper form. Remember, in fitness, weights are only a means to an end. We use weights as a tool to induce control over muscles and thus muscle growth.
You are not an adult weightlifter. So concentrate on performing 8-15 repetitions with perfect standard movements so that the weight stimulates the muscles (rather than tiring the joints) and you will be surprised how much more benefit you can safely get with a slightly lighter weight.
Not paying enough attention to your diet
Many teenagers have found ways to train, but they don't make any significant progress. Nine out of ten reasons for this are poor eating habits.
Remember that sound training is what stimulates the muscle growth process, but it is nutrition that promotes it. You can't build a tall building without the raw materials to build it, can you? The same is true for bodybuilders. There is no growth without food.
Eating everything in your diet plan to 'grow fat'
Unless you're a naturally skinny person who probably really needs to stick to "Eat what you see", you only need to eat slightly more calories to gain quality muscle (about 500 calories on top of what you consume). Too many calories (especially from simple sugars and fats) will only make you fat.
Remember, six meals a day, 2 - 3 hours apart, consisting of complex carbohydrates (e.g. Brown rice, oats, sweet potatoes) to provide energy for training, lean proteins (e.g. White fish, chicken, etc.) to build muscle, and a small amount of beneficial fats (e.g. Extra virgin olive oil and flaxseed oil) to ensure good hormone production. An initial diet might ensure three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), plus a good protein powder, with extra meals between meals.
Lack of sleep
This can be difficult for energetic teenagers to accept regular sleep, especially in the summer, but remember that muscle growth happens at night when you sleep. Deprive yourself of sleep and your hormonal activity (your natural steroid production) drops, which will eventually cost you valuable muscle growth. Eight to nine hours of sleep at night will give you the maximum growth you want. Seven hours is probably the minimum amount of sleep you need to ensure.
Expect nutritional supplements to do all the work
Many teenagers mistakenly believe that fitness supplements are the most important part of bodybuilding. However, this is far from the truth as the cornerstones of bodybuilding success are consistent execution of training, nutrition plans and rest. So, stop obsessing over the exaggerated claims made in some fitness supplement advertisements and concentrate on the things that actually make sense. In the meantime, stick to supplements that are known to be necessary, effective and proven, such as your multivitamins and minerals, protein powders and essential fats.
Now that you know what the most common mistakes teenage bodybuilders make, learn to avoid them so you can make real progress.
