Weights

oeNeo

Sorry if this has been asked before but:

I'm 17 in 17 days, 6 foot tall, 9 stone (ish). Just got some weights for my birthday and I was wondering if there's any truth in saying that doing weights when you're my age fucks your bones up when you're older.

How much should I be doing per day?

Thanks

Kali

Its not a case of how much or how often its a case of how effective you train... surely it came with some sort of basic routine and instructions..
Train every second day, for at least an hour and a half, including a decent warmup... if you want to increase fitness then try more reps with a lighter weight, and usually the opposite for toning/building muscle... also its never a good idea to attempt heavy weights on your own, so take care as that will lead to excessive strain and potential injury.

tunney

I think the more important question he asked was not what he should do but rather should he be doing any weight training at all. My gut feeling is that the mods will say "nothing serious, keep it light", well thats what the minors in my gaa club were told anyways.

Amz

There are a lot of arguments out there saying that young people particularly children shouldn't participate in any form of weight training. However there is little or no evidence out there to suggest why a person of any age shouldnt participate in a correctly structured and properly performed weight training.

Are you trying to increase strength/power or just hypertrophy(muscle mass)?

I would recommed that you learn how to lift the weights properly at first using light loads thus reducing any risks as you increase the weights.

Take it slowly at first and like tunney said keep the loads light.

oeNeo

I'm really just looking to get more strength in my arms, don't really want huge muscles

Thanks for the help.

Jak

Well I did my first free weights course at 15, though most of the training between then and 17 was light stuff with a lot of bodyweight excersises which are safe enough.

At 17/18 there is no reason not to be taking a serious approach to your training, I used to coach weights in my old school, and it seemed to yield nothing but benefits for them - certainly none of them looked like their growth had been stunted.

There's a guy I know who is only 18, I help him out a bit with advice etc and spotting, but he has been taking his training seriously and working at it for just about 18 months now and it is simply amazing the level of progress he has made, especially relative to the some of the idiots I have seen wasting away their time in the gym for the last couple of years.

If you are going to do it - get sound advice on technique, have someone watch you and tell you what is wrong etc. Take it seriously and have some discipline.

And for the love of god, don't worry about "getting huge muscles" - it will never happen by accident.

Benbaz

Originally posted by Jak
And for the love of god, don't worry about "getting huge muscles" - it will never happen by accident.