newbe questions

[Evan0g]

Hi, I am a 15 years old and weigh 150 pounds and am new to having an actual fitness plan. I would like to lose weight and do strength training in my upper body since I have an unproportional body because I have a strong lower body due to biking everyday.

The questions I have are-

On the Jpfitness upper body calculator it gave me a calculation of 1180 (I can do 30 pushups and I weigh 150 pounds) so it tells me to bench 750 pounds and other impossible weights. Did I do something wrong???

Second- I am trying to work on my chest but I have tried many different workouts and I never feel it in my chest, only my shoulders and biceps. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Third- What are someways to get rid of "stubborn belly fat" (god I sound like an infomercial) I have lost a lot of weight (with my thanks to puberty) but still have some on my lower stomach. I know you can't spot reduce but that is my focus

Fourth- What do I need to know before doing weight training and how frequent should I do training (the one day one off thing?)

Thank you very much for your help and please tell me if I need to add any more information.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by Evan0g

Hi, I am a 15 years old and am new to having an actual fitness plan. I would like to lose weight and do strength training in my upper body since I have an unproportional body because I have a strong lower body due to biking everyday. The questions I have are-

biking does not give you a "strong" lower body the same way as doing stuff like squats and deadlifts.

On the Jpfitness upper body calculator it gave me a calculation of 1180 (I can do 30 pushups and I weigh 150 pounds) so it tells me to bench 750 pounds and other impossible weights. Did I do something wrong???

i've never used this, but i'm assuming you did something wrong b/c you shouldn't be able to bench 750 as a noob.

Second- I am trying to work on my chest but I have tried many different workouts and I never feel it in my chest, only my shoulders and biceps. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

we need more info, like what you're doing for it. You should be doing overhead work, and ROWS and pullups as much if not more than you bench. DBs are also great for working the chest.

Third- What are someways to get rid of "stubborn belly fat" (god I sound like an infomercial) I have lost a lot of weight (with my thanks to puberty) but still have some on my lower stomach.

what's your weight? You can't spot reduce. Squat. Squatting puts your body under a huge amount of stress and burns a ton of calories. Stick to squats and compound movements.

Fourth- What do I need to know before doing weight training and how frequent should I do training (the one day one off thing?)

You should be doing a balanced workout w/ a good amount of prehab work as well. You should be focusing on squatting as well. Squatting and deadlifting are two of the best exercises you can do for adding muscle to your frame.
Thank you very much for your help and please tell me if I need to add any more information.[/quote]

[Jimbo]

Where is this.."Jpfitness upper body calculator" you mentioned?

Welcome to the boards. Hang out a while and all your questions will be answered.

A lot of folks here prescribe to 3-4 days a week of full body workouts. If you are doing a body part ssplit type program you can hit the gym more often but a full body program will give you much more bang for the buck starting out.

As Alcaholiday pointed out, bike riding, especially for long distances, will not build muscle in the same way as lifting. You are training for endurance. Your body does become stronger but not for doing explosive lifting movements. So it is a different kind of strength that you are training for when you are doing you riding. Your legs do become stronger but, most likely, not larger since your body will adjust to the activity and smaller is better for endurance sports like riding and running.

If you are concerned abou putting on muscle you will either need to reduce the amount of riding you do or increase your caloric intake and incorporate a lifting program into your life. Most trainers (which I am not)would probably tell you to limit your riding and focus on lifting if you want to put on muscle.

So..

1. Figure out your nutritional/caloric needs and get the diet straightened out. This is the most important thing you can do to lose the belly fat.
2. Limit the amount of endurance type sports you partake in. They work against your body holding onto mass. If you are happy with your size..keep riding and enjoy! Nothin wrong with that.
3. Start a full body lifting program 3-4 days a week. There are links to several good programs in the FAQ forum. HERE:

Training Routines

Good luck!!!

[rookie]

Excellent advice above. Read it twice.

Find a full body routine that focuses on compound moves. Don't get caught up trying to work your chest. A good routine will help you balance out everything. Often you feel lifts in your arms not because your chest is lagging but because your arms are. And be sure your using full ROM on your moves.
As for legs, I used to think all my sports work made my legs strong. It made them look muscular and gave them some great endurance, but at the end of the day the were not strong in proportion to the rest of my body.

[RobLL]

15 and 150 pounds, some belly fat. I suspect that you may find yourself in the sweet spot in that gaining muscle and losing fat will happen if you start eating clean and do the sorts of workouts in the above posts. Good luck.

ps You may not need so much to lose weight as to add lean body mass.

[Alcoholiday]

if i was training a healthy kid who was 15, and 150, i would make him squat like crazy. imagine the possibilities.

[gobbla]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

if i was training a healthy kid who was 15, and 150, i would make him squat like crazy. imagine the possibilities.

and eat

[Josh Rider]

Everyone's advice so far is pretty sound and it has helped me in the past. I am no expert or even a veteran of fitness(I've only gotten in to this a year ago) but I think that for at least the first 3-6 months, you should stick with a full body program. You should avoid certain isolation excersizes that work out little parts of your body and instead go for the nice quality compound movements that work large parts of your lower body and upper body at one time. Results will come much faster and will be much more practical. Squats, Lunges, and Deadlifts(and their variations once you get the run of the mill ones down packed) should probably make the bulk of your leg workout. Similarly, Bench Presses(and its variations), Rows(and its variations...pull downs are not bad either), Shoulder Press, Crunches, and your typical arm excersizes(curls, press downs) would make a good starting point for your upper body. But remember, don't spend eons on the small stuff. Arms don't have to be worked for as many sets as a bigger muscle like the Quadriceps or Chest, so don't overdue it.

I'm not sure to as what rep range would be suitable for you at 15 years old but I'd say 8-12 or 10-15 would be suitable for first few months of your training at least and every once and a while(once a week or once a month) you could try a lower rep range like 4-6 or 6-10.

As for cardio, I'd recommend to continue your daily biking as it promotes overall physical/cardio-vascular health. If you want to really get the bang for your buck, I suggest doing HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training.

As for food, eat a lot of meat, low-fat cheese...hell, just eat a lot.

[Jason B]

Originally Posted by RobLL

15 and 150 pounds, some belly fat. I suspect that you may find yourself in the sweet spot in that gaining muscle and losing fat will happen if you start eating clean and do the sorts of workouts in the above posts. Good luck.

ps You may not need so much to lose weight as to add lean body mass.

Exactly. You're primed to be able to do both at the same time, it would actually be quite easy with your body still growing. But you can't skimp on food. Let me repeat that. You can't skimp on food. Use common sense about what foods to eat (don't lie to yourself, you know what's healthy), and don't be shy at the dinner table. Along with a solid full-body strength program you should get the results you want. Don't worry about concentrating on your chest right now, you need muscle everywhere, you're body is not at a point that allows you to specialize. First I'd start with bodyweight. Use this program from Alwyn Cosgrove. Once you can do about 20 bulgarian split squats, 30 push-ups, and 10 chin-ups with good form, begin using external resistance. I recommend a Bill Starr type routine to start:

Workout A:
Squat - 3x5
Bench - 3x5
Row - 3x5

Workout B:
Squat - 3x5
Military Press - 3x5
Deadlift - 3x5

Alternate between the two, training Mon Wed Fri (or any three days a week), making sure to add more weight to the bar every workout. You'll be able to keep this up for at least a couple months before you need something more advanced. Pick up Starting Strength and Practical Programming if you've got a few extra bucks, your body will thank you. If not, look up articles by Jason Ferruggia, Mark Rippetoe, Alwyn Cosgrove, Eric Cressey, Kelley Baggett, Tony Gentilcore and the like.