Hi there, This post is regarding a question i have on how to use your natural growth (as a teen) to its full potential... A bit about myself (this may help you answer my question): I am 18 years old and I was training in the gym 2 times a week and practicing Kung Fu once a week all of last year. During that year i made quite significant gains in strength and lost a lot of excess fat on my body whilst staying pretty much the same weight. I have never been overweight but after a year at the gym and kung fu i had got very fit, strong and toned. Now it has been over 3 months since i trained at the gym or did kung fu but i still seem to be gaining muscle and even strength. Occasionally in the evening i do as many press ups as i can in a row and they seem to be getting higher and higher even though the amount of exercise i do at the moment is minimal. I think this is because i am experiencing a type of growth burst. I think im a bit of a late developer (Im 18 but cant grow a full beard) and feel like some extra hormone power is kicking in at the moment. So my question: Is this the time to train hard, using this growth spurt or whatever it is to make extra gains, or, Do i let my body grow, doing light exercise and training and wait until it has stopped before i go all out? Im wondering whether training whilst growing could have positive, negative or neutral effects on my overall gains (strength, speed, stamina)? Just for your info i wont be doing weights training, it will be BJJ, muay thai and Judo. Hope that was clear enough, Dan
As an 18 year old dude you are at a point where you will get a high level adaptation in your body from whatever activity you are in. If you want to put on weight, now is the time to do it by eating lots and lifting heavy weights. If you want to stay the same weight, jump into your Jits, Thai, and Judo training. It's all on you brother! The world is your oyster!
IM 18 so im interested in this too... it's possible to weight train and do martial arts and put on weight provided you eat enough right?
Im not particularly interested in putting on weight. I was just wondering what the implications of training whilst growing naturally as a teen are and whether it would be beneficial, harmful or neither. Does anyone know of any studies or articals on this subject?
Im 18 aswell so this thread intrests me alot aswell really, does the training you do at this age gouvern the body structure you will have for the rest of your life or does it only affect your current level of fitness and your body structure is genetic and thus set?
Your training at any age helps to govern your body structure, but the younger you are, the more your body will adapt to whatever training your are engaged in. This is especially the case with weightlifting, which I personally recommend for pretty much everyone.
I found this article: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0835.htm Its about strength training for children but it has some interesting info e.g. "Boys enjoy more natural development during puberty and for a longer time afterwards. In fact, their peak gains in strength last for 18 months after their peak gains in size. However, strength training from puberty onwards would still be highly beneficial for boys. Puberty provides a great window of opportunity for them to develop strength through training because of the high testosterone levels. If regular training is maintained, the large possible gains at this time can last into adulthood. (Without regular training, i.e. at least once a week, children show the same detraining effects as adults.) For this reason I would also recommend starting 'adult-like' strength training for boys from puberty, depending on the pre-puberty training status" From what i gathered in this article motor-unit activation, the myelination of the nerve fibres (the 'insulation' of the fibres to allow faster conductivity of the electrical impulse) and general neuromuscular improvements are the type of gains that will stay with you into your adult. During puberty boys have high testostrone levels so it makes improving general neuromuscular activity easier. As the article states, "puberty provides a great window of opportunity". So according to the article 18 is the perfect age to train hard! One last note: "When deciding when to start and progress weight training, it is best to use biological and not chronological age as your guideline; otherwise, certain individuals may be starting too late or too early for optimum development" Dan.
Don't have any articles offhand, so treat this with a pinch of salt, but I seem to remember the growth spurt around 13-15 to be NOT a good time for weight training, but by the time you hit 18 it's ideal. Again, getting hit in the head is never good for you, but from what I remember up to 17 it's much worse, so at your age there's nothing to stop you going all out for Thai. For jujutsu I wouldn't imagine there's any problems after your joints have 'settled down' at 14. But that's a nice article you found anyway!
Sounds good, I beleive you also have muscle memory too, so if you do manage to become very strong from age 18-21 then loose that strength and start training at 30 again you will be able to reach the same level as before much more quickly then you would if oyu had never trained before. I need to make my sentances shorter..
I was weight training from 13 and getting hit in the head from 15 and there's nothing wrong with me.. As long as forms good I don't see why weight training would be bad.
At the grand old age of 17?! :evil: Longitudinal development studies usually last a little longer than that. So, I'd say right now your anecdotal evidence is approximately as useful as my half-remembered rambling... Fair point. Just checked with the American Society of Sports Physicians and they reckon weights from 7 (!) is fine but 13-15 is best as testosterone production kicks in... and: 1) No maxing out: weights should be light, working up to approximately bodyweight 2) Nothing with weights that an unweighted body can't handle 3) Full ROM compound exercises only: NO isolation stuff 4) Focus on core Couldn't find anything on boxing (getting punched in the head example) but around 16 seems to be the geezer in the street's opinion.
Here's another small quote that backs up the previous article: "If you've started puberty, your body will have begun making the hormones necessary to help build muscle in response to weight training. If you haven't started puberty, though, you'll still be able to get stronger — you just won't see your muscles getting bigger" This might seem obviouse but it does show that the extra testotrone in boys aged 15-22 (roughly) would aid you in training, particularly muscle growth. It seems to me that by the age of 16-18 your bones are fully grown and you still have high levels of testostrone to help create muscle. This makes it a very good age to train. Anyone else got some views on this topic? I think it is very interesting. Dan.
I only need mybrain for another 5 years max then my education is over, so as long as I survive that long I'm ok.
I also find this topic interesting as I'm 17 as well! [small world haha] Guess I chose a good time to start getting semi-serious about my training! [exercising almost everyday, plus getting REALLY into martial arts (more than I was before)] Interesting artical by the way dan. Just hope it's not too late for me it seems like I've stopped getting taller lol, that doesn't nessessarily mean im done with puberty though lol. deffinatly true, last week was my first class in kung fu, and horse stance + bow stance KILLED my legs the next day [i had done lunges and stuff the day before too that probably didn't help] but the next day i could hardly walk. Yesterday, however, my second class, we did some horse stance and bow stance etc, and today I have no pain in my legs at all, I'm really surprised at how quickly I am able to get used to the stuff we do in martial arts again!:hat:
