Health aNd Fitness Guide

This is the eighth post in a series of Workout and Nutrition Tips by Jason Gremley.

Until you are well into puberty, you really should not do any major weightlifting. In your early teens, your bones, muscles, and tendons are still immature. I recommend that guys your age do regular bodyweight exercises such as pushups for chest and triceps, pullups for back and biceps, and bodyweight squats and lunges for legs. This will give you a good base for later on. Activity in school sports will also help you stay in good shape at your age.

People mature at different rates, but 16 is typically a good time to start weight training. Concentrate on using strict form and you will not need to do much heavy lifting. In your teen years, your levels of testosterone and growth hormone are naturally so high that your body is primed to gain muscle with even a slight stimulus. Thus, you don’t need to be doing maximum bench presses to see good results. I don’t believe it is wise for anyone to take anabolic steroids, and that is particularly true for teenagers.