TeenBodybuilding.com - Andy Stevensen - When Weights Don't Work!

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When Weights Won't Work!

By: Andy Stevensen

"I am a 6'6", 15 year old male that has a naturally lanky yet atheletic build. I weight about 175-180. I need to gain muscle but i am at this point where i cant seem to get any bigger, what can i do to break this and get bigger. I have tryed makeing my routine different but i really cant seem get any bigger! I am currently takeing a 100% whey protien and creatine also. Any advice would be greatly appercaited.

Thanx,
Ryan"
-from Personal Teen Bodybuilding websites message board (Bodybuilding.com)

Aside from having no ability to spell correctly, Ryan has a problem common to most teenage bodybuilders, and a lot of amateurs in general. I remember this happening to me. In grade five I couldn't spell to save my life. And then, when I was 16 I seemed to hit this plateau with lifting in which I told myself was "as good as it gets" for Steve Andersen, age 16. This problem is largely psychological. Here are a few pointers to get you back in the game.

1) Stop kidding yourself
This seems a bit harsh, but it's really very true. The first step is understanding that you can definitely get bigger. It is always the truth.

2) Take a break
Take a week off. Take a month off. Rest. Read. If you keep on training ineffectively than you will get frustrated and quit for good. And that will not help you get any bigger.

In your time off, you can concentrate on cardio or you can look into finding a cure for your problem. Search the internet, buy magazines, ask the monsters at the local gym. Build up a warehouse of information in your mind. Then put it on paper. Write down what you know. Just keep away from the gym. Give your body a rest.

3) Start from scratch
You have had your break, and you have been missing the gym. You badly want to dive straight back in the deep end, and start floundering around in the water and getting nowhere just like last time. What you really want is to be re-born into the bodybuilding community, and this is how you do it:-

1st week. Get your body back into the flow. Iron out those creases that have come from your week off. HMB will help with the recovery.
2nd - 3rd week. With a training partner by your side, hurt yourself. Lift so heavy that you fail on the 6 - 8th rep. Ribose is good for this.
4th week plus. Settle into a rhythm. Get the technique perfect every time. Do not accept anything less. Find a program and stick to it. Keep protein and glutamine close at all times.

4) Enjoy yourself
Love the gym, and she will love you back. Remember why you are there, remember you goals. If you don't want to be big, if you don't want to walk down the street and have people lay their shirts in front of you as to save your godly feet from encountering dirt and mud, then keep away from the gym. Train hard or don't train. Get pumped. Get serious. Get massive.

I mentioned some supplements that I think are fundamental to a good workout. Ryan told us that he was using creatine and WPI. You have to understand that supplements are by no means a shortcut to massive gains. Don't go and buy some creatine expecting to have muscles bursting out of the yin yang. The one and only way to get massive gains is to put yourself through massive pains. Creatine gives you the ability to train harder, but this is a conscious thing you have to do.