safely bulking up 14yrs old rugby player

5 Responses to this question

1. admin Says:
   January 18th, 2007 at 9:32 am

   At 14 he can start resistance training but needs to be careful as his bones are still growing. The main thing he needs to do is eat! A lot! With a fast metabolism he’s unlikely to gain fat. Get him down the gym, buy some protein powder (just the basic stuff like Promax) and ignore the other supplements like Creatine etc. Then train 3 times a week at the gym, Monday, Wednesday and Friday and take the protein powder 3 times a day between meals. Prepare to ache a bit at the start. To summerise, more food, less running around, start lifting some weight.

2. admin Says:
   January 21st, 2007 at 11:18 am

   Hi Mr Green, I would suggest some bodyweight training for you son. It has often been suggested that lifting weights before bones are fully developed can be extremely detrimental for tendon health. There are some very good bodyweight training methods for him to use to get bigger. Make sure he eats enough. [by enough i mean at least 2000 kcals a day - preferably of good food, i.e. lean meats and vegetables. Few potatoes and carrots though, as they contain starch which is bad for protein synthesis, and almost always converted into fat]

   Handstand push ups, chins, dips etc are all very useful and will build a lot of mass. Reverse decline sit ups are also much more effective at building core strength and abs.

   If you want to pay for a program, i suggest either Matt Furey’s combat conditioning or Alwyn Cosgrove’s Turbulence Training. Both systems are equally good, but I value Alwyn’s above Matt’s. You can procure his Combat Conditioning book illegally using something like LimeWire or uTorrent. [Neither of which is recommended -for legal reasons - but is fairly easy to obtain, the one offered on these programs are the full versions and have the bonus of being free.]

   Feel free to adhere to my advice or to ignore it. But please know that it is unadvisable for you son to start weight training until he is at least 16. Most gyms wont even let under 17’s use the weights in gyms.

   Hope this helps . . .
   Chris

3. admin Says:
   February 4th, 2007 at 12:06 pm

   Your son is at an age where weight training may help his muscle growth, but may stunt his skeletal development. By this I mean the length of his bones. However, using natural weight training such as a combination of press ups, pull ups and ab crunches, he should look like a rugby player in no time. Also, try and feed him home made protien shakes 3 times a day, with 3 clean meals. A protien shake can be a combination of milk, yoghurt, dry milk powder, whey protien, fruit and nuts, ice cream and other things you can think of to boost calories.
   Good Luck

4. admin Says:
   March 21st, 2007 at 9:01 am

   At 14 I am a strong believer that this is way too young to be starting weight training.

   At this age you should be helping to develope his core rugby skills rather than his physical appearance.

   Weight training at such a young age will no doubt lead to physiological problems in the future….

5. philiewhilie Says:
   May 16th, 2007 at 5:49 pm

   All good points here but there is no proof that weightlifting (with low intenstity) can cause any problems during growth, infact it has been suggested that the high HGH levels with teenagers is very benefacial for muscle growth. On a personal note I started just before I was 14 and I seem to have turned out fine!

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