More Sensible 16 year old questions?

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Getting Fit Slowly

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This is not another thread by your tyipical teenager wanting a six-pack and big guns in 3 weeks to impress the ladies, just so you know :action:

I’m a normal 16 year old boy, around 6ft tall and 10 stone. I’m quite skinny, not weak but not particularly fit either, nor well built.
I’m very healthy, don’t smoke, am vegetarian and have a very good diet.

My issue is my lack of exercise.
I do cycle; go skiing, climbing now and again, but its nothing much. I don’t feel that im unfit, but im not up to the standards that I would like to be, and honestly it bugs me that I run out of breath half-way, jogging down to the shops (which are less than a mile away).

Since I’ve just started my holiday from school I feel that now is a great time for me to get into shape.
I plan on joining the local gym which is around 10-15mins cycle away (its Rolls Royce if anybody’s interested), and hope to see some changes by the end of the six weeks. I then plan on carrying it through the two years of sixth form, and go from there.

I've definitely got the motivation to do this, and have done plenty of research into exercise programs, schemes and frankly alot of crap over the interwebs.

I would like to gain some muscle mass and I understand that this requires a good ratio of exercise, rest and diet...
What confuses me is that whilst I want to gain muscle mass, I also want to increase my cardio. I was told to spend around an hour at a time exercising my muscle groups, but can I do another hour of cardio after this? Or would that cause over exercising, and have negative results?

My plan would be to go to the Gym Mon/Tues, Rest Wed, and go again Thrus/Fri and have the weekend as rest, though I may go occasionally with my parents at the weekend, but that would be mainly cardio.

What do you guys recommend that I do? (This can range from exercises to schedules etc etc, I’m open to all advice)
I hope my age doesn’t restrict this.

Come on Smart Interweb Folk! You’re the best around... na na na na na na keep me down... your best around...
Sorry...
 
The disinct lack of replys saddens me =(
 
Um don't be like that, the reason no one has replied, yet, is that they probably don't feel qualified or am not sure what the answer is.

To build muscle mass you need to increase the calories you are taking in and it typically involves cutting down on cardio so you do not burn the calories that would be used for the muscle building.

Most guys want big muscles and to be lean. The way to do this is to increase calorie intake and do large weights (relative to you so dont try a tonne :p) and low reps which will make the muscles take on extra mass. After you have put on the muscle you increase your cardio which burns the fat etc and then you can get the lean cut look
 
Sorry, buddy, I hadn't bothered looking in the teen forums for a while for the exact reasons you mentioned at the start of your post - I know that coming in here I have a 99% probability of "I just want big guns and a 6 pack," which I really have no interest in dealing with. Thus, I hadn't seen your post and hadn't replied.

You don't need to train muscle groups for an hour a day. At beginner level, you can probably get away with 30-60min of fullbody resistance training 2-3 days/week and make more progress with less injuries than a beginner who comes in and does a day of chest, then a day of back, then a day of shoulders, then a day of legs, then a day of arms. A simple 5x5 ramping session where you do a fullsquat (or leg press if you don't have access to the information to learn to squat properly), some form of press (bench, overhead, dips), and some form of pull (deadlift, power clean, row, chins) could have you done in as little as 20-30 minutes when you first start training, and as the intensity increases might take longer. It'll have you making progress for a while, and will give you time for cardio afterwards or on your off-days.

NB. 5x5 ramping means 5 sets with 5 reps, but only the last set is heavy. All other sets are progressively increasing in weight, warming up to that last set of 5. In the first month of the program, even the "heavy" set shouldn't really be heavy, as your focus should be on good form, which will optimise progress later on and is going to be a healthier option than bad form (as most injuries in the gym occur as a result of doing things wrong).

You will need to increase caloric intake if you want to build muscles, and you'll need to do so in a way that has you consuming more energy than all the energy you burn while training. Cardio won't prevent you from progression, but it will mean you have to eat a bit more than you would without it.
 
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