Need an opinion on my workout routine.

[Ay123]

Hi, I'm not positive what format to ask this in so I'm going to list all the information that seems pertinent first.

14 year old male
121 pounds
5"6
Working out for roughly 11 months

I haven't quite been able to get into the habit of alternating muscle groups each workout, so far my workout consists of weights every second day, and a run in between.

Monday- 5-6km run at pace
Tuesday- Weights
Wednesday- 3-4km run at a faster pace aiming for the shortest possible time
Thursday- Rest
Friday- Weights
Saturday- Long run 7-10km tempo
Sunday- Weights

When I'm at the gym I warm up with cardio for about 20 minutes, work on upper body for around 70 minutes, then around 30 minutes of abs.
I do bench press 5 sets of 10 reps with a pyramid (starting at a relatively easy weight and adding 5 pounds until the 3rd set, then take off 2.5-5 pounds on the 4th and 5th set).
I do bent-over rows, curls, (bar, and dumbells) chin ups etc.

I'm trying to bulk up mainly, and I feel as if my routine is not quite right so I wanted an opinion or two. If I'm missing information that would be helpful please ask.

Thanks

 

[Coach Palfrey]

Hi, I'm not positive what format to ask this in so I'm going to list all the information that seems pertinent first.

14 year old male
121 pounds
5"6
Working out for roughly 11 months

I haven't quite been able to get into the habit of alternating muscle groups each workout, so far my workout consists of weights every second day, and a run in between.

Monday- 5-6km run at pace
Tuesday- Weights
Wednesday- 3-4km run at a faster pace aiming for the shortest possible time
Thursday- Rest
Friday- Weights
Saturday- Long run 7-10km tempo
Sunday- Weights

When I'm at the gym I warm up with cardio for about 20 minutes, work on upper body for around 70 minutes, then around 30 minutes of abs.
I do bench press 5 sets of 10 reps with a pyramid (starting at a relatively easy weight and adding 5 pounds until the 3rd set, then take off 2.5-5 pounds on the 4th and 5th set).
I do bent-over rows, curls, (bar, and dumbells) chin ups etc.

I'm trying to bulk up mainly, and I feel as if my routine is not quite right so I wanted an opinion or two. If I'm missing information that would be helpful please ask.

Thanks

Weight training every other day is a good start. Focus on compound movements like squats, presses and deadlifts and make sure you are eating enough.

Your running schedule is going to make it difficult to bulk up. If you're serious about building some muscle then you might need to reduce this for a few months.

 

[Ay123]

I would prefer to focus on athleticism, that is the reason behind my frequent running. How many sets/reps should I be doing for squats and dead lift? Will running however reduce muscle gain significantly?

 

[Chops83]

You want to be doing 3 sets of 8-10 reps for all your exercises.

Moderate intensity cardio for long periods burns muscle as well as fat. This is why pro marathon runners are always really thin and skeleton like. The best bet if you want to keep your fitness high as well as lifting weights is do High Intensity Interval Training. With this, you do short bursts for short periods and it burns a lot less muscle. For instance, sprinting flat out for 2 mins and walking for 2 mins and sprinting for 2 mins etc etc. This is why 100m sprinters are always really ripped, because they do the short bursts of high intensity.
Do bear in mind however that to gain muscle, you will have to have an excess of calories in your diet. This means eating at least 2500 calories a day for someone of your size.

 

[Coach Palfrey]

I would prefer to focus on athleticism, that is the reason behind my frequent running. How many sets/reps should I be doing for squats and dead lift? Will running however reduce muscle gain significantly?

In your original post you said that you wanted to "bulk up mainly". If you can define athleticism then it will be easier to give you advice.

 

[Ay123]

In your original post you said that you wanted to "bulk up mainly". If you can define athleticism then it will be easier to give you advice.

Sorry for the mixed message, I do want to bulk up, but if it came down to it I wouldn't want to sacrifice stamina or speed (in the form of running) purely for muscle gain.

 

[maki21]

Hi, I'm not positive what format to ask this in so I'm going to list all the information that seems pertinent first.

When I'm at the gym I warm up with cardio for about 20 minutes, work on upper body for around 70 minutes, then around 30 minutes of abs.
I do bench press 5 sets of 10 reps with a pyramid (starting at a relatively easy weight and adding 5 pounds until the 3rd set, then take off 2.5-5 pounds on the 4th and 5th set).
I do bent-over rows, curls, (bar, and dumbells) chin ups etc.

I'm trying to bulk up mainly, and I feel as if my routine is not quite right so I wanted an opinion or two. If I'm missing information that would be helpful please ask.

Thanks

Maybe you should also consider about time in the gym with weights. As far as i know, better is to have 45-60 min training and more intesive, since if you overload your body too much, you can be doing only harm to yourself.
Please correct me if i am wrong, but i think it works this way...

Regards, Maki

 

[Coach Palfrey]

Sorry for the mixed message, I do want to bulk up, but if it came down to it I wouldn't want to sacrifice stamina or speed (in the form of running) purely for muscle gain.

No worries, you'll see improvements but I'd suggest looking at exercise selection if you want to maintain athleticism. Your sessions, as Maki said, are also a little bit too long. Short intense weight training sessions will serve you better.

As you are still fairly inexperienced stick with a full body approach 3 times per week.

Use 2 of these sessions as strength sessions and go through the following exercises: deadlift, squat, overhead press (alternate from session to session with a bench press). Aim for technical quality rather than max lifts with a rep range of 5-10. Take as much rest as you need between sets.

Use 1 session per week to focus on bodyweight exercises: press ups, chin ups, dips, sit ups etc. Do these in a circuit training format with little to no rest between - soemthing like this:

[video=youtube;cOKvRcQSW4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOKvRcQSW4k[/video]

Good luck

 

[Ay123]

Thanks for the help, I'll try it out.