Complete Workout Guide

Shoulders - Deltoid

Deltoid Information

The Deltoid is a three-headed muscle that covers the shoulder.

The three heads of the Deltoid are the Anterior, Lateral, and Posterior.

All three Deltoid heads attach to the humerus. The Anterior and Lateral heads originate on the collar bone, while the Posterior head originates on the scapula.

The Anterior Delt contributes to many Pec-related movement, e.g. bench press. The Lateral Delt is most active in dedicated lateral movements. The Posterior Delt is often activated in back exercises that involve the Teres Major and Rhomboid muscles.

You should do exercises to work out all three heads of the deltoids muscle, each one is important to the overall growth and strength of the deltoid muscle as a whole.  Working out your deltoids is critical if you wish to get broad shoulders, and eventually the prized v-taper shaped body that many men seek. You can broaden your shoulders slowly over time by increasing the size of the deltoid muscles.

Deltoid Workout and Exercises

Training the deltoid muscles is critical if you wish to broaden your shoulders.  It is vital to familiarize yourself with the anatomy of the deltoid, as well as learn exercises that work out each head of the deltoid as to gain full benefits from your time in the gym.

• The Front (or anterior) deltoid is used in all pressing movements, such as the bench press, and can be trained adequately without any isolation movements. However for isolation front dumbbell raises are the most commonly used.

• The middle head (or lateral) of the deltoid is the main abductor at the gleno-humeral joint (shoulder) and is commonly trained using side lateral raises (also known as the shoulder fly). The middle head also benefits from overhead pressing movements.

• The rear head (or posterior) of the deltoid is best trained with bent-over dumbbell laterals (an inverted fly)

Standing Military Press

Description

-Grasp barbell from rack or clean barbell from floor with overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder width.
-Position bar in front of neck.
-Press bar until arms are extended overhead.
-Lower to front of neck and repeat.

This is the king of shoulder exercises, it is a great compound lift and really builds up deltoid width.  This is great for building the anterior deltoids.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, one-two times a week

Dumbbell Seated Rear Lateral Raise

Description

- Lie face down on flat or incline bench. Try to position body so that head is off end of bench (For incline bench, you may have to stand in order to clear face of seatback.)
-Start position: Hold DB in each hand with neutral grip (palms facing each other) and let arms straight down (perpendicular to floor).
-With elbows slightly bent and facing the ceiling, raise DB’s to shoulder level in semi-circular motion and squeeze shoulder blades together at top of movement.
- Return to start position.

These are great for working your posterior deltoids, usually I would do these at a bit higher rep range than other exercises.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 12 reps, one-two times a week

Complete Workout Guide

Arms - Triceps

Tricep Information

The triceps brachii, commonly called the triceps,  is located on the back part of your upper arm.  It is the primary responsible muscle for the extension of the elbow joint.  Triceps are personally my favorite muscle to workout.  I like the feeling after a good triceps workout, where you can’t even extend your arm all the way out because the muscle is so sore.  I love doing different triceps exercises, I don’t know why but I just love the feeling of a good tricep workout.  My triceps respond pretty well to free weight workouts, so they grow relatively fast.  An interesting thing about the triceps muscle is that it encompasses nearly 2/3rd of your upper arm, meaning if you want to get bigger arms then you will need to hit your triceps extremely hard.  Many people are under the assumption that the bicep muscle is most of the upper arm, when in reality it is the triceps that make up the vast majority of it.  Due to the fact that the arm is mainly composed of the triceps muscle, it makes it incredibly important to work out this muscle if we wish to get stronger and bigger arms.  Triceps are responsible for punches, for puling, pushing, and many other movements that make it necessary to stregethen this muscle if we wish to achieve an overall increase in strength.

Triceps Workout and Exercises

Here are some of my favorite triceps exercises, keep in mind that there are a vast many different exercises that you can do.  Some of my favorite tricep exercises include tricep dips, overhead extension, tricep kickbacks, close grip bench press, tricep cable push downs, and skull crushers.

Close Grip Bench Press

Description

-Lie down on the flat bench press.
-Place your feet flat on the floor on each side of the bench.
-Spread your thumbs out and grip the bar equally with your thumbs touching each other.
-Now tuck your thumbs in.
-Lift the bar off the rack and pick it up all the way, over your chest.
-Now lower it. Lower it to about 2-4 inches off your chest. As your doing this, keep your elbows tucked in close. Do not let your arms go out to the side because this can cause an injury.
-Now pick it back up using only your triceps.

This exercise really builds definition in your triceps, it works all three heads of the muscle and is one of the best for it.  The closer your grip on the bar, the more your triceps get worked out.  The close grip bench press also works out your chest and shoulders, which makes it a great compound lift.  I highly reccomend the close grip bench press in your tricep workout.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, one-two times a week

Skull Crushers or Skull Breakers

Description

- Lie on back.
- Hold barbell in hands as shown.
- Bend elbows, lowering barbell toward forehead.
- Straighten elbows and repeat.

They call these skull crushers for a reason, it is almost like you stop the barbel right before it hits your head.  Be sure to slow the barbells descent as it approaches your head.  This exercise is great for the triceps, it is good for building huge mass on those arms.  The skull crushers are one of my favorite exercises and they are really good for building mass.  Just be careful and be sure to keep those elbows tucked in.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, one-two times a week

Dragon Flags are the most intense ab exercise that you can possibly imagine.  You basically have to lift up 3/4ths of your whole body by your abdominal muscles.  Dragon Flag’s were invented by the master of combat, Bruce Lee.  Bruce Lee was incredibly ahead of his time and devised an ingenious way to help strengthen and build your abs.  If you want that perfect six pack abs then you should start doing some dragon flags.  Be careful as this exercise is extremely difficult, and it can be easy to injure yourself if you are not careful.  First just try as many as you can manage, it will likely be a while before you can actually perform a full set of 8.  To get better at these you need to strengthen all of your core muscles, including some lower back muscles.  I would recommend doing some pull ups to strengthen your back so you can get better at doing these Dragon Flags.  You should also train up your core and abdominal muscles using regular old sit up’s and crunches in order to be able to do dragon flags properly.

Complete Workout Guide

Arms - Biceps

The Biceps are one of the most popular muscles for many people to workout.  Many girls admire guys with huge arms, and many guys try to get their arms as big as possible.  When teens just start working out they will mainly focus on their biceps, doing bicep curls, but this can lead to over training.  It is important to work out every single muscle in your body to keep everything in proportion.  The biceps brachii is located in the upper arm, it’s most important functions are to rotate the forearm and flex the elbow.  If you are looking to get your arms bulkier then you will have to workout your biceps with proper weight resistance training.  Although it is true that the bicep only encompasses about 1/3rd of the arm, while the triceps takes up the other 2/3rds it is still extremely important to exercises your biceps if you wish to get big arms.  Since the biceps are a rather small muscle group in the human anatomy it is okay to train them up to two - three times a week.  I would reccomend about one or two extremely exhausting sessions a week, to get the most out of muscle gains.  Remember, you gain muscle when you sleep - not in the gym, over training muscles can actually lead to problems later in your life.

Bicep Workout and Exerscises

Now I will tell you some of my favorite bicep exerscies, there are a ton of different ones you can do but it is up to you to find out which exerscises affect your muscles the most.  Remember I would do about two bicep exerscises per workout, and only workout my biceps about two times in a week.  This will ensure that the muscle has time to grow and if you intake plenty of protein your’e muscles will get repaired and become bigger each time you workout.

Alternate Hammer Curl

Description

-Begin with weights in hands, palms inward.
-Bend elbow of one arm, bringing weight up and out slightly to outside of shoulder. Keep palms inward
-Lower while raising other weight in same manner.

I have found that this exerscise is great for hammering those biceps really hard.  A great thing about the alternate hammer curl is that it also works out your forearms, after a few sets of these the veins will be popping out of your forearms like crazy.  This exerscise is also really good if you have long and lanky arms like I do, it is better for hitting your whole bicep muscle which helps to evenly distribute it within your upper arm.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, once a week

Barbell Preacher Curl

Description

-Start sitting down at a curl machine
-Pickup the barbell and put the back of your arms on the curl machine
-Now lift the bar upwards towards your chin

You can really feel your biceps when you do the barbell preacher curl.  After a few sets of these my biceps are aching for a few days.  If you can aquire an EZ bar to do these it can help with some wrist pain that you might get, and make it a little easier on your wrists overall.  The barbell preacher curls are an extremely important exerscise for your biceps.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, once a week

One of my all time favorite resources for an ab workout has to be youtube. Love it or hate it, it’s crammed with videos for every crunch, press-up and pull up you can imagine. You name it, it’s on youtube.

Unfortunately though, due to it’s nature, it’s also full of videos that will teach you wrong form or exercises which will simply waste your time. So, being the kind people that we are, we’ve taken the time to sort through the junk and give you what we think are the best ab workout videos on youtube.

1. Couch Ab Workout

One of my favourites when I first started working out. It provides a good, all round ab workout and believe me, you can really feel the burn. The other great thing is it can easily be done at home and all it takes is a couch, which almost everybody has. If not it can be done anywhere with a similar place to hold, like a bed for example.

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3fU_8kJeXeE

2. Simple, minimum equipment, Ab workout

Though the music to this video does add a, how to put it, less masculine effect, the workouts are pretty standard. These should be a staple in your ab workout, and again is very good for beginners. It also has some more advanced moves for when your abs grow in strength, like using dumbells .

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0qZgGLdzw

3. Unusual Ab Workout

What’s also great about youtube is you’ll sometimes come across what may seem to be a rather unusual exercise, but in practice actually has a really good effect. This one leg off the ground thing really does seem to work. Amazing what you find eh…

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zJGlP-Z21ws

4. Hardcore Ab Workout

Now, after you’ve been working out for a while you’re probably going to want something a little tougher. This is why I recommend this workout. It has a wide range of different crunches, sit ups, etc, and also includes some nice stretches in there. It’s also rather lengthy, lasting for around 6 minutes. Think you’re ready? Go for it.

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fk_usVg7Fp0

5. Advanced Ab workout.

There’s a lot you can do to your abs without equipment but eventually you may want to invest. On the most part, items are cheap. Dumbells, medicine balls, elastics can usually all be brought for under $60. Once you’re in hold of some equipment, take a look at this workout. It doesn’t just focus on the abs, but also provides a good, overall workout.

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rdzS43Pff1w

No matter age or size, it’s easy to make mistakes when working out. These mistakes, with a bit of knowledge, can be easily avoided and it’s certainly in your best interest to take note.

Without further ado; the top 5 mistakes teenagers make when working out.

Diet

Possibly the number 1 mistake made by teenagers. It’s a common scenario when a teenager picks up a magazine or searches online and goes straight to the training articles. They then focus solely on weights and after weeks of minimal gains, end up bored and quitting.

As stated in our guide to protein, it’s really important that you at least try to improve on your diet. I’m not saying you should be counting every calorie or micro-nutrient, but next time you’re craving a chocolate bar, why not have a banana instead. Bananas are a good source of carbs and don’t contain the high levels of sugar and caffeine like chocolate.

These simple substitutions make a huge difference and will have a massive impact on your overall diet. Not only will your gains increase, you will also feel healthy and have more energy in general.

Another mistake teenagers often make is they don’t eat enough. It’s easy to think that by eating less, you’ll loose fat and so your muscles and six pac will show through that much better. This simply isn’t true. Your body would rather eat into your muscle supplies over your fat. This means that by working out and eating less, all you’re going to see is minimal gains, if that.

Consistency

A small, but common mistake. To make positive gains you have to be consistent. It’s easy to become easily excited with the initial gains, which happen fast. But once this period is over, it’s also easy to loose interest, often completely.

This stage after the ‘newbie’ gains is absolutely critical and slacking at this point will cost you. Remember, the body will only get bigger and stronger if you want it to. Getting leaniant in your work outs and eating will only result in your body regressing back to its original strength and size.

Distractions when working out

A good workout should consist of about 30 minutes of intense lifting or cardio. Try to workout in a room or area where you are alone and away from distractions like mobile phones or laptops. These will only hinder your workout and long gaps between sets are not productive. Maximum focus on your current exercise and workout, without distractions, will result in more reps and so leading to better gains.

Over training

Being a teenage means we have tons of energy, maybe sometimes too much. When first starting to workout it is understandably easy to over train. You love that feeling you get every time you have a hard workout and believe the more training the better. This is a common belief, and by thinking this you are just one of many.

As said in the how importance is rest article, by working out you cause microscopic tears in your muscles. If you then don’t give these muscles enough time to repair you’ll end up doing more damage than good and your gains will suffer.

Aim to have no more than 3-4 heavy workout days a week.

Not having fun - Boredom

After the initial few months of gains it’s easy to become bored. Remember, having fun and enjoying your exercise is crucial and getting fed up can be a killer for all of us.

Take a look in the mirror every now and again. Though it may seem vain, seeing how much you’ve improved and grown over the time you’ve been working out can be a huge motivator. Taking a picture of yourself every few weeks is also a good way to see how much you’ve improved.

Varying your exercises can also help. There are literally hundreds of variations of the simple crunch; imagine how many other ways there are to do your other typical exercises. All it takes is a few seconds on google and you have a whole new workout.

Conclusion

Well there you have it, 5 of the most commonly made mistakes teenagers make. If you are serious about your lifting and want to see some positive gains, remember to keep all these in mind. They’re simple to avoid but easy to fall victim to.

Abs. Possibly the most popular part of the body which people want to workout. The result, a stronger, harder stomach with prominent abdominal muscles.

Abs are the core of your body and are used in almost everything, from lifting, to simply getting out of bed in the morning.

Here are a simple set of exercises you could begin with when first starting to workout your abs.

Crunches

A simple, yet effective exercise. It focuses just on your abs rather than your back and other muscles like a sit up.

To perform a crunch, like on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Your legs should be body width apart.

Now, put your hands behind your ears and look at the ceiling. Choose a point and fixate your eyes on this spot. Curl up and forwards so that your head, neck and shoulders leave the ground. The distance you raise your head will increase the more you practise, but you should aim to come up a fair few inches. Once reaching your peak hold for two seconds and you should feel your abs tense, then come back down. This is one repetition.

Perform 4 sets of this exercise with each set consisting of 20-40 repetitions. Give yourself up to 60 seconds rest between each set.

Leg Lifts

Leg lifts are also a simple, core exercise which can be done with dumbbells to increase the intensity.

To complete a leg lift, lie on your back, legs straight out and hands at your sides. Lift your legs till they are at about a 70-80 degree angle then slowly lower down until they are a few inches from the floor. This is one repetition.

Perform 4 sets of this exercise, each set consisting of 30-40 repetitions. Again, give yourself up to 60 seconds rest between each set.

Bicycle Exercise

The bicycle crunch is a great way to finish your ab workout. You’re probably going to be aching at this point so don’t worry if you cant complete many, or any sets at all.

Lie flat on the floor with your head face up. Place your hands on the side of your head so your elbows stick out opposite each other. Now that your in position, lift your left shoulder of the floor and meet your left elbow with your right knee. Then do the same but with your right elbow and your left knee. This is one repetition.

Perform as many sets as you can of this exercise with each set consisting of 20-40 repetitions.

Result

Perform this routine at least 3 times a week but no more than 4 and you will see results within the month. Even if you don’t see results due to a high fat percentage you will still have stronger abs which will be shown as soon as fat is lost.

Rests importance?

You’ve probably heard mentioned multiple times that rest is important in exercise. In fact, you could say it’s almost as important as the training itself.

As said before in a previous post, muscles grow by tearing and repairing. When performing a vigorous and repetitive exercise you are in fact tearing your muscles. As these muscles then repair, leaner, more stronger muscle takes it’s place. The efficiency of this cycle is crucial to your gains.

By not giving yourself enough rest between exercise, you don’t give your muscles adequate time to repair themselves. Remember, you don’t build muscle in the gym, but as it’s repairing, during rest. So not only is not having enough rest going to limit your gains, but it could also be dangerous.

Just like eating too much chocolate makes you ill, too much exercise can do just the same. It could also give you long lasting pain which may stop you from doing certain workouts for a period of time.

How much rest?

On average a muscle needs 24-48 hours to completely recover after a heavy workout. There’s no exact science to this as it varies from person to person though this is the rough figure.

If you feel the need to workout somehow every day, you can overcome the rest period by exercising different muscles every day. So for instance on Monday - abs, Tuesday - biceps, etc. This technique requires a little know how; though you may be focusing on your biceps for instance, secondary muscles such as your shoulders or chest may still be used depending on the exercise, thus some muscles may not get the rest they require.

Can you reduce rest time?

Short answer. No. But you can prolong it by not eating/drinking enough protein.

Why Protein?

By working out and training, you are in effect ripping your muscles. This is what causes the pain and aching after a session in the gym. When your muscles rip they then need to repair themselves, forming larger, more leaner muscle. This constant cycle of repair is where protein comes in. Without sufficient protein your muscles will be unable to repair themselves and your gains will suffer.

It’s a common myth that to build muscle you need to overdose yourself on protein. Though you do need to increase your intake, you certainly don’t need to go over board. Excessive intake will just result in you urinating it out or in it just being left undigested.

How Much?

So, how much protein should you take? According to scientific studies you should be aiming to increase you’re protein intake to 1.5 grams per pound body weight. Chances are you’re not going to stick to this like a religion, though you should make some sort of effort to increase your intake.

Here are a few tips:

• Simple things like ordering fish instead of sausage at the take-away.
• Try to eat some kind of meat with every meal.
• For breakfast include a glass of milk.
• Drink a protein shake before or after your workout.

Protein Shakes

Not everyone has the time or money to be cooking good quality and vast quantity’s of meat everyday. This is where protein shakes come in. They provide a safe, relatively cheap alternative and can be brought from most major retailers or health shops.

There is much debate over protein shakes but the facts are simple. Drinking just one shake a day will do wonders for your protein intake and contains barely any fat.

The safest and most commonly used type of protein, which I myself personaly advise, is whey protein as it is the safest and has been known to have no side effects.

Finding the right shake for you might take a while as some taste nicer then others and others may not agree with your body. Personally I use strawberry flavoured, pro power, whey protein. It can be mixed with either water or milk, costs only

Chances are you’ve stumbled across this blog looking for some incentive or advice on working out as a teenager. The benefits are endless, but without further ado, here are the top 5:

5. Start the habit young

One of the best things you can do to your body is exercise and keep fit. It is absolute fact that people who exercise regularly live longer and healthier lives, and so the younger you start the better. You’re also more likely to keep exercising throughout your life when starting the habit soon rather than later.

Teenagers (like myself) also often fail to realise that they have more free time now than they will probably have for the rest of their lives. This means you’ll have more time to focus on your diet and exercise without money stresses or bills to pay.

4. Lose Weight

Muscle not only weighs more than fat but also burns more calories. By having a higher muscle to fat ratio your are effectively burning more calories in your everyday life than you would be normally. This basically means that weight training and aerobic exercise are your best bets in the fight against fat.

3. A stronger body

People often forget the actual practicalities of being a stronger, leaner person. Every one’s had that moment where someone fails to lift/open something and you wish you could just walk over there and show them how it’s done.

It’s a strange feeling at first but what you first start to work out you’ll soon begin to notice that things you initially thought were heavy, suddenly become lighter. Even simple things like opening heavy doors and carrying bags seems not quite as hard as you initially thought it was.

Unsurprisingly it’s a satisfying feeling when you can lift twice as much as your parents and an impressive practicality when with friends or that special somebody.

2. The biology bit

Regular exercise increases the strength and efficiency of your heart. An unfit person will have more beats per second compared to a fit person doing the same amount of exercise. A fit person will also recover quicker then an unfit person.

During exercise it has been shown that blood circulation increases up to 30 times in individual muscles and organs. This supply’s the muscles with more nutrition and oxygen.

Going through that spot phase, a.k.a puberty? Forget Clearasil, go and exercise for a while. The pores in the skin open up during intense activity. The result is a healthier, cleaner skin.

1. Better body tone

Finally, the main reason why most teenagers choose to workout, specifically weight train. You’re going to look more lean and toned. Yes we’re talking about bigger biceps, six pac, pecks etc.

The fact is, it’s going to happen. By efficiently strengthening your muscles they’re going to get bigger and leaner. This is certainly impressive physically when wearing short sleeves or a tank top, and is even noticeable by a general touch. Though it wont get you the girl, it will certainly help.