What would you do?

Please read and respond with your advice.

I am 15 yrs. old getting ready for my second year of varsity
football. I will be starting this year so I need to get bigger, stronger, and faster.

I have been lifting for about 2 yrs. now. I'm 6ft. 238lbs. 245 Bench. 385 squat. 200 Hang Clean.

I have been taking whey protein from gnc since Aug. I noticed immediate gains but I have plateued despite harder work.

My good friend takes creatine and he's much stronger than me despite being smaller. I don't really want to take creatine but I am looking for a good supplement or supplement combonation to maximize my strength and size.

I have considered the following:
-Keep taking whey but start taking glutamine as well
-Pinnacle protein with myozap
-MuscleMilk
-Nitrix (All I've read is good stuff about this, and I'm really interested)

Please, if you have any bodybuilding experience at all, help me out.

15 years old and with stats like that .....whew. I would hate to see you in 2 - 3 years.

I will touch briefly on this, because this is the age old question. How do I get bigger, more define and stronger. My question to you is what is your normal diet like? Do you eat clean? Natural carbs, and protien. Potatoes, chicken, rice(brown or Bustamati), tuna, oatmeal, lots of fruits and veggies. Nothing in my years of lifting worked better for me than natural food. Now, I know that it is very hard to eat good food as much as we need to, but that is the price we pay for progress.

There is a lot more to this question, so I will let others cover other parts. Keep up the good work.

For breakfast I usually have eggs and bacon.

For lunch, a deli meat sandwich, chips, lots of water.

For Dinner, usually a meat and vegetables.

I wish I could do the six meal thing, but I have to deal with school. If I need to change my diet, I don't mind just tell me how.

First off I wouldnt use GNC brand products. Even though optimum (which I think makes mediocre products) makes their properformance line. I still dont trust someone who doesnt make their own products.

"If spot reduction worked people who chew gum would have skinny faces"

Doing the six meal thing is easier than you think- You say you've been taking Whey since Aug- How many shakes a day? If you have three of them a day, spaced out between your normal meals, it makes a big difference. I don't know if this is what you're doing already, but it sure helped me a lot.

No, and get this-I only took one after my workout for a while, so that's about 3 shakes a week. Now, I've started one on workout day mornings, and one after workouts with none on days in between. I can't really take my protein and mixer to school with me though.

I'm curious, why don't you want to take Creatine? It will give you bigger, and stronger, and faster, and without screwing up your hormone balance. Worst reliable negative side effect I've heard of is an upset stomach.

Upset stomach is the worst thing happen to me, or that i have heard as well. The upset stomach came during the initial 5 day loading period. No problems since im down to 10g a day.

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Mix the protein at home in a resealable bottle then take it to school.

"If spot reduction worked people who chew gum would have skinny faces"

Or put the protein in a IV drip, that way you'll get a steady supply and no one will argue with you...

Seriously though, it sounds like being big and strong is not exactly your #1 problem. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in getting MORE mass by using the supplements you list. The first three are just good quality protein in powdered form, and you can get that much less expensively by eating things like canned tuna and cottage cheese. As for Nitrix, it's mostly Arginine, plus some other chemicals they claim improve absorption. Most everythig in it I have seen before, years ago, and the hype died down then too. It's been remixed, repackaged, and remarketed, but I predict the hype will wane again in a few months.

Grabbing a protein bar between classes is probably your best option if you want additional nutritional support.

However, I imagine that at the size and strength you are now, you can probably improve your game more by focusing on your training and skill instead of trying to add more size and strength, when you clearly already have a lot of both.

So, you guys seem to recommend the creatine. Doesn't creatine help endurance as well?

But doesn't creatine also increase mass? I'm not in a hurry to increase mass b/c it will probably take away mobility.

If you all say creatine is safe, I will trust you. First off, tell me more about it. My friend is 190lbs benching like 275 as a 15 yr. old b/c of creatine.

I've heard the V12 is awesome. What else would you recommend?

Also, explain the loading stage to me and how often after that do I need to take it? Can I take my protein with it?

Football Varsity player, that's cool.m

Wouldn't agility training help you get speed, bodybuildingoffseason? Like what powerhaus said: It sounds like being big and strong is not exactly your #1 goal. For football I think the best advantage about having heavy mass, is the leverage you can have over other players! But you don't necessarily have to be huge to be strong? (Can anyone comment on that last phrase)

Trust me, we run year round working on speed and agility.

But I'm an offensive lineman. I need upper and lower body explosion off the ball, a powerful arm extension (much like bench press), and legs to drive a 300lb Defensive lineman.

It's just frustrating to see my 190lb. friend bench 275 and outlift me at almost everything, and because of this, his game is slightly ahead of mine. He takes creatine, so maybe I should too.

Trust me, we run year round working on speed and agility.

I hear that... I was a football player and the coaches definitely don't see harm in running triple sessions during the summer. lol

But I'm an offensive lineman. I need upper and lower body explosion off the ball, a powerful arm extension (much like bench press), and legs to drive a 300lb Defensive lineman.

I'm not exactly sure about the weight training. If you should do more reps of medium weights, or what... Someone more experienced will hook you up with awesome information. Good luck, bro, and welcome to DB.com

He takes creatine, so maybe I should too

What works for one.. maybe not work for you. 30% of people are non-responders.

Genetics plays a massive part of this. My wife told me a great story about 2 bodybuilders. Both were workout partners. Both started taking steroids. Both worked out like animals. One surpassed the other greatly and became a pro bodybuilder.. the other guy didn't.

Okay.. not advocating roids.. just saying.. if your buddy takes creatine and he is strong, you taking it may do nothing.

There's many more factors involved then a supplement.

At your age, forget the creatine anyway. Your nutrition is by far your weakpoint. I know you said with school and all.. and I've been there.. but nothing you will take will make up for the fact that nutrition is the weak link in your fence.

Moving on---->

Doesn't creatine help endurance as well?

Studies have not shown that statement to be true. And there's quite a lot of research on creatine.

If you all say creatine is safe, I will trust you.

That is youth.. You take these posts are directions, food for though, more things to think about and lastly points you should research. You've not seen any credentials. If I told you drinking gasoline was safe would you do it? No? Why not? Because you probably researched that or it's clear on warnings or close family (mom/dad) make it pretty clear to you as a kid. You knew their credentials. Parents. So no..

Creatine works. There's tons of research. At your age it's probably not even worth it. Safe? For me yes. For you, maybe.. you'd have to make sure that the product you buy is for you, follow the directions, monitor your progress and if you wanna be extra safe, tell a DR you are on it so they know.

But don't take anybody's post as a statement of fact until you verify that.

We are all here just helping out.

I've heard the V12 is awesome.

I'll agree with that. I tried it. I noticed a difference. It's a nice creatine mixture. Pumps were great.

Also, explain the loading stage to me and how often after that do I need to take it?

Loading phase is old school. Forget it. 5-10 g a day.. No more. Read the directions on whatever product you buy.

Grabbing a protein bar between classes is probably your best option if you want additional nutritional support.

Agree. Do something. You have to eat. You can mix shakes? Fine. Then carry these around with some fruit in your pack. Don't go thru school all day only eating minimally.

You aren't the average joe now dude. You wanna get bigger? Stronger? Then you have to change the lifestyle. You only eat 3 meals a day like the rest of the students? Well then.. you get what they get.. not big.

You can use some protein supplements in the morning when you get up.. take a shake.. eat breakfast.. go to school.. 10am rolls around.. have a bar.. fruit.. lunch.. 2pm rolls around.. you eat another bar.. fruit.. practice.. dinner.. shake before bed. You better be drinking your water.. 1+ gallons a day.

It's clear from your posts that nutrition is lacking. And it's exactly what I did at 16. Man.. I wanna get bigger.. I can't this and that.. what supps can I take. There's no magic pill son. You don't eat.. you can take what you want and you will never be what you could.

Don't even bother comparing yourself to your buddy. That's like an ectomorph eating candy and pizza all day and staying skinny while the poor heavy kid tries to figure out why he can't do the same? Because no two people are exactly alike.

Nutrition. The fridge. You get that on target and supplements will be a breeze. You don't, and you'll just be poorer and never get the gains you are looking for.

Welcome to DB!

Marc C. David
Support DB! Buy your supplements at Supplements101.com

You lay down the cold hard facts... Then... Welcome to DB!.... lol I love it

Well damn, I was gonna say stuff and look smart, but mda covered it all.

I was gonna... But... Yeah... I couldn't answer any of it...

15 yrs. old

I'm 6ft. 238lbs. 245 Bench. 385 squat. 200 Hang Clean.

Impressive!

Protein bars in between classes is a great suggestion: just make sure you read the labels, because a lot of those "protein" bars have twice as many carbs.

My workout partner kills me on squats, and I take him down on presses. People are just genetically different, which may explain your friends strong bench. He also may have been lifting for a lot longer than you if he can bench more than 245lbs at that age. Bench press seems like a pretty easy lift, but technique can make a huge difference as well.

I use creantine and believe it to work and be safe. To play the devils advocate though, people have not been taking it in such large quantities for an extended period of time. Some would argue we won't know if there are any negative side effects until people have been on it for 20-30 years. It is a natural substance found in red meat, but my understanding is one probably could not eat a steak large enough to contain 10 grams of creatine in one sitting.

if you decide to take it, this is what is commonly recommended:

Loading: take 5 grams 4 times a day for 5 days
Maintenance: take 5-10 grams a day for about a month
take a month off, then repeat

dude heres my opinion. if you have school take a lunch with you. in that lunch involve wheat bread sandwhich meat such as ham, pasta, carrots, and a protein drink. eat...eat...eat...then eat some more and trust me you won't plateau. for breakfast eat alot of eggs, oatmeal, bagel, and milk/or juice. then when you come home from school start stuffing your face with rice, pasta, milk, bread, meat, protein. forget all the dumb supplements out there(protein only worth while supplement). i gained 25lbs of MUSCLE in 6months by eating right. you have to have at least 4-6 meals a day, and count your calories and protein. make sure you have at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. drink lots of water(8 cups). heres my diet as follows:
(eating every 3 hours)
breakfast: 4eggs, 1 cup oatmeal, bagel, banana, juice
snack: protein drink, yogurt, bread and peanut butter
lunch: tuna, 1/2 cup rice, apple, 1 quart milk
snack: protein drink, yogurt
workout
dinner: beef, potatoes, spinach(popeye hehe), bread, quart of milk(2% milk).
snack: pasta, milk
bed i eat anywheres between 3500-5000 calories a day. that will put size and strength on ya. most of your calories should be from food and liquids like milk( not crappy weight gainers). hope this helps someone.

OSBB,
I'm new to this forum and don't know much about bodybuilding but I do know a little about strength training for football. First these guys are right about eating, but don't overeat. You stated that you were on the O-line so I figured you're not a ripped 235, extra fat weight won't do you much good. Second, if you want to be more powerful for football forget the bench press. You have no power outside of your torso so I would suggest doing close grip bench, that's where it all starts at. "Get in his wheel house". Also hang clings will not help your explosion as much as a full power cling. I would also suggest really strengthening you abs. You can not transfer that power from your legs to your opponent unless you have a good stable mid section,and a strong midsection will intern increase you leg strength. As for your buddy, I would be willing to bet that if you both lined up that you could push him all over the place, that means that weight room strength does not neccesarily mean football strength. I played football in college with a guy that was unbelievably strong but never saw the field. Technique and foot work will carry you much farther than being able to bench 400 pounds. Lastly, patience, I went from 170lbs. to 210lbs in one year (16-17) and more than doubled my bench, squat, and clings. You WILL get stronger with hard work and GOOD eating. In a year or two your little 190lb buddy will be wondering what happened!
P.S. Pyramiding with heavy weight and low reps works great for overall strength but just remember that about every 4 weeks or so to change over to moderate weight and moderate reps, using a weight that you can't do no more than 10 times and carry every set to failure. This change might help you get over that "plateau".

Ok, I'm back after a couple of weeks.

I went to a wholesale warehouse and got a lot of protein bars. I eat at least one a day, usually midmorning, sometimes also at 2pm.

I got the Twinlab am/pm protein package (pm has caseinate) with a free bottle of glut.

For breakfast it's either whole wheat cereal and shake or eggs and bacon with shake.

Lunch is whole wheat turkey sandwich with lettuce and fruit. Lots of water.

Dinner is good. I get seconds on meat, usually pork, meat loaf, chicken, or salmon.

Pm protein shake before bed.

I'm taking glut and now loading creatine with my protein shakes.

THESE WERE SMALL CHANGES THAT ALREADY HAVE ME FEELING BETTER THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WITHOUT THE EXTRA CARBS, I'M NOT TIRED AFTER LUNCH AND IT'S GREAT.

I WAVER BETWEEN 235-245 AND I DON'T REALLY NEED MASS.

ANY SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!

ALSO, VANDAMME, HOW BIG ARE YOU, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF I COULD EAT WHAT YOU DO.