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Foreword. This is an excellent article, one of a series by Rockie, who is a teen bodybuilder in India. He makes very good reading, and speaks from experience, which is very important, even at 15! At the time in 2001.

The post below can also be seen at its original location, without my edits.

For bodyweight exercises - See here. Also on the Anatomy page as well.

"Rockie" Wrote the original article edited here See Teenbodybuilding.com There are many other similar articles at that website. E.mail link see above.	BODYBUILDING FOR BEGINNERS by Fitness Freak, Rockie S. Edited Patrick. Great, So you have decided to try out bodybuilding! Probably because you want to gain some strength for sports, or you want yourself to look good or you're becoming health conscious! Whatever it is, your decision is great. Teenage years are the best to start any fitness program, you neither have to worry about work (except studies of course), nor do most of you have to worry about any health problems, plus you're gonna look better when you're an adult! How many of you teenagers out there want to start bodybuilding but have no idea of what to do! If this is your problem you're at the right place, so just read on... First though Rockie blasts a myth regarding teenage bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding stunts growth - This is one of the most prevalent myths regarding teenage bodybuilding. Many people believe it does, but some believe it actually promotes growth.
"I conducted a survey among many guys who started as teenagers", says Rockie, and who are in their 20's now about whether they saw bodybuilding causing any effect on their height. "Well," they said, "it had- a POSITIVE ONE, it actually helped them grow more and not to stunt them".
"Jeremy" Aged 14. (ignore the grin!) Click image for full sized pic.	The simple fact is that bodybuilding won't ever mess up with your growth, states Rockie, provided the following are remembered: 1) Start bodybuilding proper only after you reach 13. Before this you're still in a growing phase and your bones are too tender to support the heavy training. Before 13 you should only do bodyweight exercises like push ups and dips. They won't make you look very big but will make you look fit. 2) Don't perform compound movements like Squats and Deadlifts before you grow to at least 16. These things require a lot of execution or "form" technique and if you do them wrongly you could injure yourself badly. Still, if you do want to do them remember never to go too heavy, and always work with a partner. 3) NEVER take testosterone supplements before you're an adult. Your growing stops once your growth plates close up. This process is testosterone driven primarily. As a teenager you already have loads of testosterone in your body, if you intake more testosterone supplements, it will result in your growth plates closing up earlier, leading to stunted growth.
Comments 1 and 2 above caused me aggravation in a UK newsgroup, but I am inclined to agree with Rockie. Careful "spotting" is essential for youngsters. A gym is NOT a place for early "macho" showing off!
Sergey Litvinov (at 19)	Now after studying the above, there are a few more things to remember about bodybuilding. It's been seen that 2 out of ever 3 individuals stop training within 2 months and they have loads of excuses like "stunted growth" and "bad genetics". They say that, no matter how much they train they won't gain, since they have "bad genetics". That's totally wrong, you can't know your genetic limitations just within 2 months, you have to train for a long enough time. Training for just 2 months won't change you into an Arnold. Basically they wanted too much, too fast, which simply doesn't happen! We are into the real stuff now. So how does a teen goes about changing the way he looks? That depends. If you have been a lazy little slob and haven't done any real physical activity in the past, I suggest you start of by making your body used to tough conditions. For the first month do bodyweight exercises like push ups and dips. To make these exercises more intense, try doing clap push ups. Also do cardio to increase your stamina. Cardio also can help to reduce bodyfat levels as well. If you are overweight, first try cutting down on your fat and only then start bodybuilding. Remember, you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time
Okay so you have become tough' and cut down on your fat (if you have any). We are raring to go now.
Typical teen build. He has begun training.	To begin training you need to know the basics of muscle development. Muscles respond to the type of work they are accustomed to. When a person lifts heavy weights for a short time regularly , his muscles grow thicker and larger to keep up with the amount of work being done. This is where nutrition comes in, if you don't eat enough and just believe in lifting, you are gonna get nowhere. Training without proper nutrition yields zero results, or even weight loss since fat is burned to a degree. Also make sure you're getting at least 8 hours of sleep every day because your muscles grow only when you sleep and not when you're in the gym.The apparent size increase then is the "pump" as they fill with blood. As a beginner, train 3 times a week and have a full body workout.There is no need early on to target individual muscle groups. Later on though you can switch to a split routine in which you train specific muscles on specific day. You should train all the muscles in your body and not just one or two to avoid muscle imbalances. Keep your workout time limited to 60 minutes.
So now that you have known the do's and don'ts regarding bodybuilding for starters, in the following I am going to tell you about 3 of the most worked out muscles groups and some great ways to train them, we will look at the other major muscle groups in my next article which is sequel to this one.
	E.mail link see site.	Next page here. The Three Groups

Downloadable Articles here. Formatting is not ideal though. Best to save them to your PC. More will follow. Mail us with comments.	Click on the links. Copy and paste into notepad then save or print. Illustrated full pages will also follow for some of these articles. See Below.
Basics By: Scott Duncan	Beginners Bodybuilding Info! By: Danial Samar
Beginner By: Manny Fausett	Building Muscle And Strength Teen Supplements
My info By: Evan Salyer	My info By: Ty Paules
My info By: Kyle Paradiso	My info By: Alex Etherington
My info By:Austin Kjergaard	My info By: Ryan Nelson
Archive of Articles by Shane Giese on bodybuilding - Group closed.	I hope to add the original page links if I can relocate them!

Illustrated Pages. For the guys pictured below the links. You can have a similar page here.
Evan Salyer.	Ty Paules.
Kyle Paradiso	Alex Etherington (UK)

Rockie states:- "This article has been specifically been written for the beginner phase to take you through the first 4 months of training, after on you will need to change the workout program I give you in the next article and move on to the intermediate level". Many great workout programs for this level are available on Teenbb.com.

A last word. "Don't expect your physique to change overnight. The bodybuilders you see have been probably training for many years. You can't expect to be like them within months so set realistic goals and achieve them rather than setting impossible goals and failing".