Teenagers who want to start bodybuilding need to take care: Trying to lift too much weight can strain their still-developing tendons and muscles, potentially causing a painful injury. If you're a teen who wants to build your muscles, you can do that through careful strength-training exercises. Just don't push yourself in an effort to build the biggest muscles in your class -- you'll actually make more progress over time if you proceed slowly.
Growth
Your body doesn't make the hormones you'll need to build muscle until after you've started puberty, which can hit early in your teenage years or midway through your teens, according to KidsHealth.org. Because of this, you shouldn't start lifting weights with the intention of bodybuilding until your doctor says you're undergoing the necessary hormonal changes. If you want to start before puberty, you can perform strength-training exercises to tone and strengthen your muscles -- just don't expect those muscles to get any bigger as a result.
Beginning Exercises
When you start bodybuilding, you should work with a trainer or an instructor who can develop a personalized program best suited to your teenage body. Plan to lift weights only about two or three days every week. Your muscles will take two to three days to recover from a weightlifting session, and you may feel the most soreness from a particularly intense session several days afterward.
Best Practices
Keep your weights fairly light and perform more repetitions with them, rather than struggling to lift the heaviest weight possible fewer times. According to NetWellness, you also should switch muscle groups often as you train, making sure to work all muscle groups in turn, since this will provide the best overall results without straining or injuring individual muscle groups. Listen to your body. If you add multiple repetitions or jump up in weight level and then get very sore, dial it back and then increase more gradually. Also, if you feel a pop or a sensation as if something gave way in a joint as you're lifting, stop what you're doing and see your doctor to have it evaluated. You may need to make some alterations to your routine to protect that joint.
Considerations
If performed correctly, strength training as a teenager can provide you with more benefits than just bigger muscles: It can help you strengthen your still-developing bones, help you reach and maintain a healthy weight and even give you a head start on keeping your blood pressure and cholesterol at healthy levels. Just make sure not to fall prey to fad bodybuilding diets or products that supposedly will help you build muscle, since those don't work. Teenagers who want to start bodybuilding need to do it the hard way, through lots of time in the gym.
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