My Last Week As A Teen Bodybuilder...

[BlakeSelby]

My 20th birthday is this coming Easter Sunday, so I am going to take a moment to reflect on my teen bodybuilding years, share some highlights, and give some advice that helped me out.

I did my first contest at 15 years old, and ended up at the Teen Nationals at 19. I have competed in 5 contests thus far. I remember having tanner all over me when I was in highschool and I'd have to get special notes from the principal so I could eat in class haha. I'd literally bring tupperwears with steak and rice in them.

I started with the worst genetics known to man... I mean it was bad. I was 14 years old, 5'8 140lbs and FAT!!! Do you believe that!? Skinnyfat @ 140. I have extremely small bones and yada yada. Over my teen career I have gone from 140 at around 23% bf to 200 at 16%bf. It has taken 6 years to do that naturally so for all you kids who think you can pack on 30lbs/yr of rock hard muscle... haha well you must be taking muscletech supplements ... (that was a joke). NE ways yah I never missed a meal or took more than 2 days off during that entire 6 years. I devoted my entire life to it and made some good progress. Genetics are NOT everything, however I know that I would be much larger had I had genetics on my side.

Here are some helpful tips that I have assembled from my 6 years of trial and error/reading/college degree in Kinesiology.

1) Train your abs in the off-season. (this is obvious to many but not so obvious to others... my best bodypart in contest was always my abs.)
2) Don't be afraid to explore new routines. (many get locked into 1 style of training...try MAX-OT, try high volume training, smolov, yada yada)
3) Don't do a contest every year during your teen years (I made that mistake and sacrificed a lot of potential growth... I should have been building during these times)
4) Do a contest in the summer, so it doesn't screw up your grades (made that mistake too lol)
5) DONT JUICE AS A TEENAGER (there is no way in hell you need exogenous hormones as a teenager... take advantage of your naturally high levels of anabolic hormones and learn how to grow big naturally before your juice if that is what you intend to do. Luckuly I did not make this mistake, however I was tempted a few times when I was 16.)
6) Science isn't everything...but it is a lot. (TRUE science will support everything, but there are so many "Voodoo scientists" out there, that it's hard to know who to trust. I hate the phrase "listen to your body"... but it holds true many times.)
7) Don't get too heavy in the off-season. I know a ton of teens who get fat... I mean FAT FAT...almost to 80lbs over contest weight. Try to limit yourself to about 40lbs over contest weight, so that you don't burn through muscle trying to diet down.
8) Easy on the cardio. People always say to me in the gym "yeah you've got good musculature, but how's your cardio shape?" I always look at them and say "come do a leg workout with me". Lifting is cardio, at least the way I train, and I think many people would benefit from upping their training intensity as well.
9) Don't use a ton of supplements. Supplements are just that, they supplement a good diet/training/sleep regimen which most teens don't have anyways. Nail those down first, and then start thinking about supps. I'm talking 9-12hrs of sleep/night, 4-6 days of hardcore training/wk, and a clean bulk diet.
10) Don't act hardcore. You cannot be Frank McGrath in life and be successful...people will just think you're a ***. Don't walk around like you've got to take a **** all the time. If you're REALLY as big as you think you are, then just walk relaxed and people will take notice. Be nice to ppl, that's how we're gonna grow the sport. We've gotta get rid of this dickhead bodybuilder impression that people get.
11) Don't lift like a moron. I see guys in my gym all the time put a big thick belt on, knee wraps, load up the bar with 315 and squat down 4 inches with a spotter. Drop down to 185, take off your stupid belt/wraps and do some deep ass squats lol. That's how you get legs.
12) Surround yourself with people who are understanding of your lifestyle... stay away from alcohol and drugs. In the end, this is about health.

So where do we go from here?

I'm going to bulk until I'm 25, and then compete as a drug-free athlete in the NPC Collegiate Nationals and see what happens there. Eventually I'll go for a Natural Pro-Card. Good luck to all the teenagers coming up.

Here ends mah teenage bb years.

-Blake

[IWantIt]

Great tips man, have a happy birthday. I feel you on starting out skinny fat but it makes progress feel amazing.

[umadimbeta]

did not read

[jimo5593]

Nice post repped. I definitely need to get my diet down, i find that to be the hardest part in growing for me and its the most important part ahaha

[bruceleelegend]

good post man. thanks for the tips and good luck! repped

[pb123456789]

Happy early birthday man.

[BlakeSelby]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback.

[omg_otters]

whoa strong 5yr bulk...!

Good points, all of them. Repped.

[lmaonade123]

Good tips, happy early birthday.

[broonieled]

il take all these into consideration to try get to your size one day

[JoeyPenz]

Word, I turn 20 in 2 weeks...good stuff though

[pottsy09]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback.

hey m8 good strong post!! and good luck,

are there any good tips on cutting you could give me as u have competed so many times,

i am around 13-14% at 206lbs atm and i am aiming for 190lbs at around 8-10% bf.

i have a very good idea of cutting as ive done it b4, however i wana get really lean and i no there is some trickery with your diet to do so.

any help would be appricated m8.

[expressman70]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback.

happy birthday.... good tipos...

[Purplekoolaid]

MSU FINAL FOUR BABY!!!!

lol

[stein102]

hey, how important is the 9-12 hrs of sleep a night? i usually get around 7-8 im 15. should i try to get more?

thanks

[SomebodyHelpMe]

.



10) Don't act hardcore. You cannot be Frank McGrath in life and be successful...people will just think you're a ***. Don't walk around like you've got to take a **** all the time. If you're REALLY as big as you think you are, then just walk relaxed and people will take notice. Be nice to ppl, that's how we're gonna grow the sport. We've gotta get rid of this dickhead bodybuilder impression that people get.

I like this..

[jellyorjamcuz]

good luck man. happy birthday for the weekend

[emerica1184]

i'm going to state next year

[VTRunner]

Great post man. I hope you do get your pro card. You are obviously dedicated and have a strong moral background. Good luck

[akrain11]

awesome post man! happy B-day! repped

[Sam1994]

nice advice man, happy birthday.

[DMB2012]

Nice post man, I personally find bodybuilding rather odd but I appluad your acheivments as a teen. You had some pretty solid advice in there, Im beginning my first strongman comps next year, hopefully make it to WSM.

GOOD LUCK

[BlakeSelby]

whoa strong 5yr bulk...!

Good points, all of them. Repped.

Haha it has been a journey to say the least. Appreciate it boss.

Good tips, happy early birthday.

Thanks! It was a good birthday, got to chill with my girlfriend, bodyspace: Classic34
and have a good lift.

il take all these into consideration to try get to your size one day

Just put in the hard work and you'll grow like mad!

Word, I turn 20 in 2 weeks...good stuff though

Haha no more Teen division for us! We've gotta go up against the BIG BOYS!

hey m8 good strong post!! and good luck,

are there any good tips on cutting you could give me as u have competed so many times,

i am around 13-14% at 206lbs atm and i am aiming for 190lbs at around 8-10% bf.

i have a very good idea of cutting as ive done it b4, however i wana get really lean and i no there is some trickery with your diet to do so.

any help would be appricated m8.

The Best Advice I could possibly give you is to diet as SLOW as possible, and keep training heavy. That has worked the best for me in keeping muscle size.

happy birthday.... good tipos...

Thanks!

MSU FINAL FOUR BABY!!!!

lol

Hell yeah! Did you see that game? 2 points...2 POINTS!!!

hey, how important is the 9-12 hrs of sleep a night? i usually get around 7-8 im 15. should i try to get more?

thanks

9-12 hours of sleep per night will make all the difference in the world. You can do it man, you really can. It's all about priorities. If you take naps during the day, that can count as well. I used to sleep in my nutritional science class in highschool b/c I already knew most of the stuff. My teacher would let me take naps in the storage room during class haha. He was also my football coach though...

I like this..

Yeah Budday!

good luck man. happy birthday for the weekend

Much Appreciated!.. I tried to get on here over the weekend, but school and travel got in the way. I'm actually sitting in college physics 1 right now haha.

i'm going to state next year

Cool Man, Hit me up! emal: selbybla@msu.edu I am a personal trainer at Snap Fitness on campus, and the president of the MSU Barbell Club, so I can help you get acquainted with all the big dudes on campus so to speak haha.

Great post man. I hope you do get your pro card. You are obviously dedicated and have a strong moral background. Good luck

I hope so too brother. Thanks for the feedback!

awesome post man! happy B-day! repped

Thanks!

nice advice man, happy birthday.

Thanks bud!

Nice post man, I personally find bodybuilding rather odd but I appluad your acheivments as a teen. You had some pretty solid advice in there, Im beginning my first strongman comps next year, hopefully make it to WSM.

GOOD LUCK

Bodybuilding is odd, I will not deny that lol. Dude I WISH I had the genetics for Strongman, because that would be a blast. Good luck with that.




I appreciate all the feedback guys! Keep training strong and feel free to ask me any questions you have.

-Blake

[SteezyChr]

wait so muscle tech supplements really wont do that? I mean it says something along those lines on the bottle, i just cant beleive they would lie.

[thejdeck]

Impressive and good luck to you in the future! I'm 19 right now and am going to try and get as many bench competitions (possibly power lifting) in as i can until I have to move up to the ol 20 year old class.

[CornXSkull]

thanks for all of your tips, very useful. you seem very successful and im sure you will continue to be that way

[Ozzy.]

Got some nice tips in there.

[fattony7891]

It was very good....right up until the stay away from alcohol part.

[baco_bacon]

Hahaha awesome post man and Happy late Birthday
Thank you.

Any tips on getting more sleep? I think I have sleeping issues (srs, maybe genetics.. my dad has slight insomnia disorder) and usually get 7-8 on average. I don't understand how people can sleep for 9+...

[addy08]

Good post man.. I'm about to be 20 next month haha