Guys I need help on this one. It involves working out. Girls can help to.

[Guy96]

I'm 16, and I've never been acquainted with weight lifting or anything of the sort, my entire life I've did body workouts, and mostly cardio, I'm a soccer player so I have to. When I was 13 I used to be 224 pounds then I dedicated myself to lose weight and now I'm 143, I'm considered really attractive, but I want to get some upper body muscle.I don't care about being skinny but I want to get toned and cut, ( I'm skinny where I actually have meat on my bones so I can gain muscle lol ) any workout suggestions that don't involve protein shakes or chocolate related products? Examples: Specific weight lifting, push ups I also want to get abs, I have already but there not fully toned.

[kheserthorpe]

If you want muscle, you need to do _heavy_ resistance, not large amounts of light resistance, and you also probably need to eat a caloric surplus, or it will be extremely slow.

If you don't have access to free weights or a gym, you can do body weight exercises, but doing more and more pushups for example won't do it, you need to transition to more challenging variants.

For mass building you generally want to do exercises with resistance such that you're in the 8-10 rep range (maaaybe 12). If you can do more then 12, its too easy. That holds true whether you're doing bodyweight or weighted exercises. The difference is that with weights, you do the same exercise with more weigh, with bodyweight, you change the exercise.

Lookup progressions to one arm pushups, progressions to handstand pushups, and if you can find a bar to pull on, pullup progressions. You might want to consider pistols or working towards them for lower body, which will help trigger hormone response to 'add bulk'.

[Guy96]

I want to get muscle but not to the point where I'll lost my slim waist, I want to have that V-Body Formation, for example like Justin Timberlake or Cristiano Ronaldo.

[kheserthorpe]

What do you think is going to happen, you're going to lift heavy, go to bed skinny, wake up and go 'oh no I look like a bodybuilder?' Adding muscle is HARD. Adding a pound or two of muscle a month is HARD. If you get the muscle you want, you taper back.

As for the food side of things, you can try to gain while maintaining low fat, but its tough to gain more then a couple pounds of muscle a year. Its easier to actually gain muscle and fat for 8-12 weeks, then lose the fat in a month, repeat.

[Guy96]

I'm quite patient, but thanks for the concern. I feel like your my online personal trainer yelling at me. Lol, thanks though.

[kheserthorpe]

I wasn't suggesting you wouldn't be patient. My point was that you are not going to 'accidentally get too big'. It just doesn't happen. Even if your goal is to look 'atheletic' rather then like a bodybuilder, you need to be doing the same things, just not for as many years, and perhaps without steroids :p

A naturally thin guy is not going to add mass doing aerobics and 5 lb dumbbells.

[Guy96]

TRUST ME, I am not "naturally" THIN AT ALL. I got my genes from my dad, and he's a fat dude. I worked my way to get to the weight I am now, I gain weight like f***ing nothing.

[kheserthorpe]

Hmm, true. Well, we'll see how you gain muscle then.

Really, you want high resistance though. People bitch and whine about this program or protocol vs. that, but the basics are well known. There's no way light resistance will put you anywhere near the optimal rep range. You'll be doing endurance work.

[Guy96]

Thanks, and I love the challenge, I always push myself further.

[martyfellow]

Do a variety of core muscle exercises and a lot of ab tucks in various positions, at different angles. It's not rocket science.

AYou're right to stay away from chemicals. Just make sure you eat properly, maybe a little extra yogurt while yu're doing weights because you might need just a little extra protein.

Do a variety of upper body weights with small, say 5-8 pound weights, 3 sets of 10 reps, until that becomes boring, then gradually incrase the weight until you're satisfied with your look.

You shouldn't have any trouble since you have good cardio conditioning and common sense about food.

[Guy96]

Yeah after I lost all that weight, I stopped eating fast foods and all that garbage started eating healthier, maybe every few months probably but that doesn't do harm, yeah what I currently do before I workout is a PB&J Sandwich. And thanks because my old workout got boring in about a week.

[martyfellow]

PB +J will do you fine for protein and quick energy, yeah! Try occasional aerobic classes. They often incorporate light weights, the music is fun and there are usually women to look at to avoid boredom, especially the teachers.

[Guy96]

Ha! I agree with you on the aerobic classes!

[martyfellow]

Clearly the best answer, in spite of feminazi down arrows.