Weight/Strength Training Question..

[jamesislandvault]

It's the off season and I need some type of strength curriculum. I've been weight lifting and i eat around 3000 calories a day but im still only about 116 pounds, 15 years old. i do pullups and pushups. i was wondering if i should gain some weight and if doing bodyweight/gymnastics exercises and high weight/low rep (i.e 3x3) will make me gain weight. I don't have a high bar. thanks!
btw, this year will be my second year and hopefully i will get better. i could only practice 2 days a week last year but this year i will be practicing on the vault more.

[jamesislandvault]

oh and i forgot to say that i've read threads on this forum about training but i was just wondering if i would gain any weight from them...

[KirkB]

Instead of focussing on gaining weight, you should focus on gaining STRENGTH. It's very important to have a good "strength-to-weight ratio" in PV (search for some of those threads). Many vaulters would be quite envious of you being so light! You don't want to get HEAVIER ... you want to get STRONGER!

And yes, just about all the gymnastics drills will add strength without adding much weight. Since you don't have a highbar, then search for and read the thread about "Highbars are Everywhere!" ... and improvise. The nice thing about gymnastic drills is that the weight you use is your own body weight, so you're constantly measuring your weight-to-strength ratio. If you get too heavy, you'll notice that you can't do the drills as easily.

You of course must gain SOME weight to gain strength ... but you need to ensure that the weight you gain is LEAN MUSCLE ... not FAT or "bulky muscle". You don't want to look like a body-builder ... you want to look like a gymnast ... with LEAN muscles.

I'm not going to advise you to stay out of the weight room ... I don't know your height or sex, but 116 lbs sounds quite light. Just be sure to focus on gaining LEAN MUSCLE and STRENGTH ... not WEIGHT.

Kirk

[jamesislandvault]

thanks a ton. yeah im a guy. ill use my chin up bar but there is a playground within walking distance and ill use that i know they have something very close to a highbar. i decided the only weight training ill do is bench press (high weight, low reps, low sets) and some explosive dumbell step ups.

-chris

[altius]

'Ive read threads on this forum about training but i was just wondering if i would gain any weight from them...

If it were possible to gain weight from reading threads on pvp many of the regular readers would weigh over 300 lbs by now!!!! Sorry -just had to get that in.

[Lax PV]

'Ive read threads on this forum about training but i was just wondering if i would gain any weight from them...

If it were possible to gain weight from reading threads on pvp many of the regular readers would weigh over 300 lbs by now!!!! Sorry -just had to get that in.

Ha. Good joke...

To answer the question about reps/sets, no 3x3 will not make you gain a lot of weight. But like Kirk said, get stronger, not heavier. If you are 115 lbs and you can do 10 pull ups, and then you gain 10 lbs, and can only do 8, well that didn't help you too much... now if you can stay at 115, maybe 117, and do 12-15 pull ups... now you're talkin'...

[Pogo Stick]

Instead of focussing on gaining weight, you should focus on gaining STRENGTH. It's very important to have a good "strength-to-weight ratio" in PV (search for some of those threads). Many vaulters would be quite envious of you being so light! You don't want to get HEAVIER ... you want to get STRONGER!

And yes, just about all the gymnastics drills will add strength without adding much weight. Since you don't have a highbar, then search for and read the thread about "Highbars are Everywhere!" ... and improvise. The nice thing about gymnastic drills is that the weight you use is your own body weight, so you're constantly measuring your weight-to-strength ratio. If you get too heavy, you'll notice that you can't do the drills as easily.

You of course must gain SOME weight to gain strength ... but you need to ensure that the weight you gain is LEAN MUSCLE ... not FAT or "bulky muscle". You don't want to look like a body-builder ... you want to look like a gymnast ... with LEAN muscles.

I'm not going to advise you to stay out of the weight room ... I don't know your height or sex, but 116 lbs sounds quite light. Just be sure to focus on gaining LEAN MUSCLE and STRENGTH ... not WEIGHT.

A picture is worth a thousand words:
This Hooker's picture should be your goal. Nothing bulky, just lean muscles and power and strength. Print it, keep it in your room, track, weight room, class room, use it as screen saver, as background on your computer, cellphone, iPod, etc.

[VaultPurple]

This Hooker's picture should be your goal. Nothing bulky, just lean muscles and power and strength. Print it, keep it in your room, track, weight room, class room, use it as screen saver, as background on your computer, cellphone, iPod, etc.

But what your probably not seeing out of this picture is how strong Hooker probably really is. I bet even though he is that lean he can still bench close to 300lb. You just have to learn how to gain strength without gaing too much mass, but some weight will come. Honestly 115 is not the weight any athlete over 5'5 should be at, but the extra weight your going to add is from naturally developing and putting on some upperbody from things as simple as pole vaulting, and using the high bar. (I was 120 in 10th grade, and 140 in 11th, grew none in height and PRd by 4.5 feet)


Ps. 3x3 (high weight, low rep high weight) will not make you bulk up, 3x10 (low weight, high rep) will make you builk up. That is why in the off season or right when someone starts weight training, they go through a 'bulk up' phase with high rep, then they slowly work down to heavier weight and lower rep to start adding some strength to that muscle. ie. right now in college we are at 3x10 with most of our lifts and by January we will be at like 4x2

[KYLE ELLIS]

Instead of focussing on gaining weight, you should focus on gaining STRENGTH. It's very important to have a good "strength-to-weight ratio" in PV (search for some of those threads). Many vaulters would be quite envious of you being so light! You don't want to get HEAVIER ... you want to get STRONGER!

And yes, just about all the gymnastics drills will add strength without adding much weight. Since you don't have a highbar, then search for and read the thread about "Highbars are Everywhere!" ... and improvise. The nice thing about gymnastic drills is that the weight you use is your own body weight, so you're constantly measuring your weight-to-strength ratio. If you get too heavy, you'll notice that you can't do the drills as easily.

You of course must gain SOME weight to gain strength ... but you need to ensure that the weight you gain is LEAN MUSCLE ... not FAT or "bulky muscle". You don't want to look like a body-builder ... you want to look like a gymnast ... with LEAN muscles.

I'm not going to advise you to stay out of the weight room ... I don't know your height or sex, but 116 lbs sounds quite light. Just be sure to focus on gaining LEAN MUSCLE and STRENGTH ... not WEIGHT.

Kirk

First off all I agree with you completely Kirk, but I am bored and I want to pick through some of the things you said. You don't have to gain any weight to gain strength. You just have to improve you strength deficit (actual strength minus your absolute strength). Absolute strength being how much your muscles could lift if we made your muscles contract through electrical stimulation. Most strength improvements are result of fiber recruitment and CNS stimulation.

And kirk there is no such thing as lean or fat muscles!!! Lol... muscle is muscle, fat is fat, and water is water... I think what you are trying to say is don't try and bulk up by gaining both muscle and fat, just try and gain muscle. Obviously if this kid is 116lbs and is eating 3,000 calories if he did start gaining weight most of it probably would be from fat due to an excessive amount of calories (depending on his activity level)

And body builders are extremely lean! Lean meaning having little fat... But they are Bulky because they primarily focus on Hypertrophy type lifting and lift for hours and hours each day. So saying try to gain lean muscle and not bulky muscle sounds a little silly.

Bottom line you are completely right, young kids shouldn't be trying to gain weight. One day their hormones will kick in (males- testosterone) and then they will gain muscle and be able to bulk up at will. It bothers me when kids get on here and ask about ways to gain mass, because its not needed in the vault. If I could weigh 116lbs and keep all of my speed and strength I would. When I was in college my focus was getting strong without gaining weight (I weighed 173 and could bench 325 and squat 405) I did strictly strength CNS lifting, basically very heavy weight with only 2-3 sets and any were from 2-6 reps.... Hypertrophy lifting is 6-12 reps with 75-85% 1rpm.

[rainbowgirl28]

To the OP, it sounds like you're doing a lot of good stuff, you just have to wait for the right hormones to kick in for you to grow bigger. Guys often don't finish maturing until their early 20s, so I wouldn't worry too much about it yet. You don't have to be big to pole vault high, just keep working on getting faster and stronger and most importantly improving your pole vault technique. The rest will take care of itself.

Also, if anything, it's easier to learn good technique when you are young and smaller because you are less able to muscle your way into bad habits. Lots of HS boys who start pole vaulting when they are physically mature never learn how to do it right because they can vault pretty high doing it wrong.

[jamesislandvault]

thanks for the advice... ill kjust focus on drills & cns training... im only 7 % bdy fat so dont know where all the healthy foods go
thanks again & tomorrow ill start practicing on the high bar

[powerplant42]

You should be able to get almost everything you need in terms of strength from working on the bar.