# 17 and just starting... is there any hope?



## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

I'm just starting out building muscle and am wondering if i have any hope of achieving anything or If at 17 I've left it too late..

I've got cerebral palsy and because of that, I have virtually no muscle at all, I'm 5'7 and weigh about 9 stone/57kg. Is there any hope for me of building muscle properly?


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

Welcome

I don't see why not. Have you spoken to your doctor about anything that might help.

You have certainly not left any thing late at just 17 years old


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Welcome  .

Have you come across this guy?


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## UK2USA (Jan 30, 2016)

Welcome buddy. Never too late.......especially at 17. Good luck.


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## Jordan08 (Feb 17, 2014)

Perfect age. Go ahead, gather knowledge, apply it and be consistent with application.


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## JohhnyC (Mar 16, 2015)

ferdinandg1 said:


> I'm just starting out building muscle and am wondering if i have any hope of achieving anything or If at 17 I've left it too late..
> 
> I've got cerebral palsy and because of that, I have virtually no muscle at all, I'm 5'7 and weigh about 9 stone/57kg. Is there any hope for me of building muscle properly?


 no to worry, I was a total rake at that age, you will progress fast. Food and basic gym routines is all you need, no need to over think it


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Thanks all. I'll take your advice on board. This is going to be an enormous task though, I'll illustrate with this picture (if there is any beginner in worse shape than this, please point them out to me- for full disclosure, I am also in recovery from something of an eating disorder)


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

You don't look unlike a lot of 17 yr olds. A sound lifting and eating plan will see you start adding weight in no time. You may have a disability but you have youth on your side. Do you have anything in mind food and routine wise?

Edit -

This is YOUR own journey so don't worry about where others started.

How about StrongLifts 5x5, just download the app to your phone and also MyFitnessPal so you can calculate what you need to be eating to eat in surplus. I forget how many grams of protein you should be consuming daily but I'm sure someone will chime in with this info.


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

cheers. I'm starting off at my local gym tomorrow, but haven't got a plan yet.. My problems with eating and a lack of money in the family also mean I've never been able to stick to diet plans but now I'm motivated and I'll see what the nutritionists say I guess


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## Renier (Oct 4, 2016)

Keep going bro!


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

Are you working with a nutritionist under a health referral. If so, they will undoubtedly be able to provide all the info you need.

As for the work out plan, there's plenty of things you can do. StrongLifts is simple and very effective


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## 66983 (May 30, 2016)

Good luck to you, just enjoy and grow :thumb


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Cheers all. I was also wondering: What's your opinion on supplements? I'm just worried about the possible dangers (I've heard horror stories about creatine) and as a recovering anorexic, I don't want to get back to obsessing over eating habits


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

its never too late to follow a path you want to follow .

forget supplements for now and just get creative with food and cooking so that you enjoy eating something you have made

best of luck , we all have things that set us back or is a challenge to overcome however its the strength within that allows us to overcome and conquer ...


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Right, so it's been 3-ish weeks since I posted on here and something's worrying me... I'm not seeing newbie gains, like at all. Apparently, I've put on 7lbs but I've no idea where it's gone. Can someone explain this?


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

Please don't worry. The main thing is that you have gained quite a lot of weight in such a short period. Around 3lb a week is a good return.

You are doing really well. Newbie gains take a while, much longer than 3 weeks.

Just keep at it and in 6 months you will notice the difference


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Right, sorry about that. I just got the impression from quite a lot of people that newbie gains appeared almost out of thin air; just wanted to make sure


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

Building muscle is a SLOW process. Please don't worry if things aren't happening quickly. Eat well and train well and you you will progress in the fullness of time.

Do you want to share more about your general diet and training plan? There are a lot of guys in here who can chime in with helpful advice


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

My diet plan is not specific at all really- I focus on getting about 2700-3000 cals per day, and 175-200g of protein. As far as I'm concerned if it's got protein and calories, It's going in. The particular staples of my diet are a lot of chicken (roast or chargrilled), a lot of pasta/rice/other complex carbs, and all the veg (mainly salad stuff, lettuce, cucumber etc) I can get my hands on. I also eat a fair amount of natural yoghurt and drink around 4 pints of milk each day, and 1 or 2 protein shakes daily (I know it sounds like sacrilege to some , but as a recovering anorexic there's still a part of me that wants to run away when presented with a 1000kcal solid meal, so drinks like that are helpful to me).

As far as training goes, at the moment I'm mainly working with resistance machines (My personal trainer says that i should be eased into free weight work, seeing as I've spent the last four years essentially fu**ing up all the musculature I had), but maybe that's where I'm going wrong? My routines consist of what amounts to a full body workout, 3 times a week: Seated row, shoulder press, chest press, lat pulldowns, bicep curl, tricep extension, leg curl, leg extension)


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## 47y/o_Lifter (Apr 29, 2017)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Seated row, shoulder press, chest press, lat pulldowns, bicep curl, tricep extension, leg curl, leg extension)


 Erm....quads, the entire of the posterior chain? What's the progression plan?

If you can press the bar (20kg) you can you use free weights. They are superior to machines in every way. Use a Power Rack (if you don't know what one is Google it, if your gym hasn't got one go to a better gym).

Read Starting Strength.


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

What you are doing looks great.  I note that you are being guided by a professional so keep this up.

I would agree that as you are recovering from an illness this may make early stages of building muscle a little difficult. The most important thing is that you are gaining weight and your general health will be getting better day by day. Getting your body to a healthy state is the most important thing and you will find that the muscle gains will be very much like waiting for a bus, nothing for ages then all of a sudden loads will appear.

It may not feel like it right now but you have already conquered the hardest part of your journey, that being starting to get healthy again. Make sure you keep up with this log as I will certainly look in to see how you are getting on. :thumb


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## MFM (Jul 25, 2013)

Would it be bad advice to say you might as well try your hands at steroids?


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## RRSUK (Apr 9, 2017)

MFM said:


> Would it be bad advice to say you might as well try your hands at steroids?


 WTF, is this a joke, for a 17 year old with CP.

Not sure weather your joking or just fvcking stupid!?


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

MFM said:


> Would it be bad advice to say you might as well try your hands at steroids?


 I'm going to go with irresponsible, given the OP's age and I suspect your lack of knowledge regarding cystic fibrosis and medications this may involve. (I don't know about this either, but a 1 minute Google suggests that CF can negatively affect liver function as a starter.)

Edit: oops, I should have said cerebral palsy there!


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## JonSon (Dec 8, 2015)

Ultrasonic said:


> I'm going to go with irresponsible, given the OP's age and I suspect your lack of knowledge regarding cystic fibrosis and medications this may involve. (I don't know about this either, but a 1 minute Google suggests that CF can negatively affect liver function as a starter.)


 Cerebral palsy. Can't see where op mentions he has cystic fibrosis.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

JonSon said:


> Cerebral palsy. Can't see where op mentions he has cystic fibrosis.


 Oh crap, you're right! Must wake up!

My main point stands though.


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## JonSon (Dec 8, 2015)

Ultrasonic said:


> Oh crap, you're right! Must wake up!
> 
> My main point stands though.


 100% too young. Op may also be taking meds for other things that generally accompany cerebral palsy (like epilepsy).


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## JonSon (Dec 8, 2015)

@ferdinandg1 just stick at it and you'll see change. Take monthly pictures of yourself to compare. Good on you.


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## Sphinkter (Apr 10, 2015)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Thanks all. I'll take your advice on board. This is going to be an enormous task though, I'll illustrate with this picture (if there is any beginner in worse shape than this, please point them out to me- for full disclosure, I am also in recovery from something of an eating disorder)
> 
> View attachment 141005


 I've seen people who aren't beginners in worse shape than you lol.

welcome to forum. Pick a beginners lifting routine and stick to it. Work on improving the basic compound lifts, eat and you'll grow.


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## NoGutsNoGloryy (Jan 7, 2013)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Cheers all. I was also wondering: What's your opinion on supplements? I'm just worried about the possible dangers (I've heard horror stories about creatine) and as a recovering anorexic, I don't want to get back to obsessing over eating habits


 Worrying gets you killed fella. It's true, stress is a major factors of heart disease.

I believe no drug will kill you if you take it correctly and I've literally taken everything :lol: (not c0ck tho)


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Thanks all. Yeah, it's cerebral palsy, not cystic fibrosis, but all the same I don't think steroids are the right way to go for me anyway! I'm doing small amounts of free-weight work now actually, though haven't started on the power rack (my gym does have one). I'm just going with what the professionals tell me at the moment, given my physical circumstances, but yeah I'm looking to incorporate some more free weight work into my routine as I progress. As I say I'm up to 135-ish lbs (61kg for the metric crew), and have also weirdly grown about an inch (5'8", 173-ish cms) so onwards and upwards ?. Cheers again for all advice etc!


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

NoGutsNoGloryy said:


> Worrying gets you killed fella. It's true, stress is a major factors of heart disease.
> 
> I believe no drug will kill you if you take it correctly and I've literally taken everything :lol: (not c0ck tho)


 As a recovering anorexic, I'm very aware of the first point! I've been taking a mass-gaining supplement (Everlast All-in-One) that includes creatine, but been very careful with it, backing about 15-20 glasses of water a day


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## NoGutsNoGloryy (Jan 7, 2013)

ferdinandg1 said:


> As a recovering anorexic, I'm very aware of the first point! I've been taking a mass-gaining supplement (Everlast All-in-One) that includes creatine, but been very careful with it, backing about 15-20 glasses of water a day


 How much is that mass gaining supplement per KG? I don't really look at that type of stuff anymore but I've seen alot going in shops and they are way over priced. May be worthwhile going online to save you some extra money.

How are you getting on with increasing calories and do you know how many you're taking in?


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

ferdinandg1 said:


> I've been taking a mass-gaining supplement (Everlast All-in-One) that includes creatine,


 When you've used up what you have I suggest you save yourself a fair amount of money and just buy a basic whey protein concentrate instead, like Pure Whey from Bulkpowders (my preference) or Impact Whey from My Protein. Don't ever pay full price though - both companies have 25-35% offers pretty much every week. If you want creatine as well buy creatine monohydrate from the same company you buy the whey from. It is very cheap. The other ingredients in what you are currently having are doing nothing whatsoever for you.

Edit: well, the maltodextrin is helping give you very slightly more calories but these can easily and more enjoyably be found from food. We're only talking about 100 kcal here from maltodextrin in a 60g 'serving'.


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

NoGutsNoGloryy said:


> How much is that mass gaining supplement per KG? I don't really look at that type of stuff anymore but I've seen alot going in shops and they are way over priced. May be worthwhile going online to save you some extra money.
> 
> How are you getting on with increasing calories and do you know how many you're taking in?


 To be honest, I've been slowly increasing calories for a while and am now taking in around 2300 (2700 on a good day). Might sound low, but a year ago I was taking in 700 a day full stop.. The supplement was on a BOGOF offer, 3.8kg for 40 quid


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

ferdinandg1 said:


> .The supplement was on a BOGOF offer, 3.8kg for 40 quid


 For info that is still expensive compared to what I suggested above. Have a look, considering that a 30g serving of whey will give you more protein than you currently get from 60g. Just trying to save you money  .

P.s. apologies for saying the wrong condition above BTW.


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## RRSUK (Apr 9, 2017)

Do you know which specific type of CP you suffer from?

Free weight aren't essential and may be difficult for yourself depending on the type of CP, but there plenty on machine work you can do, and you should make use of the smith machine for bench pressing etc.

Just take your time finding what calories work for you, you'll get there and there's plenty of helpful folks from many backgrounds that can advise on pretty much anything on here.


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Cheers all. I was also wondering: What's your opinion on supplements? I'm just worried about the possible dangers (I've heard horror stories about creatine) and as a recovering anorexic, I don't want to get back to obsessing over eating habits


 Creatine horror stories??? It's creatine! As harmless as it gets, unless you dropped 5kg on your little toe the horror stories are bull, it's actually one of the only supplements that does do good and won't do you any harm whatsoever! (And thats no bull, it's a naturally occuring substance in the body and perfectly safe! 5g of creatine monohydrate is perfect per day)

you can happily eat to set calories, but your in control of how much so go for it, your only young


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## NTSC (Jan 17, 2017)

Best of luck dude, congrats on your recovery.

you've got some great advice here from the experts, go kill it!


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Most of what I've heard about creatine has been to do with the problems it causes with the kidneys to be honest. As for my type of CP, it's spastic and affects my right side


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Most of what I've heard about creatine has been to do with the problems it causes with the kidneys to be honest. As for my type of CP, it's spastic and affects my right side


 5g of creatine will not hurt your kidneys unless it's specific to your illness, where did you hear about this??


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Various forums and that, they say you need to back serious amounts of water if you're taking creatine


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## RRSUK (Apr 9, 2017)

OK with Spastic CP, your probably best with machines, even though it has a limited ROM it will probably be easier for you, start light with as best form as you can manage and keep the reps nice and slow.

Keep at it and you'll get where you want to be. You've already earned my admiration!


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

MFM said:


> Would it be bad advice to say you might as well try your hands at steroids?


 :whistling:


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

MFM said:


> Would it be bad advice to say you might as well try your hands at steroids?


 Id say it was awful advice lol


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Various forums and that, they say you need to back serious amounts of water if you're taking creatine


 not serious. you should be drinking the same amount either way. I could imagine you might get kidney problems after decades of using creatine and not drinking enough water. but it would be difficult IMO to actually give yourself kidney problems on creatine by accident.


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

NoGutsNoGloryy said:


> Worrying gets you killed fella. It's true, stress is a major factors of heart disease.
> 
> I believe no drug will kill you if you take it correctly and I've literally taken everything :lol: *(not c0ck tho)*


 the strongest drug of all?


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Various forums and that, they say you need to back serious amounts of water if you're taking creatine


 Unless the concern relates to your specific medical condition you have nothing to worry about. The benefits from creatine are pretty small though, so if you have any concerns just don't take it.


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

ferdinandg1 said:


> Various forums and that, they say you need to back serious amounts of water if you're taking creatine


 Talking out there arses I'm afraid, it's a naturally occuring substance in the body! Probably not drinking enough fluids anyway and blaming something harmless, there's countless study's that show creatine is actually one of the only supplements that does any thing good for the body, next time you get a cold go on the NHS symptoms checker and I'm sure death will be a possible result of a cold... you need to refine what you read and take stuff rather more with a pinch of salt... you referred to serious health consequences or some such wording... creatine is no more likely to damage you than a bowl of weetabix each morning, it's bull simple as!!


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## Heavyassweights (Jan 18, 2014)

in


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Heavyassweights said:


> in


 ?


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

ferdinandg1 said:


> ?


 He's following your progress


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

ferdinandg1 said:


> ?


 Mr Assweights means that he will be following your thread/progress


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## Heavyassweights (Jan 18, 2014)

ferdinandg1 said:


> ?


 *


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Right, cheers! I'll try and do a proper update every... 3 months I guess. I started on 13th April so will run to 13th July and then log progress properly


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## superdrol (Aug 9, 2012)

Start a journal in the members journal section you can update it as much as you like then


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## IronJohnDoe (Oct 17, 2013)

Welcome to UK-M! 

Late at 17? Nah! I was skinnier than you and I started at 27, is never too late, I wish I had start at your age lol


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## ferdinandg1 (Apr 10, 2017)

Just weighed myself (yes, I do it daily, old habits die hard) and up to 138lbs! (9st12/63kg-ish) Considering this time last year I weighed 90lbs, I consider that progress. Seeing gains in strength as well. Cheers for the support everyone!


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## NoGutsNoGloryy (Jan 7, 2013)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> the strongest drug of all?


 Aye it is. If you take that, I feel it will affect you life.


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