The majority of teens who workout, attend high school. I myself being one of them am faced with the same problems as everyone else. Whether it is homework, friends, teachers, eating, or just finding time to lift weights, all of these factors take time can and affect you negatively. However, because I have committed myself to bodybuilding, I have found ways that all of these things can be overcome by.
Friends
For most of us who workout, friends can be a problem that we don't always want to deal with. Unless they are a bodybuilder themselves, they probably don't understand your eating habits, or your dedication towards the sport. Their idea of fun is eating pizza and soda and playing video games or more commonly, drinking and smoking.
When they ask you to join them, and you decline, they might feel offended or feel like you're not a true friend. You tell them that you have to workout, and that doing either of these might hamper your progress, but they just don't have the same values as you. This can be very challenging, but for the bodybuilder, a situation that happens often and must be overcome.
You could try asking them to workout instead. Usually this will work (who doesn't want big biceps and a big chest?) but if that fails, you can just tell them that you can't go with them because you are going to work, which is partially true, WORKING out, or that you don't like what their doing.
Homework and Working Out
"I don't have time to workout because I don't have time." How many times have you heard that statement? Well, in my own scenario, I haven't had one teacher, who didn't pile loads of homework on me, and yet I still had a 3.8 GPA, taking advanced classes, and was able to do bodybuilding. Since teachers can give you detention, which will cause you to not have a meal for another hour, it is best not to make them mad.
This would leave me just enough time for a meal, and to get to my job which started at 5 P.M. When I got home at 9 P.M., I had from 9:15 to 10:30 to do homework. This schedule worked perfectly to me. I was squeezed for time, but it all worked out. During the days when I don't have work, it is a breeze.
Another alternative would be to workout before school, which I plan on doing when I get my drivers license. To do this, I would have to wake up around 5 a.m., and be ready to go to school at 7:30 A.M., which would leave ample time in between to finish any homework, and get ready for school.
Eating
My school isn't the best place to go to if you follow a bodybuilding schedule, but I make due with what I have. Because of school rules, I am not allowed to eat or drink during or in-between classes. Besides breakfast, the next time I get to have food is 6 hours later at lunchtime. Like I said, it's not the ideal environment, but I make the best of what I could. With that being said, I still eat 7 meals a day even with the 6 hour gap. These are my meal times:
6 A.M.
12 A.M.
3 P.M.
5 P.M. - Post-workout
7 P.M.
9 P.M.
10:30 P.M.
You can see that after I get home from school, I eat a meal every 2 hours which is very important since I can't early in the morning. I get around 312 grams of protein, 390 grams of carbs, and 80 grams of fat, which suites me just fine since I am bulking for 2-3 months. These meal times are what I am going to have to follow for the next 3 years, excluding summer. Keep in mind, I weigh 160 currently, and hope to get up to 180.
Girls
I'm assuming that most guys like girls, but in my opinion, it is impossible to focus on bodybuilding 100% if you have a girlfriend. Bodybuilding is the hardest and most selfish sport there is. How are you supposed to train consistently and eat a meal every 2-3 hours if your girlfriend always wants to go out together?
Most girls would find it weird that your dedicated to something so much and that you take so much time to make meals and eat. Some people will disagree with me, but I'm just basing it on personal experience.
High school can be difficult, and just like college, has tests, projects, and exams always coming up. The secret to beat these things is to be as consistent as possible. If you workout and eat as you scheduled, a missed day or meal every once in awhile isn't going to set you back too far, as long as it doesn't happen too often, doesn't become a habit, and you have no other choice. Because even I know, sometimes school work is just too much!
Thanks,