Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
19.28 While attention to exercise is very important, do not neglect the vital role of
nutrition. Additional to this are factors that greatly influence your health at
any stage of life—job satisfaction, quality of relationships, financial state of
affairs, environment you live and work in, whether or not you smoke, alcohol
intake, state of mind, etc. While you can shrug off many harmful activities
when you are young, and without any apparent harm, they take their toll
later in life. Get in charge of your life before it gets in charge of you.
19.29 Being strong and fit does not necessarily mean you are healthy, though of
course it is much better to be strong and fit than weak and unfit. Exercise
is not a panacea that can compensate for abuses and neglect in other areas.
Exercise can only be a part of your overall strategy for external and internal
well-being.
Training the very young
19.30 In BRAWN there is a segment on the training of teenagers. Here is a revised
version of it:
19.31 Teenagers are usually abundant in enthusiasm and energy, but deficient in
effective instruction. Being so young, impressionable and gullible makes
teenagers perhaps the most easily exploited group among want-to-be bodybuilders.
19.32 Teenagers who have read the conventional instruction will likely find it
impossible to believe that progress in the gym is not the product of long and
frequent workouts, wondrous sounding food supplements, use of sophisticated
machines, and dedication to the point of fanaticism.
The maturity factor
19.33 Youngsters should not be rushed into intensive weight training. Due to
great variations in structural maturity there can be no standard starting age.
Other than for especially immature individuals, most teenagers of age 14
should be up to benefiting from an intelligent, safe and organized resistancetraining
program, but not necessarily formal weight training.
19.34 Rather than trying to determine physical maturity by chronological age,
determine it according to maturity as indicated by secondary sexual characteristics.
While some boys can grow a beard before they are age 14, and some
girls have started menstruating by age 11, others have to wait a few years yet.
Chronologically young but sexually mature youngsters may benefit from
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