It's good for you that you don't have to concern yourself with track for a good few months yet. Worry about it when it becomes an issue. For now though, you are free to work on putting on some quality mass and decent strength gains.
Ok, below is a post which I created on a different forum for a teenager wishing to gain size. When you read it, it may be slightly out of context, but the theory is sound:
"You can gain quality mass just by ingesting more calories than you expend. The margin between maintainance and "positive calorie intake" will dictate how quickly you gain mass (mass meaning both lean and fatty tissues. The slower you gain the mass the higher the percentage it will be lean mass). What your diet consists of will also dictate to some degree what type of mass you put on.
For example: You are 5ft 7in and weigh 165lb. Approx. calorific intake for maintainance of a sedentary life style is something in the region of 1'500-1'700Kcal. Say that we bump it up to 2'500Kcal, and this is the amount of calories that you are currently ingesting to maintain your current mass and support your active lifestyle (strength training, P.E. in school, playing with friends etc.).
Now to gain mass properly you have to monitor your diet and keep a record of how much food you are eating each day (and week,) so as to help estimate ultimately how many calories you will need to eat each day/ week to support say, a gain of 1lb per week. You must attempt to be as accurate and as honest as possible.
You start off at 2'500Kcal per day for a week, take your weight on the last of the seven days (In the morning before you eat) and find that you haven't gained anything. Bump it up to 3'000Kcal per day for a week and repeat as before. Again, you find that your weight has increased only fractionally. Bump it up another 500Kcal to 3'500Kcal per day for a week. Repeat as before, and you find that you have gained approx. 1lb of mass. You have found that, to support a growth of 1lb of mass a week (plus your maintainance and current level of physical activity) you'll have to ingest approx. 3'500Kcal per day. As you grow you will obviously increase intake slightly to support your new mass.
The above numbers are an example. You may find you gain 1lb at 3'000Kcal or 4'000Kcal, and you may have to make adjustments in 250Kcal increments, but practically it works.
I am not sure about other members' attitudes towards protein intake when it comes to recreational strength sports. Personally, I feel that many teenage athletes ingest far too much protein, sacrificing carbohydrates and fats in the process. The average sedentary person's diet should consist of about 10% proteins (approx. 0.45 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight), and the recreational strength athlete (which you are) should double this to 20% of total calorific intake (approx. 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight). IMHO, unless you are on some form of AAS, you will not be able to fully utilise/ process a high protein diet for the purposes of fast lean mass gain.
IMHO, you should divide your CFP into the following percentages: 55-60% carbohydrates, 20-25% fats and 20-25% proteins (of whatever calorific amount you are ingesting daily). Proteins and fats obviously from dairy products, poultry, red meat, nuts and pulses and fish, and carbohydrates (as much in the form of polysaccharides/ complex carbohydrates as possible) from unrefined, wholemeal bread, rice and cereal, pasta, (sweet) potatoes, and fruit and vegetables. Make sure to ingest plenty of water during the day.
If you claim that you are eating "lots and lots of food/ calories", yet are still on putting on mass, this is not an excuse to use creatine, protein powders and weight gainers. Contrary to what you may think, you simply aren't ingesting enough calories, and have to motivate yourself to eat what is required for growth. A lazy, apathetic attitude will not yield mass gains, so keep yourself motivated to continuously eat a proper high calorie diet until you are satisfied that you have gained a sufficient amount of mass.
Keep your targets and your goals SMART:
S - Specific
M - Meaningful and Measurable
A - Attainable and Acheivable
R - Realistic
T - Time Constrained
Make sure that you have planned your mass gain as much as possible aswell with short, medium and long term goals:
E.G. short term: gain 1lb a week; medium term: gain 4-5lb a month; long term gain 14-15lb in 14 weeks, or however long your diet lasts for.
- B.A. "
When I used to go to high school, I carried in my bag plenty of hard boiled eggs, or home made protein shakes (eggs and milk properly whisked up and poured into a disposable 500ml bottle). Wholemeal Sandwiches with different fillings (tuna, chicken, turkey, cheese etc.) are also a great way of ensuring a proper diet when you don't ave access to a kitchen. Just carry a big tub of these foods in your school bag. You can also buy water and whole milk from the cafeteria or local shop near the school.
As for a routine, the basic powerlifting routine which I have posted in another thread has been met with a high level of success from teenage members who train at the gym I work at. Although it focuses on strength, it is more than adequate for building quality mass if your diet is properly monitored etc. (Just read what I posted). Plus, you will only be at the gym for 3 days a week.
Basically, stay consistent and motivated. Don't miss meals, don't miss work outs, and don't take shortcuts, and you'll make some real good progress over the next few months before your track season kicks off again.
- B.A.
milk basically every meal, at least 5 glasses)