The growing popularity of bodybuilding and the bulked up actors playing TV and movie superheroes are drawing teens to the gym with the hope of becoming the image of their idols. Seeing today’s ripped stars and shredded bodybuilding champions sparks an internal fire that many teens desire for.

Being a teenager presents some tough challenges to bodybuilding. However, it also provides some powerful benefits. It can be difficult as a teen, for example, to eat enough, adhere to a nutritious diet, or find the time to visit the gym consistently. On the other hand, a teen’s body is still developing so, with the right strength training program and diet, you can build the foundation for great progressive form and practically eat as much healthy foods as you want because your metabolism is high.

The following are eight mass building tips that, if you apply them, will set you off on the right path to becoming like your favorite ripped hero.

Mass Building Tip #1 – Workout

Let’s face it. If you don’t workout then you are not going to develop muscle mass. However, casually curling a dumbbell or half-heartedly pressing an underweighted barbell isn’t going to do much either. Developing strong muscle mass and creating good muscle form come from commitment, consistency and high intensity weight training.

As a teen, it’s easy to get caught up in going to the gym for social reasons. Teen guys like all those well formed girls donning tight, sexy fitness clothing while teen girls like all those sweating, ripped guys pressing weights until their veins bulge. However, if you want to achieve a hot, sexy body, you have to pay the piper and hit the gym hard each time you attend.

To help out in this area, focus on the results that will come from performing intense exercises and show them off at other social activities where your hard work will be noticed. Oh yeah, and leave the cell phone at home or in your locker.

Mass Building Tip #2 – Workout Smart

Working hard is a necessity for building muscle mass. However, if you’re not smart about it, you can spend a lot of time working out without showing much in the way of results. Teens will often go to the gym and workout for a couple of hours thinking that more is better.

However, if you don’t have a good weight training program, you won’t be training your body correctly, or you can easily overtrain and hinder muscle growth. When you train smart, you can actually achieve maximum muscle stress and reach maximum metabolism and hormonal release in only 40 to 60 minutes, which is much easier to fit into a teen’s busy schedule.

Perform smart workouts by utilizing compound exercises which work major muscle groups at the same time, split exercises which work opposite muscles and circuit training which utilize a variety of planned exercises one right after another.

Mass Building Tip #3 – Eat Healthy

It’s very tempting as a teen to go to McDonald’s or other fast food restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, all you will accomplish by eating foods void of much nutritional value is to lose energy and gain fat; these are not desired traits when body sculpting.

Therefore, you need to set up a healthy and nutritious diet that provides most of the elements your body needs to promote muscle and bone growth as well as mental and central nervous system enhancement. Focus on eating protein foods such as lean beef, chicken, turkey, fish, egg whites and dairy products. Eat plenty of complex carb foods like whole wheat cereal, pasta, rice, bread, potatoes and oatmeal. Also, fill your meals with healthy fruits and vegetables which are full of vitamins and minerals. Some fats are good for bodybuilding, but if you are eating a healthy diet filled with the above foods then your fat intake will take care of itself.

Mass Building Tip #4 – Eat Often

Eating sporadically is another shortcoming of teenagers which can severely hinder muscle gain results. When performing high intensity exercises on a regular basis, you need to feed your stressed muscles, bones and body with nutritious foods often. You cannot gain muscle mass by eating only one or two meals a day.

When involved in bodybuilding training, you should eat 5 or 6 small meals containing plenty of protein as well as complex carbs, fruits and vegetables. If you can only eat three meals a day then drink protein shakes in between.

Mass Building Tip #5 – Use Supplements

As mentioned above, supplements play an important role in building muscle mass. This is especially true with teenagers who don’t normally eat enough or correctly due to their busy schedules and lack of discipline.

Mass Building Tip #6 – Get Adequate Rest

Adequate rest is also something which usually falls by the wayside in the lives of teenagers. There always seems to be a late night study session, social gathering, party, or other activity that keeps you up late at night. Since muscle growth and recovery takes place mainly during sleeping hours, you must get sufficient sleep when involved in a weight training program.

Just like diet and workouts, sleep requires a disciplined approach in order to maximize muscle mass and make the most of your exercise program. Therefore, leave activities earlier, use better time management and ensure that you get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. If you happen to blow an early night’s sleep once in awhile due to a sexy date, that’s understandable. Simply catch a power nap the next day to keep your body moving forward.

Mass Building Tip #7 – Acquire Knowledge

Understanding how your body functions, how various weightlifting and exercise routines work, how nutrition is used to increase energy, strength and vitality, and what forms of exercise produce the best results will help your bodybuilding career take off and blossom.

Therefore, you should glean as much fitness and diet plan info as possible. You can do this through the Internet by researching information on bodybuilding sites or you can get workout and nutritional guidance from an established fitness program, trainer at the local gym, or a seasoned bodybuilder who knows the ropes.

Mass Building Tip #8 – Drop the Attitude and Have Fun

Last but not least, these two mental attitude points will also improve weight training results. First of all, drop the “I can do it all” attitude. Teens often cause serious injuries to themselves because of a big ego. It’s very easy to walk into a gym and want to immediately “strut your stuff” in front of all the bulging muscle guys and cute girls. This attitude will not only get you hurt, but it will also prove to be detrimental to real muscle gains. Therefore, leave the ego at home and train according to your specific qualifications.

The second point is to just have fun. If workouts become a struggle and chore, you are much more likely to go at them half-heartedly, or worse, quit going altogether. Enjoy your workouts and experiment with various exercises and techniques until you find your groove. Take along a workout pal so you can encourage each other and discuss methods and results together. If you enjoy your workout time then you will create a better muscular form and do it more rapidly. The best part is that you will have a fun time on your bodybuilding journey.