I'm not usually interested in writing little clickbait listicles, but when politics seem to be the main topic of everyone's feed, it can feel quite monotonous. This cheery article here is my attempt at breaking that monotony a little bit.

That being said, anyone who knows me also knows that in the years following my graduation from middle school, I gradually built up a fairly sizable amount of muscularity and athleticism. For anyone that's curious and would like to replicate my success, here's how I did it.

1. Start Small

It should come as no surprise to anyone that even I started out small. I was 14 when I first started exercising, and at the time, all I did was gradually build up my strength. For one week straight, every day I did five sets of twenty push-ups to reach a hundred. Following that, I started doing six sets of twelve dumb bell curls at 10 lbs in addition to my push-ups every day. That part of my life lasted roughly two months. This was simply to build basic strength for the next part of my building.

2. Create A Real Routine

I'm not going to bore you with how I made the routine or what it will do for you. I'll just get to the point and tell it to you. Two sets of fifty push-ups. Six sets of twelve dumbbell curls at 12 lbs. Two more sets of fifty push-ups. Three sets of five pull-ups. Two more sets of fifty push-ups. Three more sets of five pull-ups. This basic routine was what I did at the beginning of freshman year of high school, before I had a gym membership. After about two months of doing this, I had gathered enough actual strength to begin something more legitimate.

3. Create An Intense Routine

Now, what I'm about to tell you is going to feel like a bit of a jump. Trust me, you'll have the strength to do it. Get a gym membership. After that, here's your routine. Four sets ten pull-ups. Four sets fifteen dips. Six sets of thirty dumb bell curls at 15 lbs. Put your back on one of those flat benches with some 15 pound dumbbells and curl them upward from the sides of your body toward the middle above your chest. That's one in each hand. Four sets of twenty five at 20 lbs. Two sets fifty push-ups. Lateral pulldown machine four sets fifteen reps at 60 lbs. Weighted rowing simulation machine four sets thirty reps at 60 lbs. Four sets of fifty push-ups. Eight sets of ten V-ups. This is the routine I used by the end of my freshman year of high school, age 15.

4. Dieting

Now is the time to begin dieting. At this point you should reduce sugar to below 15g/serving, should focus your meat eating on chicken and fish, and should be having protein shakes after your workouts. You should also be exercising at least every two out of three days. Vegetables here are also your best friend. Vegetable smoothies will do wonders for your body.

5. Create A Workout Schedule

Everything I've told you up until now is for novices. By now, you will have strength and some endurance, but your muscles will mostly be focused on your arms. From here, we can build the rest of your body. What you need is a schedule. The way I did it at ages 16-17 was via alternation and covering all my bases. When I say alternate, I mean that I have three types of days. Day A, B, and C. Each one has a different kind of workout. Day A is for light upper body lifting, day B is for heavy upper body lifting, and Day C is leg day. Alternatively, when I was 18 and senior in high school I had a pretty solid thing going. I woke up at 5 am and ran 2.4 miles every morning on the beach utilizing 20 second sprints 30 second jobs. After that came a hearty breakfast (cereal with fruit, eggs, protein shake, vegetables). Then in the evening after school, I had a very intense lifting routine. This was something I did every two out of three days, and Day C was to give myself a rest rather than cover another workout.

At this point, you should consult with trainers and better guides than mine to find workouts that you need and to craft a routine that works for you. My goal with this article was just to give you skeletal basics. The stuff that got me to where I am today. A lot of trainers start you higher than I was willing to go at that time, and I feel that part of developing the habit is being able to start yourself slowly, and work your way up gradually.

6. My Workout

That being said, if you're curious about my personal workout system at the age of 21, I'll tell you what I do on Mondays, and you can try whatever you want using this as a guide to structure you.

Monday Morning:

4 sets 15 pull-ups AND dips. Wing man or benched wings, four sets of twenty five at 35 lbs with dumbbells. Six sets twenty four dumbbell curls at 20 lbs. Three sets fifty push-ups. Kettle Bell 30 lbs sequence: Fifteen horse stance mid center swings, fifteen above the head raises, fifteen squats with kettle bell at chest level. That sequence is NONSTOP, and must be done twice. After that, alternate arms with the 30 lbs kettle bell for some kettle curls. Four sets fifteen lateral pull-downs at 110 lbs. Four sets thirty reps weighted row simulation machine. Two sets fifty push-ups. Ab sequence that consists of 1 minute crunches, 1 minute leg raises, 1 minute bicycle, 1 minute toe touch from back, 1 minute plank. This ab sequence is performed three times straight with no break, meaning 15 straight minutes of abs.

Monday Evening:

1 hour max-out against the punching bag in the boxing room. Rest a bit. 2 hours fencing afterward.

Alternatively, here's my cardio/legs if you're interested in that. This is something I do on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday mornings.

10 minutes of 30 second sprint 20 second jog on a track. 2 minutes ladder machine at max sprint. 4 minutes at 8.0 on treadmill. 10 minutes at 12.0 on bike machine. 30 minutes swim of casual swim to one side, sprint swim to the other, usually freestyle for both.