Cut and bulk: Teenagers explain why they want to get ripped
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ying on a bench.”>George Hazard
George says he’s in the gym “five or six nights a week”.
However, he admits he’s been tempted to do something drastic: “You see people getting good abs in two weeks, but you can’t cheat getting bigger.
“It takes years to build muscle – if you get there quick you’re definitely cheating,” he says.
But he doesn’t think he’d go as far as taking a banned performance-enhancing substance like steroids, because “it’s not worth it”.
Working out is a part of his lockdown routine, and he thinks his friends see gym culture as cooler than they did before.
The “bro” culture of gym-going is filtering down into school culture, he says – a similar culture, it seems, that George Holland experienced when he went to his first gym.
Could all this time under a barbell and bench press be a problem? George doesn’t think so, arguing he’s doing something he loves and feels better for it.
The teenage powerlifter
George Ibbotson
George Ibbotson says powerlifting helps him to be more disciplined
George Ibbotson says he wanted to start lifting weights to impress his friends during lockdown. The 16-year-old already played football but when he could no longer train with his team, he discovered powerlifting.
He found the structure of the sport – where competitors strive to lift the heaviest weights across three disciplines: the squat, bench press, and deadlift – particularly attractive.
“It’s more addictive than football because you’re constantly trying to beat personal bests,” George explains.
This means constantly pushing his body, and himself, to new limits.
George Ibbotson
George started lifting weights to impress his friends during lockdown.
He competes in the under-66kg weight category, and is looking to beat the British record for the deadlift.
George doesn’t follow any strict diets but does take a protein supplement and eats lots of chicken and rice.
Like George Hazard, he says he’s learned a lot from social media, particularly around dietary profiling and optimal weightlifting schedules.
And, he reveals, powerlifting has actually helped him to be more disciplined.
So what does his family think? “At first they were a bit sceptical,” George admits.
“But now my dad helps me with my powerlifting. We have a gym at home so we can train together.”
George Ibbotson
George Ibbotson