Question:
Hello,
I’m reaching out because I’d really appreciate your perspective on something concerning my physical development and puberty.
I’m currently 18 years old, and I have always felt that I developed later than most of the boys around me. Around 14–15, I had very few noticeable signs of puberty and was still quite small and physically immature compared with my peers. I also had very little body hair and generally looked much younger than my age.
I also wanted to give some context regarding my strength development. I first started exercising around the age of 13 (maybe 12), although at that age I didn’t really understand proper training, progression, nutrition, or recovery (I weighed around 35 kg). Around 14, I gained a much better understanding of how to train properly and became much more consistent and deliberate with my training (training high intensity, which I believe also led to overtraining) and going on a strict diet (I haven’t had sweets or cold drinks since around 14 😭). Despite this, I still made surprisingly little progress. (I was also skinny fat till around late last year when I started leaning down randomly.)
For example, I had been working toward my first pull-up for around five years. Even after learning more about proper training around 14 and putting significantly more effort into it, I still couldn’t perform a proper pull-up. I only recently achieved my first clean pull-up at 17 after years of trying.
Over the last year, however, I have started noticing considerably more changes. I have grown taller and am now around 6 feet and have gained about 10 kg, weighing about 60 kg. I have developed more noticeable body hair, and I’ve noticed changes in my overall build (leaner) and facial appearance. At the same time, my strength seems to be responding much better to training than it did previously. (I am consistently getting one more push-up every push day.)
This has made me wonder whether I may simply be a later maturer and whether some of my previously slow physical development and strength progression could have been related to being less physically mature at the time. My dad is very masculine, per se, and when he works out, he gains muscle and strength easily. He is 6 feet 2 inches and weighs around 75 kg, but he rarely exercises anymore; when he gets back into it for about a month, he makes very good progress.
Getting little gains over these years has been painful for me, but thank God, I still stayed consistent.
I’m interested in understanding what is normal for someone who appears to have gone through puberty later than average, whether development can continue significantly at 17 and beyond, and whether there are any signs that would indicate that puberty is still progressing normally.
The test says I am Tanner Stage 4, and it was around 3.4 at the start of the year
I would really appreciate any insight or advice you can give.
Answer:
Typically, males spend about two years in stages 2, 3, and 4. When a boy starts developing late (after age 14), they sometimes develop faster (1.5 years per stage), as if making up for lost time. You said you moved up half a stage in six months (that usually takes a year). Thus, you are developing faster than usual, but not abnormally faster. I would be inclined to put it down to the calculator’s error rate, since it depends on the person’s input, which can sometimes be biased.
For late bloomers, it is not unusual to hear of guys continuing to grow into their early 20s. If you started at 14 (stage 2), then you would typically reach stage 3 at 16, stage 4 at 18, and stage 5 at 20. So far, that seems to be matching your progress.
Boys can become strong without developing large muscles. I’m a bit surprised that your strength development went so slowly. It does become easier when you reach stage 4 because you gain the ability to develop larger muscles during that stage.