Focus - Of course you think your reccomendations are better, mine just happens to be more correct. There's a principle called progression, it's fairly important

Jman - Leg presses are better because the machines are fixed and you can't get as much wrong with form than if you were doing squats.

Smith machine squats are also good but i'd still favour leg presses. And throw in a leg curl as well so that everything's even.

My brother has some carb powder and some amino 6000 stuff? Do you guys reccomend I should take that?

You don't need to supplement, get everytthing you need from a good diet.

leg press are fixed and will force you to do wrong form, with squats you can follow a natrual movement. He will need to learn squats sooner or later anyways, and the leg press wont give much carryover technique wise, so it will be new nomatter what.

I really think most supplements are a waste of money, I'll probably get flamed hugely over that statement . But over the years, I threw a fair amount of money into them too. Drink a ton of milk, skim. Good protein although a lot of natural sugar, but it won't matter to you at your age. Tuna and chicken are cheap and excellent sources of protein.

You point out that your older brother is much stronger than you. You don't tell us how old he is, so I will assume he is 16. There is a big difference between a 16 year old and a 13 (almost 14 year old). He is well into puberty, you are probably just getting started. Expect him to be bigger and stronger for a while, but you will catch up and potentially even pass him, once your body settles down.

You asked about military presses and bent over rows. Someone said it here, just google it. And as far as machines versus free weights, you'll notice a lot of opinion here on that! My thought has always been free weights are better.

How are the workouts going??

I agree about the suppliments, you gotta remember its a suppliment! Ive always enjoyed a carb and protein shake right after my workout, because i notice the effect, i dont get as tired afterwards etc. but other than that. Eat real food with good protein!

Yes my brother is 16, and the school gym is closed on saturdays and sundays, so for now I am just doing some pushups and situps. Tomorrow I will start my upper-body, then the next day lower.

Firstly I disagree with that statement. I can think of many 16 year olds who look younger than me (I'm 14, 9th Grade). Some people hit puberty younger/faster than others.

As for your question. Your 13 right? Thats only one year younger than me, but I'm 5ft 10/11 and 150lbs. Yeah, sure I used to do a lot of sport, and work out, but it's all about when I had my growth spert/your peers had theirs etc. I was 5ft at 12, but then again, I had only really just hit puberty. My brother is 12 now, he is only about 5.1, 2 and a half years younger than me and i can toy with him when we fight. All his friends are the same. What I am saying is your problem/concern is based on your peers and your brother, but maybe they just hit puberty sooner than you. They are different people. I assure you, in one/two years you will be a much bigger person due to development. Don't worry about weights etc now. Do body weight and resistance work. Maybe the odd workout in the gym, perfect your techniques, do lower weights, so when you are 15 and further developed you will be a beast

Good luck. Again, don't worry about it.

It's because leg presses are fixed that you're more likely to get the form right. he doesn't necessarily ever have to do squats but there not a starting point either.

And to the original poster - Woodt just gave some really good advice.

Just gotta mention the inevetable here. Machines vs free weights. You need to use those stabilizers, its what makes free weights superior over machines.

and a movement being fixed just means that your body will have to use the machines ROM, which is not always a good idea. Squats are considered safer than the leg press by many too.

Of course, but the point i've been trying to make is that he is a beginner. i'm not saying stay with machine weights your whole life, alls im saying is use them to begin with and then progress to free weights. You gotta think to that with free weights you have to concentrate on things like balance and where you're taking the weights. So for example, when doing a chest press there's not alot to it - There's no bar that can potentiolly be moving all over the place which would be the case with a regular barbell bench press. That's just an example. Free weights are good, in fact i use free weights for practically everything at the moment but not good to start with.