My friend's son is 14 or 15 and dedicated to baseball. My friend recently asked me how he can help his son gain weight. As a young man gaining weight was not an issue for me because i have always had a large frame. This kid is 5' 10" and thin as a rail. Obviously still growing. What kind of diet can anyone recomend to help this kid put on the pounds and stay in the game? I made sure to push the high protein. about 1.5 grams per pound at least. What about fats and carbs though? Any help for this young athlete would be appreciated.
MESO-Rx
Anabolic Steroids
Trying to Help a Young Athlete Gain Weight With the Right Diet
- Thread starter SAZHammer
- Start date
Megadick3000
Member
Sounds like hes an ectomorphic body type. Carbs are the answer. Im talking 500g+ a day. Major compound lifts like the big 5. Would recommend 5x5 combined with high protein high carb diet. Ectomorphs need lots of carbs, we dont put on fat like other body types that fear carbs.
need to worry less about macros and more about cals. I helped a Div 1 hockey player with the same issue. Obviously most of the food was decent, but I’d focus on what they easily digest and what you can load with cals. For carbs I find this is usually rice, rice based cereals, etc. some tolerate wheat/bread just fine. I would be using oils like EVO, mac, MCT, etc in meals and shakes.
Typically the more dedicated athletes are on atleast two teams year round and just outpacing activity is most of the goal for the diet.
Typically the more dedicated athletes are on atleast two teams year round and just outpacing activity is most of the goal for the diet.
He is actually on 2 teams right now. Once this season is over he has another team lined up already
Jayne Scott
Member
Like you said, the boy is still growing. However, a high protein diet will help him him bulk up.
TrenTrenTren
Banned
I for one am glad you didn't ask what aas cycle you should start him on. I've seen worse on the boards...
There is no way I would recommend that. Even the guys I know in their 20s and early 30s that ask about test i tell them to be more dedicated and if they don't get results go get there bloodwork done before they start. At 36 I was in the best shape ever. then my hormones went in the crapper. Didn't start the TRT until i was almost 41
Just eat for calories rt now, no reason to obsess over macros. I would be eating stuff like pbj’s and pasta
I was a hardgainer myself when I got into building muscle, and let me tell ya that 30% of my cals weren’t exactly clean and I gained nothing but muscle and leaned up. Put on 36 lbs my first year, and I was pounding chocolate milk and eating deli sandwiches from the school cafeteria, boxes of macaroni and cheese, lots of ground beef
WannaBeBIG
Member
How much compliance will you have from the parents. They have ultimate say on what this kid consumes so how much control do you actually have here?
Check out Eric Cressey for baseball training info. It’s part of the equation when intelligent diet choices are needed for a specific purpose, especially if muscle gain is required in-season.
My background with athletes is primarily hockey players but the role of mass is still similar to your issue.
2g-2.7g per kg of lean body mass. That’s your protein target.
40% carbs in the diet as a starting point considering the energy demands of frequent games and training cycles. White rice and potatoes and oats. Keep it simple.
Find out his BMR and TDEE of training days, off days and competition days and build a weekly calorie requirement based around this.
I wouldn’t go above 15% over maintenance calories for growth considering the power-weight ratio is important to maintain fast baseball players.
Like above the easiest bulking strategy is either add in a couple peanut butter sandwiches or drink your calories
My tried and true calorie drink was 2 scoops of whey isolate, a couple tbsp of olive oil and 3/4 cup of oats ground up in a coffee grinder. Drink it in between meals or right after a meal timing doesn’t matter all that much. Whey and oats are cheap and if the parents aren’t super compliant with setting up an entire meal plan at least shakes or sandwiches are easy ways to get more calories in.
Check out Eric Cressey for baseball training info. It’s part of the equation when intelligent diet choices are needed for a specific purpose, especially if muscle gain is required in-season.
My background with athletes is primarily hockey players but the role of mass is still similar to your issue.
2g-2.7g per kg of lean body mass. That’s your protein target.
40% carbs in the diet as a starting point considering the energy demands of frequent games and training cycles. White rice and potatoes and oats. Keep it simple.
Find out his BMR and TDEE of training days, off days and competition days and build a weekly calorie requirement based around this.
I wouldn’t go above 15% over maintenance calories for growth considering the power-weight ratio is important to maintain fast baseball players.
Like above the easiest bulking strategy is either add in a couple peanut butter sandwiches or drink your calories
My tried and true calorie drink was 2 scoops of whey isolate, a couple tbsp of olive oil and 3/4 cup of oats ground up in a coffee grinder. Drink it in between meals or right after a meal timing doesn’t matter all that much. Whey and oats are cheap and if the parents aren’t super compliant with setting up an entire meal plan at least shakes or sandwiches are easy ways to get more calories in.
My buddy is on board with whatever I can come up with. The kids mom i am not so sure. She want him to achieve his goals but i don't know what her level of commitment is to following a regimen. I wanted to start him off slow and add some high cal snacks in between his meals. PB and J, Belvita bars, whey protein shakes and the like. Right now he is only eating breakfast then 5 hours later lunch. post school snack and dinner in the evening. I definitely need to get some food in between breakfast and lunch. I am still waiting to get a breakdown of his daily intake at the moment so that we can hopefully just make some small adjustments to it.
he should be at a minimum of 1650 calories jsut to maintain weight so I am going to push him to 2000 and give it a couple of weeks. Of course it all depends on what he is eating now. I may have to change all of it.
@WannaBeBIG Thanks for the tip on Eric Cressey. I will check him out.
he should be at a minimum of 1650 calories jsut to maintain weight so I am going to push him to 2000 and give it a couple of weeks. Of course it all depends on what he is eating now. I may have to change all of it.
@WannaBeBIG Thanks for the tip on Eric Cressey. I will check him out.
WannaBeBIG
Member
Thankfully the kid is young so he's got some built in resiliency to dietary changes being an active person through sports. I think your idea of bumping up his calories right away to around 2000 is a solid plan but I would use his snacks as the additive where you can add calories maybe a little slower than just a couple weeks. an extra 400 calories a day right off the bat might be too much but depending on his level of activity it might just end up giving him a boost of energy that would even help in school. Test it and keep an eye on fat accumulation around his belly and adjust calories up and down depending on growth vs fat growth.
Does he have a strength training regimen?
Right now he has a typical calisthenics workouts for baseball but no weight training. His private school doesn't have a gym. The league he plays in is not part of the school. I am going to go see him tomorrow and get a better idea of what he is doing and what he wants to accomplish straight from him.
My buddy sent me this right now
Breakfast, cereal or protein waffle and eggs
Lunch, turkey sandwich, fresh fruit, yogurt, string cheese, protein bar
Dinner, salad, meat with potatoes or rice.
All of this I am sure is not large helpings of the things that are most important. I will start him off slow with some larger portions that need to be weighed until they get the hang of it as well as a snack in between breakfast and lunch
My buddy sent me this right now
Breakfast, cereal or protein waffle and eggs
Lunch, turkey sandwich, fresh fruit, yogurt, string cheese, protein bar
Dinner, salad, meat with potatoes or rice.
All of this I am sure is not large helpings of the things that are most important. I will start him off slow with some larger portions that need to be weighed until they get the hang of it as well as a snack in between breakfast and lunch
WannaBeBIG
Member
I really like the idea of getting them to weigh out portions until they get familiar with portion sizes. It should help with getting the boy to eat a little extra. If he complains about the portions being too filling to the point of discomfort add in a shake or 2 to make up the difference.
I hope you get a better idea of what sort of non sport related exercise he’s doing because that’s where the extra calories will shine. Make sure to check out Eric Cressey. He’s my go to sports guy. Trains top MLB guys out of Florida. Really creative with exercises and is a 600lb deadlifter to boot. I have a mountain of respect for Mr Cressey.
Getting the boy on a strength training routine geared toward his sport will pay dividends forward when it comes to adding mass on his frame.
I have to commend you for your efforts because it takes sometimes a lot of effort to get kids on board with training and nutrition
I don't have kids of my own so I can only put effort into my friend's kids. I will try and check in in a couple of weeks and let you know if there is any progress.
Just a quick update. Got the kid up 5-6 lbs already just by adding some more options to his diet. His mom is on board as well and is giving him bigger portions. I may need to step in a bit and help with the workout though. HHis dad told me he did not handle the DOMS real well and he may need someone with a bit more motivation to help him push through. On the right track for now but I still need to get him up quite a few pounds.
theotherguy
Member
DOMS? If he’s dedicated to baseball, I don’t think it’s a great idea to push him so far he’s getting moderate to severe DOMS. The whole purpose of lifting is to help him increase performance, but DOMS will be strictly detrimental.
Maybe I’m reading into your post wrong, but my limited experience with non-strength athletes is that the workouts should supplement their athletic training, and should not be the primary focus of their training.
So we have him doing some jump squats and throwing the medicine ball around to help him build more explosive power. Some lunges in there as well to help strengthen his legs while he is growing. He just never does those types of work outs so it was a bit rough the first couple of times. His dad has him supplementing with some glutamine and muscle milk post work out and it seems to help. Not sure how it is effecting his pitching though.
Solocam
New Member
Could we get an update on this.....I swear this is my son you're discussing. 16 years old, 5' 10" weighs 135lbs and plays travel baseball as well. My kid is afraid of losing his 6 pack. 
Just curious what changes have happened after another month.
-Solo
Just curious what changes have happened after another month.
-Solo
