Trying to get mass....

[Matt_the_Skinny]

I'm currently at the age of 13
height: 5'8
weight: 115
Arm :12 in..

Could anybody give me a good idea of how to get bigger? Eating foods, but im just not quite sure what kinds of food would be good.. Im trying to get some weight and a little mass on before football next year... If anybody needs more information just tell me.Thank you

[Sobolic]

First off I'll outline three seperate areas, which are necessary for growth. Just because they are numbered does not mean one holds higher value than the other, they are equally important.

1.) Diet- You should consume 5-6 meals a day. This will keep your bodies energy levels even throughout the day, providing a constant feed of nutrients. What do you eat in these meals you ask? Well You need three things in your diet; Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates. Each gram of protein and each gram of carb has 4 calories, fat has 9 calories per gram. We want a balance, 40-50% of you calories are from Carbs, 35-45% is from Protein, and 15-20% is from fat. Now, what foods to eat. For carbs you can eat; Oatmeal, rices, potatoes, cereals low in sugar, whole grain breads, bananas, apples, milk and dairy products. For Protein; Steak, Chicken, Turkey (poultry in gen.), eggs, cottage cheese and other dairy products, tunafish and other types of fish. For Fat;
nuts, olive oil, flax oil, peanut butter (natural if you can), fish fats, like salmon. Post workout foods would be simple carbs (fruits and juices, honey, raisans) with protein. How much? Mulitply your bodyweight by .6 for carbs and .3 for protein to figure it out.
So for the day it's 1-1.5 grams of protein/lb of bodyweight, 2.5-3.5 grams of carbs/lb of bodyweight, and about .35 grams of fat per/lb of bodyweight. This is just a general outline, but will get you started.

2.) Training- Volume should be kept low, in other words you don't need to train every day, or for hours on end. Try to be in and out in about 45 mins. Train 3 days a week, sticking with the basics, Bench Presses, squats, and deadlifts. Try seperating your mucles groups by day, so you allow ample recovery time (aka you grow). SO maybe along the lines of Mon-Push day, Weds- Pull day, and Friday- Legs. Push consists of muscles that push, like chest, shoulders and triceps, pull consists of muscles that pull like the muscles of the back and the biceps, legs would consist of the quads, hamstrings, and calves. Stick with a 6-12 rep range.

3.) Sleep- You don't grow in the gym, you grow while you sleep. If you don't sleep you don't grow, You should get a minimum of 6 hrs per night preferably 8, to support growth while you sleep, try drinking a big glass of milk at bedtime, this will give your body the tools it needs for the whole night.

There it is, if you miss on one of these things, you miss on them all, stick with it and you will reap the benefits as many of us have. Best of luck, oh and a little motivation, if you're starting at 13, when you're a senior in high school, after 5 years of training, you'll be huge, the guys will fear you and the women will love you!! Best of luck, and enjoy the ride, you're gonna grow like a weed!