Football

[xxmaruader007xx]

I just turned 14 years old and I'm going into 9th grade this summer. I'm 5'5 138 lbs and I want to be around 150 lbs before my freshman football season starts. I'm going to football workouts 4 times a week for the whole summer and I was wondering what I need to eat gain muscle mass. Also I plan on playing linebacker so should I cut or bulk?

Bench:135
Squat:195
Clean:115
(Do these numbers seem good?)

[sowilson]

Describe "football workouts"? Most states have limits on coach led football workouts during the summer - usually 11 days. However, you can do strength and conditioning activities (lifting, running, plyometrics, etc) with coaches all summer. So what is your football workout? If it's lifting 3-4 days/week and some gpp work then you're good to go. As for what to eat read the nutrition section on this site. If you can, get a handle on how many calories you're expending with your workout and eat at least that much. If you're a football player you will never use the term "cut", heck you won't use the term "bulk". These terms are for bodybuilding and really not for athletes. As an athlete you need to eat in excess so that you can build muscle. As for weight gain, 2-3 lbs a week is pretty good. My son (who does have a weight problem) is more concerned with measurements than weight. He's been loosing inches around the gut while staying the same weight or slightly increasing and seeing the size of his arms, legs, chest, back, shoulders increase (along with higher maxes in his lifts). So, he's loosing fat while increasing muscle. As for what to eat, you might find you need to eat more meals a day (5 instead of 3), with the bulk of the calories earlier in the day and less at night, and eat a well balanced meal.

Some of the things my son (and his lineman buddies) like to do is
1) Bagel and some cream cheese for breakfast as it's fairly easy to digest prior to a late morning workout. They'll supplement with greek yogurt smoothies (fruit, nuts, protein powder, greek yogurt) sometimes. Weekend mornings - pigout on eggs and steak for breakfast.
2) Lunch is often somewhat clean junk food (Jersey Mike's, Jimmy John's, Subway), fruit, and lot's of water or unsweetened ice tea
3) A bit of fruit, cheese, nuts prior to an afternoon/early evening workout
4) Big dinner with a fair amount of protein (salmon, pork loin, 2-4 chicken breasts, sometimes steak or burgers). Emphasis is on lighter cuts of meat, lots of veg, and a reasonable amount of starch. Limit on fried food. Follow up with fruit.

My son and his buddies are playing sports in college at various levels and are all working at getting bigger, faster, stronger over the summer, without getting fat. You'll notice that fried foot isn't really on his list anymore. They all learned from their team nutritionists at school how to consume mass quantities of food that isn't loaded down with fat and salt (they get plenty of fat - no worries). Of course, they do eat dirty once and awhile but that's OK. Most of the time it's pretty clean. What varies is the amount of food and that depends on the intensity of their workouts and how many calories they're burning. I spend a fortune when I invite the linemen over for dinner.

Your lift numbers. Who cares! A good routine, progressive overload, and dedication and those numbers will get better. Concentrate on the journey.