Weight gain and football

[Athlete]

Hey Rip, I've got a question for you.

I'm 16, 185 (at 18% bodyfat or so) pounds and 6'1" tall. I really need to put on weight, since under this fat I'm just bones, barely any muscle. I have absolutely NO problem doing GOMAD and eating 6000-8000 calories a day, I understand what is needed to gain weight as a novice.

My problem is the fat gain that comes along with the strength and muscle. Hold on, I'm not a bodybuilder and I couldn't care less about seeing my abs. The extra pounds of fat will slow me down, since I want to play linebacker for my school's team in Autumn. This is an issue, since I can't get strong without the fat, but since I'm already around 18%, I'll end up above 25% during the in-season. I read your clarification article, but the paleo thing you suggested for fatter people wouldn't work for me, since I'm as weak as a skinny guy and need all those cals. 6000 calories on paleo doesn't seem possible.

So what would you suggest I do about this?

[tdood]

Eat everything in site, lift heavy(do the power cleans and presses!!!), and run sprints and a little agility work for conditioning. Do chins too. You seriously might not even get fatter. If the fat doesn't melt off you during double sessions scale back on the carbs and maybe the milk. But don't worry about getting fat. It won't matter. If you are a novice and you squat, deadlift and sprint you will get much faster. Do this and you will impress the coaches and be a total beast. At 6'1, if you eat and lift you could be at 215 or so by fall and if you are lifting seriously you'll blast through a high school O-line. Let us know how it goes.

[Athlete]

Eat everything in site, lift heavy(do the power cleans and presses!!!), and run sprints and a little agility work for conditioning. Do chins too. You seriously might not even get fatter. If the fat doesn't melt off you during double sessions scale back on the carbs and maybe the milk. But don't worry about getting fat. It won't matter. If you are a novice and you squat, deadlift and sprint you will get much faster. Do this and you will impress the coaches and be a total beast. At 6'1, if you eat and lift you could be at 215 or so by fall and if you are lifting seriously you'll blast through a high school O-line. Let us know how it goes.

That sounds like a good idea. I'll just focus on getting my squat upto 405 before worrying about the extra fat.

Now about chins... I don't see it possible for me to do them since I'll be gaining 5 pounds (or more) a week. I can't even do one at all right now.

[veryhrm]

Egad! Don't eat everything in sight. If you're 185 and 18% (how do you know that 18% number?) and generally untrained you are closer to the fat guy who needs to do paleo than you are to the skinny kid who should do GOMAD.

Your statement that "I read your clarification article, but the paleo thing you suggested for fatter people wouldn't work for me, since I'm as weak as a skinny guy and need all those cals. 6000 calories on paleo doesn't seem possible" is a misinterpretation of the clarification article. Both the skinny kid AND the fat guy are pretty weak and have little muscle but the fat guy has a lot of fat also. It's just that in being fat, the guy a) has a good amount of stored energy to be used as necessary and b) he has a lifestyle and body that isn't averse to growing (since obviously he's 175 and not 130).

Alright, so if you're actually 18%bf you're CLOSER to fat than to skinny, but not actually fat yet. Just eat normally to start and add maybe 1 quart or MAYBE 2 quarts of milk a day and see how it goes. Your weight may go down up and down for a while but what you want on the program is increasing strength as evidenced in the lifts you're doing. The changing weight is incidental and not a goal in itself.

For someone who's already at 18%bf gaining WEIGHT in itself is not a challenge (as i'm sure you already know) so while concentrating on abz would definitely hinder your progress, turning into a tub of lard wouldn't actually help.

[Athlete]

Egad! Don't eat everything in sight. If you're 185 and 18% (how do you know that 18% number?) and generally untrained you are closer to the fat guy who needs to do paleo than you are to the skinny kid who should do GOMAD.

You're statement that "I read your clarification article, but the paleo thing you suggested for fatter people wouldn't work for me, since I'm as weak as a skinny guy and need all those cals. 6000 calories on paleo doesn't seem possible" is a misinterpretation of the clarification article. Both the skinny kid AND the fat guy are pretty weak and have little muscle but the fat guy has a lot of fat also. It's just that in being fat, the guy a) has a good amount of stored energy to be used as necessary and b) he has a lifestyle and body that isn't averse to growing (since obviously he's 175 and not 130).

Alright, so if you're actually 18%bf you're CLOSER to fat than to skinny, but not actually fat yet. Just eat normally to start and add maybe 1 quart or MAYBE 2 quarts of milk a day and see how it goes. Your weight may go down up and down for a while but what you want on the program is increasing strength as evidenced in the lifts you're doing. The changing weight is incidental and not a goal in itself.

For someone who's already at 18%bf gaining WEIGHT in itself is not a challenge (as i'm sure you already know) so while concentrating on abz would definitely hinder your progress, turning into a tub of lard wouldn't actually help.

The 18% is just a visual estimate. I can't be lower than that, but I'm not quite close to 20% since all I have is a big belly.

I can still see parts of my ribs, so I know I need to gain weight.

I'm not a total novice, and I did the program for 2 months before getting an injury, so I'm going to reset my weights/diet when I start again in July.

Progress on my lifts:

Squat: Bar --> 185
Deadlift: 95 --> 205
Bench: Bar --> 115
OHP: Bar --> 95
Power clean: Bar --> 125

EDIT: I forgot to add that I started at 150 at 15-16% bodyfat (and I was 6'0, so I gained an inch)

[msingh]

The 18% is just a visual estimate. I can't be lower than that, but I'm not quite close to 20% since all I have is a big belly.

This doesn't make any sense. Most males store fat mainly around the belly, does this mean they can't be over 18%? Of course not.

I can still see parts of my ribs, so I know I need to gain weight.

I'm 20+% and I can see my ribs. It doesn't mean anything.

As a fellow skinny fat person, I would not encourage you to over-eat at this point. If you must bulk, then get rid off some bodyfat first then go for it. If you insist on bulking from your current state realise that your hormonal profile predisposes you to fat gain so you'll get fatter from here. Also your lifts are quite low, you should be able to go a lot further than that without needing to gain weight.

[poppunk]

The last thing a HS football player should be worried about is getting fat, unless it's just because they're eating crap like french fries.

Playing games with your strength progression on such a short schedule to keep a lower body fat percentage is a risky thing when you're trying to improve for your sport.

[John Taylor]

Man, seriously. I'm pissy after the gay thread from Rip earlier so take this to heart. I have a bunch of football under my belt, a strength coach for a brother-in-law, and some personal experience.\\\\\\\\

1. Eat a lot of dead animals. They are not your friends. Treat them as if they'd fucked your mom.
2. Milk is your friend.
3. Whey is your friend.
4. Yes, even creatine is your friend and I highly recommend it for your current position.
5. Definitely do the damned cleans.
6. Two a days will take care of the fat along with some basic speed drills.
7. If speed is a concern, I'll give you the advice of a cadre who was running beside me on an air assault course once. "Son, if you intend to win you had better speed the fuck up - if not then put up a fence so people can tell you live here."

Sounds silly, but it remains some of the best advice I've ever been given under duress.

[bob g]

Man, seriously. I'm pissy after the gay thread from Rip earlier so take this to heart. I have a bunch of football under my belt, a strength coach for a brother-in-law, and some personal experience.\\\\\\\\

1. Eat a lot of dead animals. They are not your friends. Treat them as if they'd fucked your mom.
2. Milk is your friend.
3. Whey is your friend.
4. Yes, even creatine is your friend and I highly recommend it for your current position.
5. Definitely do the damned cleans.
6. Two a days will take care of the fat along with some basic speed drills.
7. If speed is a concern, I'll give you the advice of a cadre who was running beside me on an air assault course once. "Son, if you intend to win you had better speed the fuck up - if not then put up a fence so people can tell you live here."

Sounds silly, but it remains some of the best advice I've ever been given under duress.

I'm with John - totally. Every 16 year old ball player I ever knew ate his parents out of house and home. It's natural. Shit, my three daughters ate like lumberjacks at that age. I played many years of football and coached even more - do not fixate on the calories, eat a lot of meat and veggies and when you're full eat a little bit more. Drink your milk. Lift to get strong. Train to be fast (which is much easier to achieve if you are strong). Success on the football field comes from being at the right place and delivering the goods. You only have a couple more years to soak up the football experience. Do it in the best shape that you can.

[Stuart]

Maybe sit down n focus on what you are willing to do to play in your key position, you have a number of weeks to the Autumn to get a "game plan" together to help you achieve your goals.

If you take a fools advice I'd cut the kak from your diet and eat as clean and healthy as you can. Eat as much as you want, but no gunky munchies.

Imagine would you rather be 300 pound and able to play 5 mins before crashing out breathless or 220 and able to put in the hits on the last play of the last quarter?

Focus on your fitness and sport specific drills, SS will get you strong in the time you have.

I don't know what its like in the USA but in the UK the easy way to loose weight is only buy things on the outside wall of the supermarket that's where the fresh produce, fruits, veg, fish, meat tend to be.