I weight 135 right now. Im going to be a junior in highschool this year and i would appreciate it if anyone could direct me in the right path of gaining 25-35 pounds by my senior year of baseball. Can that be done? If so please help.

Yes,it can be done.Be ready to work hard though

If you run a search on this forum you can find alot of tips already posted

good luck!

I wouldn't be overly concerned about gaining weight or adding muscle. Your goals as an athlete should be to improve strength, power, speed, and athletic performance. That's the main reason I am not a big fan of hypertrophy based programs. Yes, hypertrophic training has its place in any periodized training cycle. However, for an athlete, it should not be the primary focus. Instead the focus should be on explosive power--3-6 rep range.

If, however, you are still concerned about adding size, you should train in the 8-12 rep range. One problem with higher reps such as lifting 8-12 reps, is that many people will use a weight that is more suited for say 12-18 reps, especially on small movement exercises. No one will get big lifting weights that are too light...it isn't going to happen, no matter how many total reps are done.

Being stronger opens up more opportunities for hypertrophy gains, but that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with lifting "for strength" or "for hypertrophy." There's obviously going to be some overlap with one rep scheme versus another, but let's just assume that the research is correct in that primary gains CAN occur in one range or another. Let's then assume that if you're lifting in a method that suits your goals, you'll get to your goals faster. A majority of the time would probably be spent in that rep range. The rest of the time would be spent in other ranges to better facilitate the possible gains of THAT range (be it adding more muscle to lift heavier, or adding more strength to get bigger).

If a person truely wanted to get bigger and stronger (both of equal priority) then they'd be best served if they devoted roughly equal priority towards both in terms of the training year, focusing on one or the other. It stands to reason that the more focused towards a goal during a period of time, the faster their results will be.

That's NOT saying that a person can't get bigger and stronger at the same time, that lifting at moderately low reps (at appropriate load) won't increase both, or that lifting in that manner is a "bad" way to train (depending on your goals). Just saying that it appears to be a fact that certain gains are much more prevelant within certain rep ranges.

Neither strength nor hypertrophy is independant of each other. Think about this--weight class competitors (i.e. weightlifters, powerlifters) can't afford to gain anymore weight yet they need to get stronger. So how do they train? Low volume, high intensity sets. If this were the best way to hypertrophy, they would be in trouble. And again, the example of people lifting in the 8-12 rep range yet they never get bigger comes down to the intensity of the exercise. One thing that many training routines fail to take into consideration is the almighty overload principle. When your program says "4x8," reps 6-7-8 should be extremely tough. So tough that the next set might need a decrease in load just to complete the 8 reps.

At some point, the load, the volume, and the time it takes to complete a set all have to factor into the end result. This is why the overload principle is so important....this is also why 3x10 with your 10RM is not the same workout as 10X3 with your 10RM. No overload = no result.

Hope all this rambling makes sense and doesn't cause any confusion in what you should or shouldn't be doing in your training.

Now, if you've read all that, and you're still wondering about adding size--Nutrition plays a huge role obviously in gaining weight. So here are a couple of nutritional recommendations if you are serious about adding weight.

Make sure you are getting plenty of protein. Shoot for .75-1.0 grams per pound of body weight. In your case, at least 100 grams daily.

Make sure the extra calories you take in are good, clean calories.

One reason people have trouble gaining weight is that they don't realize how many more calories you need to take in. If you were just an average person, you would need approximately 500 extra calories per day to gain 1 pound a week. But the one pound is probably not going to be lean tissue if you're not training. So, since you want that added weight to be muscle, you start strength training. Well, now your body is expending additional calories during your training. So that extra 500 calories is being used to fuel your workouts. So you have to consume even MORE calories on top of the 500 that you already added. So you can see that if you are doing serious training to gain weight, your calorie intake may be an additional 1000 calories above what you were consuming before you decided to gain weight and start training.

To add to what MAXX said, if you focus on the main compound lifts and all of their variations you will gain size and athletic ability.

-Squat
-Deadlift
-Power Clean
-Power Snatch
-Push press
-Pullups

It's very simple, yet not easy. And yes calories must be in excess.

My athletes routinely add 25-30 pounds of muscle in their first year with me. But just make sure your training does not focus on many isolation movements, i.e. bicep curls.

Alright, just a few questions about both responses.

MAXX, when you said "clean" calories, could you elaborate. And also can you describe bad calories.

John Doyle, how will isolation movements such as bicep curls not better myself as an athlete.

Also, how long on estimate, do you think 25-35 pounds of muscle will take, given that i work out and eat correctly?

I left out one thing.

Would a senior 5'10 145 be as appealing as a senior 5'10 175 ? When i see high school athletes that are successful, they normally are heavier than average high school players. That to me seems to be a catch in a coaches eye.

Clean eating = Eat lots of whole foods that are not processed and refined. Whole foods mean they come in their "natural state." The more **** listed in the ingredients, normally the worse it is. Though there are some "natural" cereals out there that have a lot of natural ingredients listed. The less boxed and packaged food you have in your cart, the better, it should be 1/2 full of fruits and veges and the other half your meats (if you are not vegetarian), condiments (spices, mustard, hot sauce), dairy, and the boxed food you do need for the meals.


Focus on complex carbs and try to eliminate as much sugar as possible. This is my number one nutrtional tip. Sugar comes in a variety of forms and is added to a lot of foods that don't need sugar added!

Drink lots of water. Eliminate pop.

Eat 5 times a day.

Eat breakfast.

If you can't catch it, kill it or pick it then don't eat it.

Isolation exercises are ok to do 5-10% of the time, but they will do very little as far as athletic performance goes. Nothing on a baseball field is done in isolation so your training shouldn't be either. And if your program is set up correctly with compound movements, smaller muscle groups get a sufficient amount of work in a "functional" (and I don't mean standing on a balance board) manner.

However, most high schoolers (I did it when I was in HS) spend 90% of their time on chest and biceps, no matter how often they are advised otherwise.

Typically the heavier athlete in your scenario is further along in their developmental path and that's one reason why they are a better athlete/baseball player. Of course coaches look for an athletic build, but most do not want a bodybuilding build. Big difference.

The key is to build muscle and not inhibit joint range of motion.

quote:

Originally posted by Jon Doyle:
However, most high schoolers (I did it when I was in HS) spend 90% of their time on chest and biceps, no matter how often they are advised otherwise.

Only 90%?? It's closer to 98% in the weightlifting classes I teach!

Alright I understand now thanks for all of you guys help. great advice.

BaseballIsLife7 ,
You are in the same boat as many other young baseball players. Trying to put on weight can be very frustrating , but if you stay consistent , I am sure that you will reach your goals. The first thing that I tell my athletes to do is keep a food journal for 1 week. You will write down EVERYTHING that you eat or drink during the course of each day. After one week I would have a nutritionist look at it for you. They can tell you if you are taking in enough calories , protein , carbs , etc. I have had so many athletes tell me that they eat all day & still can't gain weight. The nutritionist can tell you how your eating habits are affecting your weight gain or lack of weight gain. If you have been stuck at the same bodyweight for a certain period of time , it just means that you are taking in enough calories to stay at that bodyweight , in conjunction with the amount of calories that you are taking in. Most people will want to add a protein supplement 1-2 times during the course of the day to add more calories & protein to their diet. Try to make sure that you're seperating your meals (Food or Protein supplements)over the course of the day. In a perfect world this would be one meal every 3 hours or so. Just do the best you can. In Wichita most Nutritionist charge around $40 to evaluate your diet & help you set up a eating plan. Now in regard to your lifting , you have many options. Some people believe in doing Olympic Lifts , some people believe in Bodyweight Exercises , and others believe in breaking down Bodyparts per session. I am one that uses a Split-Workout , isolating certain Bodyparts per training sessions. During the Off-Season when we are trying to improve our physical abilities we will lift 4 or 6 days a week - depending on the athlete. On a 4-day program we will do our Lowerbody (Squats , Leg Curls , 1-legged lifts such as 1-Legged Leg Press or Dumbbell Step-Ups , Calves , Leg Extensions , etc.) and Core Rotational Drills on Monday & Thursday. Then on Tuesday & Friday we will do our Upperbody (Bench Press , Incline Dumbbell Bench , Front Pulldowns , Incline Dumbbell Rows < Reverse Pressdowns , .......) and upper & lower Abs. If we have athletes that are trying to get results alittle quicker we will put them on a 6-day (Upperbody - M/W/F --- LowerBody - T/TH/Sat). But again this is just how I like to train my players. The biggest thing for you is to find a program that you are comfortable with , get on a good diet , and STAY CONSISTENT !! Sorry for the book - but hopefully this helps you out.
Your In Strength ,
WEIGHT COACH

Kerry

Great to see you back with us

Where have you been?

I have been working on TRYING to finish my Weight-Training For Baseball DVD's and spending alot of time traveling with my family & working on my consulting business. But now it looks like I will be able to visit the High School Baseball Web on a regular basis. Thanks for the welcome & I'll talk with you soon !
Kerry