Im 5'9" 146 and throw around 71-75 and am a LHP. I am currently on Serious Mass by Optimum Nutrition whike lifting weights 4 days a week. I wanted to know how much velocity I could increase with around a 6-10 lb gain of weight. I am A incoming freshman.
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And cant figure out how to edit on my phone, but why the weight gainer? Are you taking protein whey too? Im sure you know what a "hard gainer" is. Thats what I am. Trust me when i say ive messed with weight gainer (post high school) and you gain weight, but some of it isn't what you want. It isn't going to be all muscle.
5'9 145 is not small for a high school freshman. Everyone is different, but I was probably 5'7 125 as a freshman. I was 6'3 170 as a senior.
And 71-75 as someone an incoming freshman (with still 7 plus months until the start of your freshman season) is nothing to sneeze at. That is pretty solid for a lefty at your age, or even a righty for that matter. Too many put too much of an emphasis on velocity, especially too early. If you are 75 and can put it where you want and have decent secondary pitches, you will get guys out in many varsity leagues. If you are 80 and cant put it where you want it consistently, you will get lit up.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one 2020. Medicine balls, k-bands, running, pushups, lunges are all okay. Dead lift and squats...we have been advised heavily against these until growth plates are a bit more secure.
I was a tall skinny freshman myself 6"2 150lbs i drank all the weight gain shakes etc. to no avail. Now that im 47 6"3 and 235 I wonder why I spent so much time trying to gain weight.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one 2020. Medicine balls, k-bands, running, pushups, lunges are all okay. Dead lift and squats...we have been advised heavily against these until growth plates are a bit more secure.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
I've seen both sides of the argument. My parents sent me to a professional trainer my freshman year. The guy knew what he was doing, he owned his own business/gym but spent half of his time working with the University of Arizona football team. My dad's friend played for the Tigers and responded with a "no no no!" when they told him.
But he placed an emphasis on my legs and core work. The upper body stuff was there, I just didn't go real heavy up top and he emphasized maintaining my flexibility. He incorporated plyometrics and medicine ball work too, it wasn't always weights. Most importantly was the bands (BVWEST take note) and strengthening all of the tiny muscles in the shoulder that weights do not get to. He also had a nutritionist on staff and she helped with the diet. Teenage boys can eat, and eating right (you don't have to be anal about it) you will get what your body needs to grow and at most, need a little protein whey after a workout/practice/game to get where you need to be in terms of daily intake.
As for let it fly, I do agree with you, but not at the expense of location and proper form, which happens a lot with young kids. Id rather see a 75 mph guy with proper mechanics throwing to the glove, than going max effort most of the game and wearing themselves out and/or leaving the ball over the plate or overthrowing and missing badly. Especially at a young age when kids are still learning to pitch and how to get that 88 with proper mechanics and control when they need it when they are 83-86 guys otherwise. Too many kids go up there and "muscle" and lose velocity. Not a fan of, "take something off to throw strikes", but more of a throw within yourself and know how to get that extra oomph when needed.
I was a tall skinny freshman myself 6"2 150lbs i drank all the weight gain shakes etc. to no avail. Now that im 47 6"3 and 235 I wonder why I spent so much time trying to gain weight.
Lol! I was the same. I actually was fully grown by 8th grade at 5' 11" / 160 lbs. I tried so hard to gain weight for football, to no avail. I actually ate Crisco right out of the can with a spoon trying to put on weight. By my senior year, despite all of this, I was 5' 11" / 155 lbs. I did finally find the magic bullet for putting on weight, though...age.
Another thought I'm recently having on putting on weight at this age. My 2018 is 6' 4" / 175 lbs. (lost 10 lbs. during basketball and can't put it back on). He threw 85 the other day in a private workout for some colleges arranged by his 18u travel coach for the team in Arizona between tournaments in Phoenix and San Diego. What they loved about him was the 175 lbs. I think it got him notice he wouldn't get if he was 220 lbs. We coaches are, almost by necessity, egomaniacs. We somehow think that we can take a kid like that and throw on 25 lbs and have him pitching 90mph. Coaches like to see room for physical improvement. Another reason I love the nickname he got in high school this year - "Babyface."
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one 2020. Medicine balls, k-bands, running, pushups, lunges are all okay. Dead lift and squats...we have been advised heavily against these until growth plates are a bit more secure.
Speed and agility trainer and football coach funny enough. Speed and agility guy said to work on core muscles with resistance training and increase flexibility on both sides of your body, and not to use any weight over 20 pounds because it can stop the back and shoulder muscles from growing normally and actually affect how the bones grow.
Football coach, who is a gym teacher at my kids school, told him (I wasn't there) that lifting weights like a 10th grader in 7th grade will just mess your whole back up and he had to wait for his kid muscles to be adult muscles before he tried to put that kind of load on them. He also said that there is a reason why football players look like football players and baseball players look like baseball players, the same workouts don't apply....which I think is what resonated most with my son.
Either way, I don't see a burning need to have my 13 year old bulking up or looking for a velocity jump. Core muscles, long throws, resistant band squats and let the body form naturally is the way we are going until he's older and it becomes more critical to his development as a baseball player.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one 2020. Medicine balls, k-bands, running, pushups, lunges are all okay. Dead lift and squats...we have been advised heavily against these until growth plates are a bit more secure.
Speed and agility trainer and football coach funny enough. Speed and agility guy said to work on core muscles with resistance training and increase flexibility on both sides of your body, and not to use any weight over 20 pounds because it can stop the back and shoulder muscles from growing normally and actually affect how the bones grow.
Football coach, who is a gym teacher at my kids school, told him (I wasn't there) that lifting weights like a 10th grader in 7th grade will just mess your whole back up and he had to wait for his kid muscles to be adult muscles before he tried to put that kind of load on them. He also said that there is a reason why football players look like football players and baseball players look like baseball players, the same workouts don't apply....which I think is what resonated most with my son.
Either way, I don't see a burning need to have my 13 year old bulking up or looking for a velocity jump. Core muscles, long throws, resistant band squats and let the body form naturally is the way we are going until he's older and it becomes more critical to his development as a baseball player.
I was a tall skinny freshman myself 6"2 150lbs i drank all the weight gain shakes etc. to no avail. Now that im 47 6"3 and 235 I wonder why I spent so much time trying to gain weight.
Lol! I was the same. I actually was fully grown by 8th grade at 5' 11" / 160 lbs. I tried so hard to gain weight for football, to no avail. I actually ate Crisco right out of the can with a spoon trying to put on weight. By my senior year, despite all of this, I was 5' 11" / 155 lbs. I did finally find the magic bullet for putting on weight, though...age.
Truly, the only effective way to put on weight for us hard gainers (other than age) is to sit down and chart every single thing you put in your body. Calories, fat, carbs, protein. There are specific formulas that tell you exactly what you need in terms of calories to put on weight and to lose weight, and you have to keep track of any playing/exercise and figure out how much you burned and compensate for that. It is a huge PITA and probably next to impossible to do for a teenager for obvious reasons.
Another thought I'm recently having on putting on weight at this age. My 2018 is 6' 4" / 175 lbs. (lost 10 lbs. during basketball and can't put it back on). He threw 85 the other day in a private workout for some colleges arranged by his 18u travel coach for the team in Arizona between tournaments in Phoenix and San Diego. What they loved about him was the 175 lbs. I think it got him notice he wouldn't get if he was 220 lbs. We coaches are, almost by necessity, egomaniacs. We somehow think that we can take a kid like that and throw on 25 lbs and have him pitching 90mph. Coaches like to see room for physical improvement. Another reason I love the nickname he got in high school this year - "Babyface."
Congrats on your boy. I think you are 100 percent correct about his body and 85 getting attention. I was 6'3 170. As a junior, probably 10 pounds lighter, I played in a national tournament in San Diego. Our roster indicated I was a RHP/OF. I didn't get to pitch in that tournament, which maybe wasnt a bad thing, because I was scheduled to start against Hank Blalock's Rancho Bernardo team who were I believe ranked in the top 3 nationally, and it was a rain out. I didn't do well from the plate that tournament, but I did show off my arm from right, threw out tony gwynn jr trying to go first to third and another guy at the plate. Within a month I had three letters from California schools and I know it wasn't for my bat. They saw a tall skinny kid with no muscle with a nice arm.
On more than just a few occasions I heard from my coaches, other players, parents, my father, scouts or D1 coaches saying something along the lines of: "Hey coach, I like him, why don't you put some meat on that kid" or "That kid needs about 10-15 pounds and 1-2 mph on his fastball and _______." 86-88, could get 89 and 90 when I needed to, and a plus curveball and my skinny frame may have gotten me drafted in the late rounds. I had two scouts showing interest, i'm sure all on projectability, but couldn't stay healthy to find out if anything would have happened.
I played JUCO ball in Arizona, what college was looking at him if you don't mind me asking? Or was it a team from out of state that came to play in two tournaments in AZ?
RG, sent you a dialog.
OP, your practical limit will be 186,000 miles per second. If you want to throw faster than that, you will have to rewrite the laws of physics.
If you can throw faster than 186,000 miles per second, you may also have the opportunity to go back in time and change history - just think, that showcase that you didn't quite do 100% at- now you can bgo back and do it again. for that matter, why not just go back to when you were 6 and start to really focus on baseball - abondon the sandbox.
Not sure if it is the summer heat but folks on this board seem a little testy lately - not just this post but all of them. I will tell everyone I read for actual content and not he said/she said stuff. While I understand there will be disagreements, go ahead and include some facts and refrences if you want to inform folks. That is unless you are trying to convince pitchers to take up long distance running.
If you can throw faster than 186,000 miles per second, you may also have the opportunity to go back in time and change history - just think, that showcase that you didn't quite do 100% at- now you can bgo back and do it again. for that matter, why not just go back to when you were 6 and start to really focus on baseball - abondon the sandbox.
Not sure if it is the summer heat but folks on this board seem a little testy lately - not just this post but all of them. I will tell everyone I read for actual content and not he said/she said stuff. While I understand there will be disagreements, go ahead and include some facts and refrences if you want to inform folks. That is unless you are trying to convince pitchers to take up long distance running.
or icing. 
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
I have a close friend who is an orthopedic PA. I have spoken with him about his matter and he assures me it's OK for 11-12YO boys to begin weight training. He emphasizes it's not max effort trying to set PR's, but strengthening muscles with some degree of moderation isn't going to harm their growth plates. BTW, I've also mentioned the same topic with a PT who I've had a longtime clinical relationship with and he confirmed this information.
Yeup, it was about time for another one of these.
Just gaining weight can actually slow down your pitching velocity. Work on strengthening the muscles in your arms, BOTH ARMS, and don't stress about your velocities right now, you are what 13, 14? You shouldn't even be messing with weights until you shave regularly or you can really cause more harm than good to your body. Your body is still trying to click itself together properly, if you interrupt that you can't undo that kind of damage.If you feel the need to work out use resistance bands, not weights, can't stress this point enough.
I have a close friend who is an orthopedic PA. I have spoken with him about his matter and he assures me it's OK for 11-12YO boys to begin weight training. He emphasizes it's not max effort trying to set PR's, but strengthening muscles with some degree of moderation isn't going to harm their growth plates. BTW, I've also mentioned the same topic with a PT who I've had a longtime clinical relationship with and he confirmed this information.
What is the purpose in having 11 year olds weight train?
Im 5'9" 146 and throw around 71-75 and am a LHP. I am currently on Serious Mass by Optimum Nutrition whike lifting weights 4 days a week. I wanted to know how much velocity I could increase with around a 6-10 lb gain of weight. I am A incoming freshman.
I would not worry about taking Serious Mass right now, its basically a waist of money. I would stick to band work and rotational power instead of traditional weights at your age but if you are going to do them just try to focus on muscle balance in the gym so you do not end up over developed in one area, work on the front side and back side of the area you are training to reduce the shortening of the muscle. so if you are training chest, work on the the back as well (teres major/minor and rhomboid areas).
Im 5'9" 146 and throw around 71-75 and am a LHP. I am currently on Serious Mass by Optimum Nutrition whike lifting weights 4 days a week. I wanted to know how much velocity I could increase with around a 6-10 lb gain of weight. I am A incoming freshman.
First off, are you going to Blue Valley West? If so my facility is in Leawood and only about a 20 minute drive from BVW. Feel free to stop in and I can provide you with more help.
Quick background of my experience: at my facility I train athletes as young as 7 all the way up to college athletes and beyond. I have done an extensive amount of research on youth training and believe I have developed a solid model to properly and effectively train adolescent athletes. To make this post a little easier to understand I'm just going to jot down my notes as they come to my head.
Now, on to my opinion
Now, here's where it gets more interesting: bone maturation isn't uniform across the body. While the proximal humeral growth plate might mature at 19, the distal (down by the elbow) physis is finished between ages 10 and 16. The proximal and distal radius plates might mature anywhere between 14 and 23. Meanwhile, the clavicle matures at ages 22-25, and the scapula generally matures by age 22. How many of you have ever heard of a college football being held out of weight training for all four years of his participation because all that bench pressing might stunt the growth of his clavicles and scapulae? It just doesn't happen! In reality, we know that the strength training benefits of increased muscle size and strength actually protect him from injury on the field.
In other words, violent (throwing) and traumatic (falling) events far exceed any stress on a young athlete's bones that we could possibly apply in a strength training setting, where the environment is controlled and overload is gradually and systematically increased over time as the athlete becomes more comfortable with it. I'd make the argument that a young athlete should start resistance training as early as his/her attention span allows for it; the emphasis, of course, would be on body weight exercises, technical improvement, and - most importantly - keeping things fun.
If you really think about it, an athlete is placing a ton of stress (4-6 times body weight in ground reaction forces, depending on who you ask) each time he/she strides during the sprinting motion. Kids jump out of trees all the time. They lug around insanely heavy backpacks relative to their body mass. Performance, general health, and self-esteem benefits aside, it's only right to give them a fighting chance in trying to avoid injury.
The biggest takeaway from this excerpt is kids perform activities where extremely large amounts of force are placed on their skeletal and muscular systems ALL the time, such as sprinting and jumping, and no one says anything about how those activities are harmful for kids maturing naturally. I just don't understand how people are ok with 8 year olds eating MacDonalds, yet they touch a dumbbell and we're apparently putting their career in jeopardy.
Ok I’m normally not this sarcastic, and I don’t mean to offend anybody, but seriously we need to look at youth resistance training through a different lens. Here is a list of benefits as to WHY youth athletes NEED to train (using a properly designed program of course):
This last point is huge. With how much time kids spend on the computer, sitting in desks at school, and on their phones kids are more sedentary now than ever before. Kids are losing the ability to move efficiently and they’re creating terrible movement patterns. I recently had to teach a 9 year old kid how to do a somersault because he simply did not know how. I have also had to teach multiple 9-11 year olds how to skip because they didn’t have the neuromuscular capacity to do so when they first started training with me.
All of the information above is not just some opinion I’ve created for fun. I take training my 7-8 year olds just as seriously as I take it with my college athletes. All my opinions are backed up by research and I just don’t have the time to search and provide y’all all the links. If you want you can email me at AustinWomack9@gmail.com and I’ll send you some stuff. Like Cressey said in the article I quoted above, I recommend searching Dr. Avery Faigenbaum for information on youth training. He is a leading researcher in this field and I’ve had the pleasure of hearing him present at a recent conference. Great stuff.
Again, my hope was not to offend anybody or tear anybody down with this post, only to inform. Thanks for taking half of your day to read this super long post.
