Bulking up

There is a lot of discussions on this issue. I tried a search and here is what I came up with:

http://community.hsbaseballweb...ryString=weight+gain

Read some of these threads. There is a lot of good information in them. 

Well if your son does gain weight I hope he can carry it better than my son. 

After football my son has gained 10 lbs and running to first base in the first game was like watching a turtle cross the road. 

My son has had to supplement with Soy Protein since High School. Peanut Butter and lots of that too, Just add a spoon, no bread required. Makes it easy for travel!

I am hoping that is not the case...he just clocked his first sub 7 (6.94) sixty and if it goes the wrong way that would not be pretty!!! If I see the turtle I will put him back on bread and water!!!! Thanks everyone for the insights!, I'll check out the links!

I never could as a kid. I ate like crazy and even used to spoon Crisco out of the can and eat it but still couldn't put on weight. Now, I can't keep it off.

  EWWW GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm trying to digest here man!

This is probably been repeated in the stuff that BLD referred you to, but he needs to find a trainer who can help him with a phased program, including diet recommendations. He will have to lift heavy for 3 months, and then switch to a power phase, this is usually done off season in the summer as he will be breaking his body down and building it up, which is not very practical when he is in season. Eric Cressey is a good place to start for reference, but you should find a local trainer who can provide one on one training, which should include good technique as he can injure himself easily doing heavy weights. 

Tell him to enjoy these years! Protein, lifting, and calories.

My son, a 2017 catcher, was "built like a (chubby) LL catcher" as a 9-12 year old. Maybe 5'3" and 140. Then he grew 6" when he was 13 and was 5'9" and 145. Sounds like your son's current build. Today at almost 16 he is 5'10" and 162, works out like crazy, including lifting 2-3 days per week. 

Yeah, when I think of "bulking up" my mind tends towards this:

My son would always saying he wanted to get "bigger" and I felt there was too much emphasis on size instead of strength. . . .not to mention issues concerning speed and agility.  As much as he tried to get "bigger" in high school, it wasn't until his sophomore year at college that was able to get "bigger" and achieve the size he wanted (6'2"; 205+lbs) where we was about 185+lbs out of HS.  In fact, the change was dramatic enough that when I was chatting with parents during games they'd comment on how much bigger he looked.  I was always concerned that with his emphasis on "bulking up" he'd loose some speed, and sure enough. . . . he got a lot slower than we was in HS.  Maybe lack of speed training  was an issue, but I feel if he'd have simply focused on just getting stronger rather than size, he'd probably be faster than he was in HS, which doesn't help when the game gets faster.

Well, IMHO. . . I feel one needs to be careful about their approach for "bulking up" as a Baseball Player. 

Replace carbs with protein.  No more cereal for breakfast.  Eggs, bacon, protein powder.

Peanut butter sandwiches and crackers.  More protein.

GOMAD if he can do milk.

Skinny son gained 20+ pounds in 8 weeks doing this (plus working out).

Thanks for all of the information and suggestions!!

I have a Q of what is more important. My son 2016 has always been bigger for his age. Currently 6'1" 215lbs (off season weight was 220lbs). He has never been fast (7.5-7.8) but lately has made improvements to technique and should be around 7.5ish. Because size (projectability) is an important factor should he try to slim down to 200-205lbs to hopefully improve his times or as a catcher is more exceptable to run a 7.5. I hope that was clear.

Is this your son?

Haha - Just kidding.  Think of this guy every time I hear "wirey".  From "The Replacements".

There is a lot of cursing in this video, so please don't click the link if you don't want to hear it.  This video is coming from a body builder, but I think there is still something to take away from it as it relates to gaining weight for athletes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11V7e4qNie8

Great replies so far. In terms of goals, I think he just needs to focus on getting stronger. Like someone mentioned above, I also suggest you find a qualified strength coach for him to work with. Getting stronger and more explosive is more important that getting "bigger," if that makes sense.

Gaining or losing weight is all about calories. He needs to consume WAY more calories than he burns. If he really wants to put on size he needs to hit the weights harder than he ever has before and eat like it's his job. He needs to eat all the time, even when he's not hungry. It's a good idea to have him keep a food journal. That way he can keep track of all that he's eating and see how many calories he's consuming per day.

My 5'10 2017 went from 150 to 180 in a 6 month span last year from summer to December. Other than regular team conditioning he really didn't do anything to put on the weight.  It was just a natural part of growing I guess.

During the spring he dropped to about 165. Mostly because he was injured and couldn't do much more than run - so that's what he did a lot of.  After the spring he was cleared to get in the gym to rehab and started following a routine from his PT.

By the end of summer he was up to 190, although some of that was really due to doing a lot of sitting around eating crap food.  We kept up the gym routine, and by the end of fall he was visibly more muscular - but was losing any flab. He was down to 180 or so.

Now we're in the spring and after a few weeks of heavy practice he is down to about 170.  I'm probably going to start force feeding him protein shakes if he drops much more.  Even though his weight is down, he is visibly bigger muscle-wise.  He's a lot stronger than he was when he was at 190, and much faster. 

My son is 6'3" and went from 175 to 205 in about 6-8 months by following a pretty strict eating regimen 6 days a week (allowed one "cheat" day per week, eating pretty much whatever he wanted except for anything fried).  He eats lean meats and fish, lots of black beans, dark vegetables, salad and fruit.  Snacks are peanut (or almond) butter, honey and banana sandwiches, roasted unsalted nuts and two protein shakes per day.  Eggs, oatmeal with cinnamon and berries, ezekial toast for breakfast. 

PBJ sandwiches, all day long.

Son of Tim was 201 Centimeters, and 54.43Kg and ate a diet consisting of African Swallows and Were-Rabbits and gained 22.67Kg in a two fortnights. 

Pick a good one and Sock it. 

Bahahahahaha

I don't think that strength and speed are the ONLY concerns.  I do think gaining weight (or getting bigger) is also important.  Of course one can become too big and start moving slower or lose flexibility/range of motion.  That is no good.  But being heavier and maintaining or gaining speed, strength, and flexibility is optimal.  Weight matters because it translates into ground force.  If you've got a kid 160 lb and another 200 lb, the 200 pound kid can create more ground force, seeing that all variables remain constant, ie: they both move at the same speed, both have the same mechanics, etc.

I know thee are stretching the truth because it is well known that even the Knights who say Ni could not defeat the rabbit. 

My favorite comedy film of all time.

Hmmmm???   From what little I know about physics and vector forces, this doesn't make much sense to me.     But if by "ground force" you mean something like this. . . then OK:

"In summary, this data is contradicting conventional wisdom and advising the low velocity pitcher that he must first generate a lateral force in the drive leg of up to 35% of his body weight. This will occur if the pitcher focuses on aligning the Force Vector in a linear position before his weight shifts to his front side. Following this lateral force, the pitcher must implement a vertical force that is equal to his own body weight, which occurs during triple extension (3X) of the drive leg, peaking this vertical force just before front foot strike"

Studies Prove Ground Reaction Forces Highly Correlate to Pitching Velocity

Though this is about pitching, the same principle applies to hitting.   It's the force applied to the ground relative to one's weight (size/bulk/mass).  If a person 160 lbs can apply 210 lbs of force, then (given all else equal) that's gong to translate into more velocity than a 200 lb person applying 220 lbs of force.   Of course, it's much more complex than this.  But this is why I suggest that focusing on size (getting bigger) is not as good as focusing on getting stronger (though size will be an element of that).  

I agree with everything in that posted link and everything that you said in your last post except...

"If a person 160 lbs can apply 210 lbs of force, then (given all else equal) that's gong to translate into more velocity than a 200 lb person applying 220 lbs of force."

...I believe that if the 160 lb player can move at speed x and the 200 lb player can also move at speed x, then the 200 lb player can create more force because force equals mass times acceleration.

F = M x A

Therefore vector force of the heavier player will also be more than the lighter.  I do agree with you that it is much more complex than we are making it out to be.  There are so many variables included in pitching/hitting like timing, distance, transfer of force/energy through the kinetic chain, and leveraging the energy.  I also agree that weight is not the most important thing to focus on.  I think speed and strength are far more important...but again, if a player can maintain or gain speed and strength while maintaining or gaining flexibility/range of motion, then being "bigger" is better.  Not to mention, size does play a role in scouting/recruiting.