Your son should have been/was given a list of NCAA banned substances at the beginning of the year.  

Your son needs to check with his schools Trainer for specific supplements recommendations. 

Don't risk him going into a GNC or the like to purchase stuff off the shelf! 

I hate to be that guy but, if he won't do shakes, I don't think there are really any great alternatives that I've ever heard of. My advice would be for him to out eat, out sleep, and out lift all of his peers. My son did some whey protein and micellar casein supplements (shakes) for a couple of years in HS but mainly because he had a lot of trouble packing on enough calories to counter what he was burning (still does). We were very careful in what we permitted him to have and it was under the guidance of a qualified S&C trainer.

As baseballmom alluded to, you guys should get familiar with the NCAA banned substances list if your son will be playing college sports. I will also call out a specific pre-workout product that I would avoid. It is called Savage Series Maniac by Anabolic Warfare (as if the name isn't scary enough). The vendor themselves advise against NCAA athletes using the product. Best of luck!

It can be hard to discern what products may have NCAA-banned substances in them, and I certainly would not expect a team trainer or strength and condition coach to be the absolute expert on what to use. My son had friends that were using deer antler extract, and they thought it was fine - it’s not, it’s on a banned substance list. So, I would take Tequila’s advice and out-eat, out-lift, and out-sleep everyone else, that’s the only true way to be completely safe. That said, most popular creatine products have been used by tins of NCAA athletes for years and is most likely not going to be a problem.

well he will out lift most and out sleep them...it's the eating we're having the problem with

My son has had great success with Creatine powder adding it to his milk or juice once a day. It basically helps add weight (water weight) so you have to keep it up or you drop the weight. But, he finally got the "out eat, out lift" program in his head like Tequila mentioned.  It's really about the right workout and eating the right diet which does include calories and proteins and the usual fruits, veggies, and dairy. 

My son works out extremely hard as well as long practices, so the high-calorie piece is incredibly important. 

For those looking for a solid workout program they can do on their own, Dr. Jacked has been tremendous.  It was suggested by a college coach as a supplement to the team workout. It is digital and can be downloaded to their phones for very little $. Even my husband does it now

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but will share what my son is doing in case it might help anyone.  First, I can't recommend highly enough the book "Building the 95 MPH Body" by Ben Brewster.  It's very affordable and has a wealth of information regarding diet and strength training.  I bought it for the weightlifting content and didn't really pay that much attention to the nutritional section until just recently when my son got on a steady lifting program with his high school team.  FWIW, my mom's former 40 year career was as a Registered Dietitian.  I asked her to review the material and she agrees all of the information is solid.  The information is presented in a manner that is thorough yet easy for someone with no background in counting calories to follow and understand.

The bottom line is this:  You can't just guess at how many calories you're eating.  You can drink protein shakes and take weight gain pills but if your caloric intake is not more than your caloric expenditure you will not gain weight.  I used the material in the book to identify my sons needs for calories, protein, carbs, and fats.  I downloaded the free program MyFitnessPal (google it) and we started tracking.  I admit it was a bit overwhelming for the first week, but very quickly it became easily manageable.  I still help with the tricky stuff like when my wife makes a casserole and we need to know nutritional info/serving, but my son does 90% of the food logging himself.  I like it that it's time I don't have to spend doing it plus my son is invested in the process.  He has gained 7-8 lbs in 12 weeks, which is less than he was hoping for but not bad at all.  I attribute some of that to the 3-4 weeks it took to really dial in what his caloric intake needed to be, and some to the fact that his PE class is basketball, so he spends an hour a day running up and down the court.  That's great for cardio and agility, but counterproductive to explosiveness and weight gain.  He is agreeable to adhering to the plan because the #1 directive is always "eat more!" and what 16yo boy doesn't like that kind of diet.  He eats healthily, but there is really nothing that he can absolutely never have so he doesn't feel like he's sacrificing too much.  He eats lots of fruits, cereals, bagels, pastas, breads, almonds, power bars, turkey sandwiches, etc... and is fine to throw in a milkshake or bowl of ice cream here and there to meet the calorie count.  And then there are just cheat days.  If the team goes to Hooters after the tournament, he eats his 20 wings like the rest of the boys.  FYI - He is 5' 10" 175lbs.  His target daily caloric intake is 5500.

Some takeaways after doing this for a few months:

-Everybody who's trying to gain weight or muscle mass drinks protein shakes.  I found out an interesting thing when we started tracking my son's intakes.  He easily meets and almost always exceeds his RDA of protein with the food he eats.  I don't think I'm making a controversial statement when I say if you can get the nutrients from non-processed foods, it is better than getting it from supplements.  He also easily meets his fat content daily, getting good fats from dairy, eggs, almonds, avocados, etc...  The only thing he struggles to meet are the carb requirements.  

-If you need to eat a lot of healthy calories invest in a Nutribullet personal blender.  One of his staple smoothies uses a mango, banana, avocado, tbsp honey, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, and some ice cubes.  3 minutes to make and there is one very healthy 750 calorie snack.

-You have to be dedicated to do this, but we don't go nuts.  If he spends the night at a friend's or we have a long day of tournament baseball, we just have days he doesn't track his food.  He's learned so much about what he's putting in his body he gets pretty close anyway.  Again, when in doubt, eat more.

Glad to hear that someone else is talking to their 5'11" 155-158lber about eating more to out balance his basketball and weight lifting regimen.  We have the 95 mph Body, but he struggles with the snacking and in between meal calorie intake.  He scarfs at lunch and at dinner, not a huge breakfast eater but gets his egg sandwich and other foods in.  We'll just have to keep at it and perhaps tackle the book again.  

Thanks for sharing.

My son doesn't like shakes either but was able to put on 12 lbs the first couple of months of school with meal prep (which he learned to hate as much as shakes).  He did Steak or chicken plus pasta or potatoes, for breakfast and lunch 7 days a week and a regular dinner.  He also had to eat a half gallon of ice cream during the week or drink 2 gallons of milk.  It worked.

It doesn't matter so much what you eat than if you have a caloric surplus. Sure ideally you gain lean weight with a lot of protein but if he just eats stuff he likes a lot that is fine too.

Gaining weight is definitely important these days, most first round HS draft picks are 180-190 these days and it is hard to compete with that if you weigh 150.

Savage Series Maniac by Anabolic Warfare

Now there's a title to die for.

For my son the light turned on when I pointed out to him that he needed to take in more calories than he burns and that in order to gain a pound per week of muscle he needed to eat around 500 more calories than his daily allowance.  I showed him how to count the calories in the foods that he eats.  There are calorie counting apps that will not only allow you to keep track, but a guy can put in the type of food and the app will tell him how many calories are in it - nice for keeping them from having to look at packages constantly.  There are websites that will calculate age, weight, height and activity level to let a guy know how many calories he needs per day.  Some will adjust for weight gaining, but otherwise just add about 500 calories per day.

Here is the big key.   Most skinny guys only think that they eat a lot.   They gorge on a pizza one night and expect to gain weight, however, they go into a calorie deficit the next day when they don't eat breakfast and are behind on calories for the week and either lose weight or don't gain any.

I showed my son that he needs to eat five smaller sized meals/day.   I believe he needs 3700 calories in order to gain a pound a week.  I may be wrong though.

Anyway, here is how it's done.

You have to get up at a decent time of day and start eating.  Get a 450-500 calorie breakfast.

Mid-morning snack of 450 calories.  Easy enough, as a couple of handfuls of peanuts and a glass of milk will largely handle this.  If a school student then find something that will take the place of missing milk calories, as keeping milk fresh can be a hassle.

Lunch is 750-1000 calories.  If having to go to school, then try to load up a bit at lunch.

Afternoon snack - Find a number of simple snacks that have some calories and add a glass of milk. 450 calories

Supper - 1000 calories

Evening protein shake - 800 or so calories.

The high end of these numbers come out to 4200/day.  Plenty!

Eating many smaller meals is much easier and will slowly stretch his stomach.   The protein shakes will actually digest a little quicker and make eating other meals easier.

My son has gone from about 168 - 178 in a couple of months by doing this.

Remember the key:  Show him the science which says you have to eat x to gain.   Then have him count his calories so that he understands that he does not eat as much as he thinks he does.  Then introduce him to 5 smaller meals/day.  

It's up to him to do it.

My son has gained over 20 lbs since stepping on campus.  Started 175 lb at best.  Late October he texted us he was 192, this week he said 198.  6lb in the last 3 weeks alone! 

Now, he's doing the creatine thing, so when KIMB27 mentioned the weight gains are water (thanks KIMB27!), I texted son to let him know. He said he knew, but that he's also eating 6 meals a day.  Guess that's why he asked if we could load more meal points to his plan and I see $30 charges at McDonalds, Chipotle, etc.

Just to follow up with CTBBALLDAD's post, we did the smaller meals all day for a little while and now we do 3 HUGE meals instead.  My son felt like the "snack type" meals were making him less hungry at the main meal times.  Keep in mind, he is still living with me and I cook for him.  He may go to the 6 meals again in college.  But we do a dessert at every meal.  Whether it's a muffin or banana bread for breakfast to a brownie a la mode or big bowl of ice cream for lunch and dinner.  It's the calorie part balancing all the fruit/veg, protein, dairy, and grains. Big portions too. I add the creatine to his drink once a day or he drinks a Bang with Super Creatine.

And like others, he has gained about 30+ pounds since the beginning of the year and kept it on and stayed lean.  He says no "Dad bod" (sorry Dads) for him. So, many ways to approach it that really work!

My 6'0" 156 lber started the 95 MPH body beginning of July.  Lifts 4X week, speed trains 2X week, and averages 3,600 calories a day.  Up to 177 lbs right now after a little less than 5 months.  We started with a calorie journal that he is slowly taking over.  He gets a good breakfast, send him to school with multiple snacks to eat between classes during the day, etc.  It's a lot of work but gets results.  

Is "Building the 95 MPH Body" worthwhile for position players?

johnlanza posted:

Is "Building the 95 MPH Body" worthwhile for position players?

Definitely.  The nutritional info applies to anybody.  The weightlifting program is geared towards pitching, but positions players benefit from increased velocity too.  IMO most workouts geared toward pitchers leave out a few things that position players could benefit from in the interest of injury prevention given the increased load a pitcher's arm is under.  In other words, you might be better served to use these workouts as a guideline and add in a few things.  I would recommend reading everything you can find by Eric Cressey.

Bunch of great information here. I have 2 athletes in the house. A daughter is a 2020 who will be playing D1 hockey next year and a son who is a 2022. Both diets and style of eating are different. Daughter HATES protein powder and loves carbs and sweets. Son likes protein powder enough to do 2 shakes a day (one with whatever he eats for breakfast and one after workouts). 

Daughter has done my fitness pal during summer training the last 2 summers...a little difficult at first but very good at tracking calories in/out and protein/carb/fats. The protein that my daughter liked the best for filling her protein requirements was big pieces/chunks (weighed) of lunch meats from turkey to chicken to ham. 

Son started my fitness pal in October about a month into new training program. Goal is bigger/faster/stronger. Started out at 6'3" 175 and last night said he weighed 189. Goal is 200 by 1/1/20. 3900 calories a day is the plan for him and has been on track. Here are his go to items for calories:

- Protein shakes that are a combo of 1 scoop of GNC unflavored protein, 12 oz 2% milk, 2 oz of nesquick chocolate. 

- 4 eggs either sunny side up or scrambled with a slice of american cheese + 2 pieces of toast + 10 oz of OJ (often eaten at night before bed because he is hungry or needs calories) 

- dining out go to is Carne asada or chicken bowls from Chipotle (extra beans, fajita, salsa, sour cream, cheese, etc + 3 small tortillas). This is readily available and at $8 is not super expensive for a 1000+ calorie meal. 

Good luck finding things that work. Different strokes for different folks (each kid is different). 

A lot of you have kids who are gaining significantly more weight than my son eating considerably less.  I figured his calorie needs based on Brewster's formulas at about 4200 calories initially.  He weighs every morning before school and records it.  He would go a couple of weeks and not gain and we would up the target 500 calories.  A few jumps later he is at 5500 calories and that is where he started gaining.  He's been on 5500 calories for 6 weeks and has gained about a pound a week in that time.  

Is it possible he is burning that many more calories than some of the other kids mentioned?  I wouldn't think so.  It sounds like the other kids mentioned are all lifting weights, playing baseball, and as athletes I'm sure they're not couch potatoes when they get home.  I'll post a typical day for him below.  I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts or ideas why my son's intake is so much higher than the others mentioned and yet his weight gain is much less.

BTW - I know the goal say 5000 calories.  I just haven't changed it.  He is targeting 5500.

Some great info here !

...  OK, now I think there needs to be a thread for the parents of these aspiring college athletes who need to LOSE weight because all they do when they get home from sitting at their desk at work is sit more - in the stands watching their kids play sports 

On occasion, I've tried standing up and yelling a lot.  That does, at times, get me sent on an extra walk to the parking lot.  So, there's that. 

Well, my 2020RHP doesn't need to lose weight, but he wasn't really a hard gainer. When he started lifting seriously took the approach of don't worry about eating clean, just eat, you can slim down later. He bulked up quickly getting up to ~200lb at 5'11". Was a little too flubby....Got down to 195 at 6'1", and now up at 205, but body fat % is way down.

IMO it's much easier to put on weight eating anything and everything, then worry about cutting fat. A hard gainer is going to have a hard time putting on weight eating clean.

Meanwhile my 2022 is probably the only kid I know that put on weight while having mono. No appetite lose, so basically sat in the house all day double fisting hot dogs, and playing MLB 2k19 with friends...When he was better, this ended ;-).

CABBAGEDAD that's funny!!  We should also start a GoFundMe or Kickstart to get funds to help us all pay for the enormous amounts of food we have to supply to these boys!!!  It seems so counterintuitive to make people gain weight when society makes us all think we should be on a diet!  I hope they are enjoying all the food!! Great metabolisms rarely last forever....

From early August through October my kid started a 6 day week lifting program, took creatine and ate like it was job. He went from around 175 to 200. He is now at 194 and will probably lose a few more pounds as he is doing track (sprints, long jump and shot put) but he will get leaner as they will lift 4x week and run miles 5 to 6 days a week.  He stopped creatine supplements in November when track started. He was trying for 4200 calories a day but is eating a lot more calories now

2022Wildcat posted:

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but will share what my son is doing in case it might help anyone.  First, I can't recommend highly enough the book "Building the 95 MPH Body" by Ben Brewster.  It's very affordable and has a wealth of information regarding diet and strength training.  I bought it for the weightlifting content and didn't really pay that much attention to the nutritional section until just recently when my son got on a steady lifting program with his high school team.  FWIW, my mom's former 40 year career was as a Registered Dietitian.  I asked her to review the material and she agrees all of the information is solid.  The information is presented in a manner that is thorough yet easy for someone with no background in counting calories to follow and understand.

The bottom line is this:  You can't just guess at how many calories you're eating.  You can drink protein shakes and take weight gain pills but if your caloric intake is not more than your caloric expenditure you will not gain weight.  I used the material in the book to identify my sons needs for calories, protein, carbs, and fats.  I downloaded the free program MyFitnessPal (google it) and we started tracking.  I admit it was a bit overwhelming for the first week, but very quickly it became easily manageable.  I still help with the tricky stuff like when my wife makes a casserole and we need to know nutritional info/serving, but my son does 90% of the food logging himself.  I like it that it's time I don't have to spend doing it plus my son is invested in the process.  He has gained 7-8 lbs in 12 weeks, which is less than he was hoping for but not bad at all.  I attribute some of that to the 3-4 weeks it took to really dial in what his caloric intake needed to be, and some to the fact that his PE class is basketball, so he spends an hour a day running up and down the court.  That's great for cardio and agility, but counterproductive to explosiveness and weight gain.  He is agreeable to adhering to the plan because the #1 directive is always "eat more!" and what 16yo boy doesn't like that kind of diet.  He eats healthily, but there is really nothing that he can absolutely never have so he doesn't feel like he's sacrificing too much.  He eats lots of fruits, cereals, bagels, pastas, breads, almonds, power bars, turkey sandwiches, etc... and is fine to throw in a milkshake or bowl of ice cream here and there to meet the calorie count.  And then there are just cheat days.  If the team goes to Hooters after the tournament, he eats his 20 wings like the rest of the boys.  FYI - He is 5' 10" 175lbs.  His target daily caloric intake is 5500.

Some takeaways after doing this for a few months:

-Everybody who's trying to gain weight or muscle mass drinks protein shakes.  I found out an interesting thing when we started tracking my son's intakes.  He easily meets and almost always exceeds his RDA of protein with the food he eats.  I don't think I'm making a controversial statement when I say if you can get the nutrients from non-processed foods, it is better than getting it from supplements.  He also easily meets his fat content daily, getting good fats from dairy, eggs, almonds, avocados, etc...  The only thing he struggles to meet are the carb requirements.  

-If you need to eat a lot of healthy calories invest in a Nutribullet personal blender.  One of his staple smoothies uses a mango, banana, avocado, tbsp honey, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, and some ice cubes.  3 minutes to make and there is one very healthy 750 calorie snack.

-You have to be dedicated to do this, but we don't go nuts.  If he spends the night at a friend's or we have a long day of tournament baseball, we just have days he doesn't track his food.  He's learned so much about what he's putting in his body he gets pretty close anyway.  Again, when in doubt, eat more.

 

   

Thank you for this information!! Our son just turned 14 in October, and is 6'2".  But, he is a skinny 6'2" - 165 pounds -  but all arms and legs. He's a string bean!  He is currently weight training at a top notch baseball focused training facility 3 times a week and really is focusing on trying to put on some muscle this winter.  No matter how much he eats - which is A LOT - he can't gain weight.  I think this book will really help.  Thanks again!