Weight Gain Tips for Youth Athletes

Every year, we will work with many high school athletes whose main goal is gaining weight and size to perform better at their sport. This can be a difficult uphill battle during the teenage years due to the speed of their metabolism at this phase. To really gain weight during these extreme periods of growth, the athlete (and parents) need to be focused on eating calorie-dense foods and maximizing rest to allow for growth to happen.

The other trick during this phase is that no one wants to gain fat or bodyweight that could potentially hinder performance. This is much more difficult than people think due to athletes playing their sport many times a week, training, and accelerated metabolism. This will be broken into a couple of sections. The first will be questions or concerns we hear, followed by strategies we have used with success. Let’s dive in.

Should my kid workout more to add weight?

Two-three workouts a week during this phase are still plenty. Remember that the more you workout, the more you have to eat and sleep to recover from the workouts. Strength training five or more sessions a week will likely detour recovery which will make putting size on an uphill battle.

Should my child use a weight gainer supplement?

Weight gainers might be one of the worst supplements ever created. They’re made up of mostly filler products loaded in fat and are just very hard for your body to actually digest and then absorb any of the nutrients. A basic whey protein post-workout is fine to take after training, as long as it’s followed by a meal once the athlete gets home.

Will they add fat if they gain weight?

If they’re eating good caloric dense whole food, training, and recovering then this really shouldn’t be an issue. Usually, if this happens, an athlete is getting a majority of their calories from processed foods and not good quality foods.

My child is a picky eater so it’s hard to find good foods they like

Look online for different recipes or buy a cookbook and experiment with cooking food in different ways. This can give food an entirely different taste and texture to become an enjoyable meal. I can’t stand plain chicken breast, but we have found many chicken recipes I enjoy through trial and error. Learning to cook and have a great relationship with food is also a great long-term life skill.

Do they have to eat 6 meals a day or every two hours?

No. This is all made up from bodybuilders. Even then it’s not very realistic for people to stop every two hours and prepare meals. Try for 3-4 meals a day and healthy snacks in between. All that matters is more calories are taken in each day than expended through living and exercise.

In this section, we will cover some strategies we have used. These are pretty basic and pay off big when applied.

Always carry nuts and fruit to snack on

Most nuts are loaded with healthy fat (caloric dense) and fruit can do wonders for your body as far as energy and recovery. These snacks are for between classes or meals. When gaining weight, hunger shouldn't really ever happen.

Eat a Peanut Butter Jelly sandwich and a banana between each meal

A PBJ has approximately 350 calories and a banana has around 100 calories. If you do this three times every day, you have added over 1,300 calories pretty easily

Make protein shakes with ice cream

Ice cream is loaded with calories. Don’t live on this, but this can aid in just boosting calories for the week.

Sleep more

Whether you want to gain or lose weight, sleep is your best friend and will help you get to your goal faster. Add an hour of sleep each night and you will notice a change.

Nick Showman

Showtime Strength & Performance

www.showtimestrength.com