Bulking a boy . . . page 2

[brahnamin]

does he need size to be a wide receiver or cornerback?

Yeah, there are several positions that don't have size as a criteria. The coaches, however, almost unilaterally choose size first and work on the rest after.

[tim_1522]

Have you considered finding a football program outside of the school?

Our son played 2 years for an organization that was not affiliated with any school. The coaches he had were great and I think my son's head coach would be a little sad/pissed to hear of your situation. He has always said that he wants first and foremost kids that LOVE to play football (which it sound like your kid is) and that he truly believes that football is one sport where there's a place for EVERY kind of body. Big, tall, short, small, fast, heavy, light, slow didn't matter to him.

For example, one of the running backs on my son's team sounds a lot like your son -- a little undersized, but he was HANDS DOWN the toughest kid on the team. He could do more pushups, more squats, more anything than anyone else on the team and HAD to have the highest strength/weight ratio of any kid on the team (or that we played against) by far!

Had my son tried to play for the school program...had he even made it, he'd have been about 1 of 50 kids with 3 coaches. The team he played on the last 2 seasons had about 30 boys and SIX coaches.

Now, granted, I am in a location where that's available and I have no idea if that's the case for you. But, if your son loves to play football, keep looking around to see if there's a program that will work. I don't think that it's true that the "reality" of football is that it's only open to one body size/type -- especially at the youth level. IMO, it would be a shame if your boy really loves football to just give up on it so easily.

[Apex Predator]

He needs a good lifting program. Get a barbell set and Starting Strength. He needs to muscle and bulk for padding as well as strength.

[js290]

So what can I do over the next year to help him bulk up?

http://www.drdarden.com/portal_inclu...ngforKids.html

[Classic]

How about Track or wrestling? If he showed he was good at track they might pick him for his speed.

[pacificBeef]

Have you considered finding a football program outside of the school?

+1

[jfreaksho]

I don't know if you can get him to bulk up if his body isn't ready for it. I remember every summer seeing one or two guys come back to school just huge- most of it from tossing hay bales, I think, but this didn't start until sophomore year, and most of it was later than that. I don't know if at 13 his body is going to be able to do that.

Note: I believe that weight training will help him, but I'm not sure if he can bulk up as an adult would. I would love to see some evidence to the contrary.

[usernamewhy]

the boy is merely into puberty, so he lacks testosterone. if he comes from a skinny family, he might be pre-destined to have less muscle then others, but who knows. influence him to read about the primal blueprint, thats the only thing u can and should do

[arthurb999]

What about being the place kicker then working on other positions once his foot is in the door.

[ryry]

hes not going to "bulk up" until he is producing enough testosterone. dont go crazy with the lifting. kids dont have to dig as deep to get results (they also dont retain the gains for as long if they quit doing what elicited the gains in the first place). weighted lunging and step ups onto a high box will develop great leg and hip strength. find some one qualified to teach him good form. my son (also just turned 13) is in about the same boat as your son. he wrestles and plays football and this year is going out for track. he is 5'4 and 110lbs and very, very lean. he is also very strong. upping his protein intake seemed to be the best way to add muscle since he will already devour any carb in sight. i DO NOT recommend the gallon of milk a day unless hes already a huge milk drinker. if you mess up his stomach/digestion then nothing is going to work.

--buy a rice cooker. rice is dirt cheap and will supply him with all the carbohydrate he needs. its easy to scoop out of the cooker too.
--glug a bunch of extra light olive oil onto the rice. its basically flavorless and will get him tons of good quality fats as well as up his calorie intake.
--have him eating large amounts of protein FIRST at every meal, before he fills up on other stuff.
--supplement with a whey protein if you feel its needed. he shouldnt need more than 150gms total protein/day and that would be on the high side as long as he is getting enough carbs to fuel his glycogen demands (which are probably very high)
--encourage him to eat vegetables and give him some kind of fishoil supplement

in my experience trainining athletes of all ages i have noticed a trend in hard gainers to simply "eat everything in sight" or gallon of milk a day, type strategies to fail miserably after about 6mos. probably from all of the polyunsaturated fats and lack of vegetables imo.

find a private coach or get him to special camps. he will need size to play football but that will come. bulking up does not mean skill improvement. skill will be the deciding factor in him getting to play. if he is fast and strong and understands the tactics for his position he will play. if he has a decent amount of appropriately gained mass then he will probably be more durable.

hes 13. ability/size at age 13 has very little to do with what he will be capable of by the time he is a senior.

soccer and wrestling are awesome alternative training modalities for football in my opinion. if he doesnt want to wrestle within the school program perhaps you can find some jiu-jitsu/grappling classes outside of school.

unless you are at a gigantic football driven school i dont think you need to worry about choosing position based on body type/size right now. in college, yes. not now. it always amazes me when middle school coaches will debate over the kid playing a certain position over another one.. "well hes more of a d-end than a linebacker blah blah blah". come on, most of these kids running around with 12 hairs under their armpits could effectively play any position on the field.

eat more, healthy, food
train SMART, year round
allow time for FULL recovery if injury presents itself
garner as much skill training as possible
if you do lift in the off season be sure to include running activities even if they are only at low levels. dont ommit running in favor of bulking up in the weight room.
pay extra attention to proper form, neck and ankle work and any work that will bring up weakness and imbalance.
find a qualified strength and conditioning expert to help you out.

good luck!