How to gain clean weight (for my skinny son).

[AZBridger]

I was in the same boat. Blew up to 6'4" in high school and only weighed 160-170ish pounds. could not gain weigh to save my life. I had a dream of playing college football and took a year off after my senior year to focus on training/gaining weight. Walked on at college the next year weighing around 225lbs and then got up to 255 my sophomore year of college, gaining 85lbs over basically 2.5 years. The hard thing now is keeping weight off! I've hovered around 225-235 for the last 15 or so years after college. I ate everything in sight (5k+ calories a day), took ALL the supplements and lifted heavy. Supplements used to not be regulated (or clean) like they are now and "worked" a LOT better than modern ones. The big lifts like squat, deadlift and bench will put weight on when you are giving your body enough fuel. Also, it will come with maturity. It will be hard for your son to gain/keep weight running cross country unless he wants to eat 7k calories a day, which is miserable. I had a blast playing college ball for several years but had I known I would struggle keeping weight off my entire life after working so hard to build a frame that could pack on that much weight, I'm not sure whether I would do it over.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Timing helps too, I always feel like guys that eat just before bed or a midnight snack seem to gain more than others.

We have a ton of kids on the team trying to gain but it's because they don't eat well and work out. They try to do a premium workout and get premium results but eat crap food and then tell us they are eating right.

The only way to gain muscle mass is to work out and consume a higher amount of calories. Hydration and timing of the meals is important. That's why guys that eat snacks and drinks water all day do well. No point in working out at 3 and not eating dinner till 8. It's fine if you have to do that but fill in with a snack. Also I hate supplements. They are a shortcut in my opinion and only work if you are already eating well.

 

[huntin24/7]

There’s really not a lot you can do. I was in the same situation in high school although not so tall. Lol. I was trying to put on weight for football and it was so hard with such a high metabolism. Once he’s done with track, a weight training program of 3-4 days a week along with a diet high in protein, good carbs, and healthy fats will at least pack on some new lean muscle weight. You might need a new credit card just for the grocery store though.

 

[kit_man_du]

At 15 as long as he is healthy and active, I would not worry. As others have mentioned here, you need caloric surplus to gain weight. As a teenager it can be hard to gain weight depending on the metabolism and level of activity.

 

[NMGuy]

Step 1: Tell him to get a job because this is going to get expensive

Step 2: Google Brian Shaw

Step 3: Lift like he lifts and (try to) eat how he eats, which is something like 10,000 calories per day!


On a more serious note, all the running is definitely going to work against him. As other have mentioned, lifting weights is going to provide the most bang for the buck as far as filling out his frame with muscle instead of fat. Add to that the surging testosterone levels and he should be able to see some decent development as long as he can provide the fuel (calories).

A teenager can get away with more dirty calories than an adult, but it's important not to build unhealthy habits at this point in his life. I don't think supplements are needed, unless recommended by his doctor.

 

[T Bone]

Thanks for the replies!

Cross country season just finished.....which is what brought this topic to the spotlight. His Freshman year he was a rockstar and got his Varsity Letter. With the growth spurt, his Sophmore year times stalled and sometimes got worse.

Coach told him he needs to get a plan together and put on some weight/strength.

We'll start by adding a couple meals per day and start up some weight/strength training and less running.

 

[Mallardsx2]

On another note: I was always worried about being the skinny kid. It was always on my mind. But now I am still "skinny" but have gained muscle and the other kids are fat as pigs. So I feel pretty good about it.

I guarantee today 20 years later I could easily kick 2/3's of the kid's asses that made fun of me in high school for being skinny. The other third ,well, I may need to eat some eggs and steaks.

 

[MThuntr]

2 words...Doughnuts...Deadlifts

Actually if he needs to gain weight he needs to calculate his Base Metabolic Rate and then add calories to gain. There are calculators that should help with a recommended increase in calories. It's going to be hard if he's covering long distances as a runner. I'd say healthy fats and protein are where it's at with some weight training. If he can handle them...smoked sardines in olive oil are quite nice on a thin piece of sourdough toast.

I wish I could keep weight off but damn I'm good at eating...speaking of which I have some Costco muffins to eat before they go bad.

 

[rustednuts]

Whole milk protein shakes are good nutrient dense food, a couple a day with heavy lifts should help

 

[Rainer]

So I chime in here as I am a Strength and Conditioning coach for a few bodybuilders trying to get their IFBB Pro cards. I also help train some paralympians. A lot of what has been mentioned here only scratches the surface and is really just "Bro Science". Not that it's all wrong but theirs more to consider. Diet is the #1 thing here, way before lifting weights. What I would have your son do is for 1 month record EVERYTHING he is eating in a day on a App like MyFitnessPal. Getting a understanding of your diet will help determine what to remove and add(you must be honest in this).

Your Son should be eating a minimum of 3500 calories, 200g or Protein, 450g carbs and 100g fat. Now eat as many vegetables as you can and eat as much food packed with fiber. They will fill you up and make you feel satiated. Supplement wise you don't need much. A multi vitamin, fish oil and a protein powder is all you really need. I'd stay away from any protein supplement that has a "propriety blend" ex. MTN OPS. Those products tend to be crap and can be amino spiked to make them seem like theirs more protein in them then their really is. I prefer REDCON1 protein. Their MRE LITE and MRE bars flavors are pretty good

 

[Rainer]

When it comes to lifting. Progressive overload on a hypertrophy program is better then a heavy lifting program.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Be careful of the amount of protein. It has to be in balance with carbs and fat because it takes energy to digest. Basically almost all of the advise given on this thread including mine is anecdotal. It may work and that's great. If you want to try some of it I'd say it won't hurt but if 2 months goes by and no change, then I'd speak to a nutritionist that can do some of the basic test and calculations as some have mentioned.

 

[JLS]

To follow up with @Rainer's post, not all protein is created equal. Your body's ability to utilize the protein will depend on the most limiting amino acids in that protein. 200 grams of a well balanced protein will be much better utilized than 200 grams of protein from a cheap supplement.

 

[Gellar]

I’m no nutritionist, but I wouldn’t worry about it if he is healthy. Adding a few extra snacks in his School locker for between meals would be good. Maybe sneaking a proteinl shake or two In the morning or afternoon would add needed calories. But I can’t help to think at 6’5 taking those long strides he’s going to be hell to keep up with in the mountains chasing elk.

 

[Summitthunting]

Have him drink eggnog like I drink coffee.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I was 6'1" and 150 when I started weight training as a class my sophomore year.
I worked hard at it and ended up holding a few all time school records for bench, powerclean at either 165 or 170# and 6'1-3" tall. Still skinny but strong and lean.
I eventually got up to 185# in my 20s before an illness dropped me back to 170.
All of my gains were while lifting very hard.
Genetically speaking. If he is meant to be skinny he is going to be skinny.
I say this to say I really think lifting is good for the development of bones ligaments and tendons not just muscle.
Also swimming laps a few times a week will likely make him a lot better runner even if it means he runs less miles in a week.
Dam I miss being young!

 

[jryoung]

Take a look at this website and see if there is a location near you. We have the 570 model in our office and it is an incredible machine and it will break down your skeletal muscle mass, water weight, body fat and calculate your basal metabolic rate. For our patients looking to gain or lose weight it is a pretty powerful machine. If you have a location near you that will let you use it, it can provide valuable information way better than a scale can....especially if you're trying to gain weight. Attached is my chart history.

InBody Nearest Testing Location Map

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inbodyusa.com

 

[fmnjr]

Essentially all diets for weight loss or gain are at base about caloric shortage or surplus. If he wants to gain weight, he has to consume more calories than he’s burning. As has been said above, for a growing an active kid that will take effort.

I would get him lifting weights doing compound lifts at heavy and low reps, and have him mindfully eat more than he typically would. That will mean planning his caloric intake to a degree to meet a daily goal.

Tl;Dr:

Deadlifts and peanut butter.

Or, squats and milk, a strength program that has been around for a long, long time. On top of eating everything in sight, too. Lots of information can complicate things. Keep it simple, have him lift doing the big 5 (squats, deads, military press, power cleans, bench press) and EAT. Check out Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength https://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs

 

[R.K.]

From some quick googling: 450g carbs is 22oz of dry pasta, 15 medium potatoes (5+lbs), or 16 medium bananas. Daily. It is an enormous amount of food just in terms of the carbs required. Be prepared for this.

I was occasionally eating 5,000 calories a day in senior year- 5'10" & 175, adding weight & growing. Dropped to 155 @ 6'2" in college for various reasons, currently up to 180, age 31, and trying to build strength back to what it used to be.

Do not underestimate how much food is required to meet these goals while growing.

 

[MarvB]

Dang Tyson your son has shot up! I had a similar (though not as tall stretch) in high school...grew 7" going into soph. year but gained very little weight (was 145#) did the lifting, and calorie sannich thing (peanut butter, honey and banana until I could nearly no longer stand them) and got up to 177# adding mostly muscle by my senior year. Didn't get any taller but held my weight there and gradually up to 185# playing ball in college.

DO REMEMBER whether he tries to gain weight or not that these types of growth spurts are really hard on the joints and I'm paying for it (plus from the self-abuse of sports) now at 61....never too early to get him on some glucosamine, chondroitin, omega-3, and vitamin D regime while he is going through this. My surgeon said that mankind far outgrew its joint strength eons ago getting taller, weighing more, gaining speed, and generally doing things we were never met to do as the original hunter-gatherers! Lots of strain.
Good luck my friend!