HOW TO GAIN WEIGHT BUT KEEP SPEED
- Grant Caraway
- May 31, 2024
- 2 min read
Below we will be discussing how you can gain weight this summer but also maintain your speed. I hope this can help!
Also, if you play WR and would like a 2 month daily workout schedule to follow, checkout the link below! We give you 8 weeks of field route running workouts (sets & reps/video examples included), 8 weeks of WR specific gym workouts (sets/reps/examples includes) and a 1 Month speed development workout plan to do. Check it out here ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Okay so, everyone always talks about needing to get bigger in the off season or putting on weight but why exactly? And that is because as football players, we play a very violent game and no matter what position you play, you will take some brutal hits. So you need muscle around your bones and on your frame to absorb those hits. Rail skinny guys are usually at the highest risk of injury. Applying force and pressure to your muscles by lifting, will help you absorb force from someone hitting you & also absorb force when making cuts with your lower body. So I am definitely a believer in HS/Youth athletes doing core “bodybuilding” lifts to build muscle mass. Squats, trap bar deadlifts, over head press (not for QBs), Bench Press(not for QBs), barbell rows, and many other exercises all can benefit you in putting on size. That should be your goal, to put on muscle and gain weight the correct way. Not to eat everything under the sun to gain weight. You should try to weigh as much as possible while keeping as low body fat % as possible. Obviously linemen are the exception. Now, everyone’s biggest fear is that they will gain all this weight and slow down. And that is true if you just get fat. 5’10 at 190lbs 25% body fat is a lot different than 5’10 190lbs 7% body fat. Maybe that’s realistic for you, maybe it’s not but there is a huge difference between those two body types. That’s what you need to strive for.
However, even if you gain a bunch of muscle, you can still slow down if you neglect speed work. If you don’t do specific track workouts for running form, resistance band training, running with sleds, plyometrics, hip mobility work etc. at least 1-2 times per week… you will lose some speed. If you focus on gaining size, but also train like an athlete you will have a very efficient off season. We are football players first, so we need to still train like it. You need a combo of bodybuilding work & speed work to maintain athleticism this year.
Also, something that will help you gain healthy muscle mass is more protein consumption. If you consume 1G of protein per pound of desired body weight (let’s say you’re 150 & want to get to 165… you want to consume 165G of protein per day) you will gain weight. That’s very hard to do without supplementation and taking some type of protein powder. Below is a link to a great protein powder we recommend for athletes. It is insanely light & very easy on your stomach. If you use the code “First15” at checkout you will get 15% off your first order! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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