Lot of Searching, No Answers

Hi guys, I need some help with my current programming/dieting
I love lifting and want to increase but the only thing holding me back is how much cardio I do

I’m an elite basketballer (senior high school) training roughly 10-12 hours a week not including lifting, i would be in the weight room around 6 days a week for an hour each time.

I’m carrying around ~12% and have to reduce that but I want to keep up my strength and size while still getting bigger, at the moment I’m reasonably strong for my size and one of the strongest guys on my teams by far.

I always put in 100% on court and in the weight room and I just need a little help because all the articles I read say barley any cardio and I can’t find anything on elite athletes getting big,

Do I have to just have a very high calorie intake to cope with the cardio while getting bigger?
I’m sort of looking for a diet like an elite sprinter would have?

The supplements I’m currently taking are:
Whey Protein
Casein Protein
FIsh oil caps
Creatine
Multi Vitiman
BCAAs

Should I be taking anything different? Can you recommend anything else?

Don’t hesitate to tell me what I’m doing wrong or critisize me, I’ve only been lifting for about a year and a half and I’m looking for all the help I can get! No hate please :slight_smile:

Thanks to anyone that can help me!

Stats:
Height: 175cm
Weight: 80kg
BF: around 12%

Bench 102.5kg
Squat 150kg
Deadlift 162.5kg

what does your current programming and diet look like. In the words Chris " what exactly did you eat yesterday."

[quote]louispilgrim wrote:
Do I have to just have a very high calorie intake to cope with the cardio while getting bigger?
I’m sort of looking for a diet like an elite sprinter would have?[/quote]
If you are interested in a diet try an article. It may be confusing to read articles that may contradict each other but they will have common points. Take what is useful to you and discard what doesn’t fit your life. A custom diet takes trial and error.

Chances are you can drop the BCAA’s but for the most part this is good.

“elite” as in 2013 lottery pick?

[quote]louispilgrim wrote:
I’m an elite basketballer (senior high school) training roughly 10-12 hours a week not including lifting, i would be in the weight room around 6 days a week for an hour each time.[/quote]
If you’re currently in-season (with one or more games [not practices] each week), drop the lifting to a max of three days a week and drop the volume (sets and reps). When you have games every week, that’s the priority whether you like it or not. Wait for the offseason to prioritize what you do in the gym.

Again, if you’re in-season, it’s just not the time to try adding size. If you’re offseason, that opens up a bunch more opportunities to push hard on gaining size.

A 5’9", 175-pound dude is the biggest and strongest on a high school team? Weird, but okay.

Generally, yes. At the very least, you should be eating enough to not be losing weight. But there’s a little more to it than that. Reed beat me to the punch already but yep, what, exactly, did you eat yesterday?

You’re not a sprinter. You’re a basketball player. Some basic principles do apply to all athletes, but why would you want to train or eat like a sprinter, a football player, or a pro dodgeball player when that’s not your sport?

This article is a good start for setting up the basics:

Also, a general rule for younger dudes, the more you can cook for yourself, the better. Just clean up after yourself in the kitchen. Seriously.

[quote]Bench 102.5kg
Squat 150kg
Deadlift 162.5kg[/quote]
This is definitely good work for your age and size, but make sure to stick with a balanced plan that keeps you healthy in the long run.