Need some advice to improve my performance

Here’s an excerpt from John Berardi’s appetite for construction series…It should give you some ideas on meal combining. This meal plan would be for an athlete who has a normal metabolic rate and is looking for a minimum of fat gain. You have roughly 12 weeks to accomplish your goals. At this rate you’ll need to gain 2.5 lbs per week. Add in creatine and that’s an automatic 5-10 lbs.

Now, let’s get to the plan:

Meal #1 (650 calories – 56 protein, 84 carbs, 10 fat)

2 servings of oatmeal with 1 scoop of protein powder (about 20g of protein) mixed in 6 egg whites with veggies and 1 piece of fat free cheese
1 piece of flax bread

Meal #2 (660 calories - 70 protein, 7 carbs, 39 fat)

8-10 oz extra lean beef
1 scoop of protein powder in water
1 salad
1 tablespoon of flax, fish, or Udo’s Choice oil

Meal #3 (630 calories – 58 protein, 78 carbs, 10 fat)

2 servings of oatmeal with 2 scoops of protein mixed in
1 piece of flax bread
1 piece of fat free cheese

Meal #4 - Pre-Workout (660 calories – 70 protein, 7 carbs, 10 fat)

Same as meal #2

Meal #5 – During training (160 calories – 40 carbs)

1 serving of Gatorade powder mixed in 1 liter of water

Meal #6 – Immediately Post-Workout (420 kcal – 35 protein, 70 carbs)

3 scoops of Biotest Surge or 35g protein hydrolysate and 70g glucose/maltodextrin

Meal #7 – 90 minutes after Biotest Surge (730 calories – 50 protein, 110 carbs, 10 fat)

1 banana
1 cup of granola
1 scoop of protein
1/2 container cottage cheese

Meal #8 – (560 calories – 55 protein, 7 carbs, 35 fat)

1 can of salmon
1 salad
1 tablespoon of flax oil, fish oil, or Udo’s Choice
1 scoop of protein

The diet supplies about 5000 clean calories per day. Since you are already very lean and probably have a fast metabolism for now I would suggest you get a nice huge jug of whey protein powder (or GROW) mix a few scoops in with a gallon of whole milk and sip it down during the day. (This is in addition to your regular meals.) This will add quite a few calories to your day and get your protein intake up.

youre a fast ass mother fucker… haha go out and buy a ton of protein… beef… chicken… pasta … wheat bread… milk… eggs… tuna… i dont want to be too much of a skeptic… but gaining 10 pounds a month is one tough ass job. good luck… by the way im going to walk on to michigan state next year… im a fullback 230 pounds 12 % bf and 4.75 40

thanks spencer, and congrats to u goin g to michigan. In response to the other queston, ten pundsa month is hard, but at this point im gonna try like hell to achieve it, i dont have much of a choice. Well, so now i got my diet in order, ive forgotten the idea of anabolics, now i just need to clear up my training. What do u guys reccomend? ive heard the 5 x 5 method works pretty well for building mass and power. O, and thanks for all of u guys that posted, im really appreciative of it

keepin this post alive

no one here is going to design a workout for you, college athlete. you know why? because you can read about a hundred articles on training here on this site right now after reading my post. basicially, however, just train heavy some days, and explosively (plyos and low load, fast reps) others. do full body movements with free weights and dumbells (if you are ever seen on the cable crossover machine, a hex on your first season). Eat, Eat, Eat!

College Athlete, doesn’t this D1 school have a
strength coach to put a workout together for you? Seems like they would have an offseason
lifting plan…

Spencer: Good luck at State.
Former Spartan here…

Good point DP. Why would a D1 coach (or any coach for that matter) tell a prized recruit that he needs to gain 25-30 lbs and then just leave him to flounder on his own? The more comments college athlete makes the less believable this story becomes.

I am a college football player; I play for the third largest university. My stats are 6’1 235 pounds at 10% body fat. Never used steroids or any other drugs. A good nutrition program and proper supplementation will do wonders.

I start (nose tackle)

Young athlete - From reading this forum I have now learned you are 6’3, 170 and run a 4.3. I am quite confused with this posting now, first you signed at letter of intent recently (in June for football?), you play TE (WR seems more likely) and if you put on 25-30 pounds you will be starting - what a major school with a 200 pound true freshman TE? Something doesn’t quite fit.

What has been ignored in this entire commentary is that you are a football player and I havn't heard mention of your agility or speed work. If you do run a 4.3 - thats what got you there isn't it? So why are you abandoning it and basically deciding you want to play TE.

My advice stands, train like a savage and learn to eat (hey if it was once alive eat it).

In faith,

Coach Davies

Coach Davies thanks for joining us in the forum. Your input has been very informative. Stepping back a few years from the college-age athlete, what type of training would you recommend for an early teenager. My 13 year old son has been playing football for the last few years and loves it. This summer I have him doing just a basic weight training program (squats, deadlifts, bench presses/push-ups, rows/pull-ups) along with a little speed work (sprinting, shuttle runs). Unfortunately due to my ignorance (at least until reading your interview and forum posts) I’ve neglected to include any functional strength or agility work in his training. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Good question Buster. I woouldn’t mind seeing some info on training for younger athletes too.

Buster - you’ve definately got a good grip on things by keeping it simple. Consider the enormous opportunity of building a foundation with a youngster. Develop the core muscle groups, total fitness, abdominal carriage and flexibility. I would consider utilizing complexes and extensive GPP. I hope I am not boring you because I can talk ad nauseum on this area. I have had some high schools buy my training programs and have turned out freakish athletes after following the program. If you wish I would be pleased to answer more questions, so please feel free.

In faith,

Coach Davies

Coach thanks for the response. Boring me?…I’d love to read a whole book on the subject if you had one available. I’m not familiar with what complexes are. Could you provide a definition or give me an example or two? Also what type of GPP exercises do you think would be best for a 13-year old? I’m assuming that a lot of variety may be beneficial here to help develop a more balanced foundation and also to keep the interest level high. Thanks again, I look forward to your response.

Well, I am glad I am not boring ya’ll. Buster, Your interest for your sons training is great. Complexes, in this instance, are a type of “Giant” set, whereby you move from exercise to exercise in a large circuit fashion. It does NOT mean that you are working in a circuit training fashion, such that rest intervals are extremely short. You will do so after consideration of the program goals, athlete’s muscle recruitment stengths and weaknesses. I have found that an athlete will have extraordinary success when you change the medium, all the while with the same goal.

Unfortunately some of the movements I typically do but as an example, you could put together a simple complex that would include a Snatch Complex, Burpees, Medicine Ball Scoop Throws (both forward and backward) and Box Squats. Moving from movement to movement for numerous sets (4-5), you are in essence attacking your target in different manners. It is a "humbling" approach for the athlete and coach as well because you must constantly remind yourself that the weight room goal is to enhance performance on the field through more explosive power, not simply better numbers for the weight room charts.

With regards to the GPP for your son, I would suggest numerous things. Help me out with this, what is he presently doing through a weekly schedule. Hey you've given me a good topic for an article.

In faith,

Coach Davies

Coach Davies thanks for the valuable information. I was out of town for a week of vacation and just saw your response. This is an example of my son’s typical weekly training schedule: M/W/F – warm-up (jogging or rope skipping), weight training – squats 3x15 (3 sets of 15), deadlifts 3x15, bb rows 2x15, chins 2 ladders, bench press 2x15, shoulder press 2x15, crunches. T/Th/Sa – warm-up (jogging), (10) 40 yd sprints, (10) 10 yd shuttle runs. This is just the structured portion of his training, he gets quite a bit of other activity just being a kid (bike riding, skateboarding, rollerblading, playing basketball, etc.) His sports seasons start up in August with football practice 5 days/wk and soccer practice 4 days/wk (at least until basketball season starts up in the fall). As you can see, his current program is lacking in a number of areas. We did fool around with a few GPP exercises like farmers walks, sled dragging (forward, backward, tug-o-war pulling) and sand bag clean & jerks and he seemed to enjoy the novelty. I look forward to any additional advice that you might have.

Buster-I would pass on the jogging and utilize non-weighted GPP for fitness. Begin to develop correct mechanics. Within the strength component, bodyweight exercises can be of enormous benefit. I would like to discuss at significantly greater length. I am very interested in the physical development of the youth of this nation. Actually very recently, I was retained by a very prominent private school to develop the complete phyical education class structure to K through 12. An tremendously exciting opportunity for me that is really quite revolutionary here. If you prefer to respond to my personal e-mail or you may also wish to post as a fresh question under youth developent.In faith, Coach Davies