The Forgotten

In the age of childhood obesity their is a group of boys that are invisible. Invisible to football coaches, invisible to the eye of girls, invisible, not because they are gone. But because they are SKINNY and UNDERWEIGHT!

I’m not going to drag this out because it doesn’t need to be too incredibly complicated or over analyzed. But I’m just going to list the things you NEED to do if you want to gain muscle as a skinny kid. Because face it, nobody cares that you've got a 6-pack if you get blown around like a leaf in a light breeze.

1. Look at what overweight people are doing and do it. Except add in some weight lifting to it.
2. Speaking of weight lifting, don’t spend all day in the gym. 45 minutes…TOPS!!
3. Because you’re on a time crunch in the gym, you’d better be doing exercises that use most or all of your muscles. More muscle usage = more testosterone and growth hormone
4. If you play a high activity sport such as basketball, soccer or swimming, gaining weight will be even TOUGHER. So if you aren’t practicing or lifting weight, you need to be eating. 
5. SLEEP... a lot.
   

Today I will just discuss the first point and I will address the others in future blog posts.

Step 1: try to become overweight.

            Granted we don’t want you to be obese and slothful, but we do want you to gain weight. And there is no better person to look at for gaining weight, than somebody who has…gained a lot of weight. What is it they do? Well, they eat a lot. They eat frequently. And they eat a lot of carbohydrates; which is what you need. But you also need to make sure you’re building muscle instead of adding fat to your belly.

            And the thing with most skinny kids is when they think they are eating a lot of food, they usually AREN'T eating enough. Put it this way, if you aren’t gaining weight, you need to eat more. 

Here is what a skinny guy’s day should look like if he works out in the morning

Wake up (0 hours) – eat 1 measured cup of oatmeal (300 calories), 2 cups of milk (244 calories) Total = 544 cal

Workout – have a protein shake (130 calories)

After workout ( + 1.5 hours after wakeup) – 2 pancakes (350 calories), 1 cup cottage cheese (204 calories), ½ cup orange juice (56 calories) Total= 600

Snack ( + 2.5 hours) – 1 bagel (270 calories), 3 tbsp peanut butter (300 calories) Total = 570

Lunch ( + 4.5 hours) – 1 can tuna (150 cal), 2 tbsp mayonnaise (200 cal), ¼” slice of cheese from block (200 cal), 2 slices of bread (140 cal), a salad the size of a boat (60 cal), balsamic dressing (enough, but less than you think)(150 cal) Total = 900 cal

Is this what you see in the mirror??

Snack ( + 7.5 hours) – 2 cups yogurt (200 calories), ¼ cup peanuts (300 cal), ½ cup granola (180 cal) Total = 680 cal

Dinner (+ 10.5 hours) – Meat the size of your hand (300 cal), [broccoli + raisins] the size of your hand (150 cal), glass of milk (200 cal) Total = 650 cal

Before bed meal ( + 12.5 hrs) – 2 Scrambled eggs or protein powder (150 cal) + spoonful of peanut butter (200 cal), apple (75 cal) Total = 425 cal

Total calories = 4500 calories*

For most kids this is going to seem insurmountable. But it can be done. And with a quality lifting program, it can add a significant amount of muscle to ANY kids frame.