Help with putting size on my 14 year old!

[superman21]

My 14 year old son is very serious into basketball. But he lacks size. He hasn't been through puberty yet unlike most of the other boys. What are some good hacks you have found that can really boost his caloric intake?

 

[morphine]

Heavy cream, olive oil, avocado oil, protein powder. Those are the most energy dense foods there are. Make a shake with half milk, half heavy cream and protein powder

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

Quality sourced calorie dense foods + high protein from quality sources, and slag iron. Nothing more, nothing less

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Peanut butter my man! I get this Q a lot in the gyms from teens to even older guys "swearing" up and down that no matter what they eat or how much, they can't gain weight. Peanut butter is cheap and prolly one of the most, if not thee most calorie dense food there is. And for the price you can't beat it. I tell these guys to not add this in as a substitute for a meal, but add in in on TOP of what they are eating. Three big tbsps before they go to bed with a large glass of milk. Be consistent and check the scale in 3 weeks & I believe you will be happy.

 

[A50#]

My 14 year old son is very serious into basketball. But he lacks size. He hasn't been through puberty yet unlike most of the other boys. What are some good hacks you have found that can really boost his caloric intake?

FOOD!! And lots of it! He's young so he can get away with eating almost anything and everything. Peanut butter sandwiches washed down with a big glass of milk and Pizza were my weight gainers when I was close to his age.

 

[Performance Based]

Going to be a bit contrarian here - he's a kid. Let him be a kid. I wouldn't get him into the mindset of gaining weight till much further down the road. I see a host of body dysmorphia issues down the path of starting a young child on the you need to be more muscular route.

Calisthenics, sports, activity... Not bodybuilding.

 

[Siggy]

Im not saying that if I ever had a kid, I would consider giving him HGH to grow taller, but im not saying I havent thought about it either....

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

Going to be a bit contrarian here - he's a kid. Let him be a kid. I wouldn't get him into the mindset of gaining weight till much further down the road. I see a host of body dysmorphia issues down the path of starting a young child on the you need to be more muscular route.

Calisthenics, sports, activity... Not bodybuilding.

idk dude, gaining weight to be better at a sport that the kid loves, and wants to be better at is totally different than getting your child into bodybuilding. A good father can easily guide his son into the human performance / improvement real without him automatically delving into a state of body dysmorphia which is completely associated with appearance and what you perceive others think of you.

 

[Josefein421]

He hasn't even hit puberty and youre worried about how to help him "gain size"?

Maybe let him play sports he loves, teach him how to do lift by learning good form on basic exercises and increasing weight as he learns and tell him to eat a lot of whatever foods he likes that aren't junk.

He's 14 what do you want to do give him a Mountain Dog program and meal plan with Tupperware? Who knows if he will even like the same sports or hobbies in a few years. "Hacks" to increase calories for a kid lol

 

[Shelby]

I have a nephew that got into weight lifting / bodybuilding around the same age (not for sport). He's 17 now and is very serious about it, has made great gains in the last 2-3 years.
Given that he's a kid, has other things going on in life, etc. - I just gave the friendly suggestion of hitting his weight in protein grams per day, and then whatever else he might want on top of that.
It's just one number to pay attention to daily (so if he's 150 pounds, get in 150 grams protein daily) but it teaches him how to start paying attention to stuff like that, and if he's truly interested in it and sticks with it, just hitting that number daily will make him *probably* hit the calorie requirements he needs to grow. At 14 he's basically a freshman in high school, so TONS of other things going on in his life - school, friends, learning about life in general.
Tangent, but cool: my niece's boyfriend is exceptional at basketball, just finished one year of college basketball and got signed to the NBA (Charlotte Hornets).

 

[scmtnboy]

When we bulked up my then 20 year old (we are 2 years into his journey) and he wasn’t really good at eating more than 2-3 whole meals a day we added 1 large fairlife chocolate milk (52oz). He would pretty much drink one of those every day. It was easy for him. The calories were around 850 and macros were 27g fat 78g carbs and 78g protein. Available at almost any basic grocery and around $6.

 

[gains4000]

Fairlife whole milk
Yogurt and Granola
Almond butter, jelly and banana on toast
steak & Mashed potatoes
Pizza
Burgers
Pasta and Meat Sauce


HGH is always good for kids, my friends are all pretty tall from HGH use as teenagers.

 

[Bleed]

Food. Teach him to lift. Same basics everyone needs.

 

[Siggy]

Fairlife whole milk
Yogurt and Granola
Almond butter, jelly and banana on toast
steak & Mashed potatoes
Pizza
Burgers
Pasta and Meat Sauce


HGH is always good for kids, my friends are all pretty tall from HGH use as teenagers.

How many friends do you have that received HGH? Did they have a condition, or did their parents just decided to give it to them?

 

[OldManLogan]

Im not saying that if I ever had a kid, I would consider giving him HGH to grow taller, but im not saying I havent thought about it either....

My 14 year old son is very serious into basketball. But he lacks size. He hasn't been through puberty yet unlike most of the other boys. What are some good hacks you have found that can really boost his caloric intake?

You might want to check his hormone levels- my kid was super deficient at that age, and wasn’t growing- we found a doctor who put him on GH and he’s now 5’9”- he didn’t grow at all from like 10-13 years old prior stuck at 5’1”

 

[Total1]

Getting him into lifting, getting him strong at the lifts he needs for an athlete would be the number 1. He has to want to eat, you can setup a blueprint for eating and whether he follows it or not will be up to HIM when he wants to do it. I have worked with plenty of athletes and kids and unless they really want to put effort into the eating side it’s a lost cause

 

[Dontstoppull]

Going to be a bit contrarian here - he's a kid. Let him be a kid. I wouldn't get him into the mindset of gaining weight till much further down the road. I see a host of body dysmorphia issues down the path of starting a young child on the you need to be more muscular route.

Calisthenics, sports, activity... Not bodybuilding.

As a father of four, with three being boys, I agree. Just pushing these activities will help create the appetite you’re looking for. Try not to make it so much about them having to gain weight or look a certain way. I fell into that around that age and wish I hadn’t.

Focusing on what was mentioned here will help create a base for whatever they decide to pursue when they get a bit older.

 

[KingOfSushi]

Heavy cream, olive oil, avocado oil, protein powder. Those are the most energy dense foods there are. Make a shake with half milk, half heavy cream and protein powder

I would not be giving a 14 year old a heavy cream shake lol

Unless he’s malnourished I wouldn’t be forcing any high fat food concoctions. Just encourage protein. He’s playing 14 year old basketball, not defensive line in college.

 

[gauge22-v2]

My son started lifting for football (LB and standup DE) in grade 8. He was underweight compared to his peers in grade 8.

He loved milk at the time so he was drinking close to a gallon a day of 1%. Every time he was thirsty it was milk. Keep in mind that both he and I have very good genes for digesting milk/diary. No bloating etc. I firmly believe this is due to having Scandinavian genes.

This combined with strength/power workout program he went from around 150 in grade 8 to 200 in grade 12.

 

[grizzly978]

My older son is 10, he drinks weight gainer shakes, mom makes tons of beans and rice, beef, Greek yogurt, burgers and wings. He’s into mostly body weight activities and does wrestling all year. Was 45lbs at 2 and within 8 years he’s a little bit over 110-112. Kid eats like a machine and does a lot of pushups pull-ups squats and curls also some wrestling based strength and mobility training. Have him cram the food