It's always best to consult a physician before starting any weight gaining plan, especially for a teen boy who is trying to bulk up to play football. A variety of factors impact a person's weight, including genetics, caloric intake and exercise level, but a few tips can lend a hand in the weight-gaining efforts for anyone who is underweight.
Caloric Intake
With teens, it's either too easy or too difficult to gain weight. According to Dr. Molly O'Shea, a pediatrician in Troy, Michigan, healthy weight gain occurs when the amount of calories consumed outweighs the number of calories expended. In teens who have high metabolic rates, the burning of calories is accelerated, making it even more difficult to add weight. Adding 500 to 1,000 additional calories daily, O'Shea reports, is the most effective way for this type of teen to gain weight. For a teen boy trying to gain weight who uses exercise to gain weight, adding more calories might be required. These extra calories should include a good balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and should not come from the empty calories provided by junk foods, such as candy, ice cream and cookies.
Weight Training
Weight training provides a teen boy who wants to play football a proven method to successfully gain weight. While lifting weights, it's important to target the muscles that are used the most while playing football, such as biceps, triceps, forearms, pectorals, thighs, calves and abdominals. As a regular weightlifting routine is employed, the constant tearing of the muscle tissue, which is what normally occurs during weightlifting, produces more muscle mass, and body weight, as the body heals the muscle. Because weightlifting expends a lot of calories, it is especially important for the teen boy to use this part of his weight-gaining plan in conjunction with increased caloric intake.
Running
In essence, anything a teen boy does to condition or strengthen one or more of his major muscle groups will, if used with increased caloric intake, result in weight gain. Running, though it burns a lot of calories, will produce firmer and stronger muscles, especially in the leg muscles, such as thighs, calves and quadriceps. Strengthening and increasing the size of these muscles will also prove beneficial when it comes time to strap on the helmet and pads.
Warnings
Contrary to popular belief, high-protein drinks and vitamin supplements are not a beneficial way to increase muscle development, says O'Shea, who also warns that the use of these products can increase the chances of kidney stones. Furthermore, adding calories to the teen boy's diet through high-fat and empty-calorie junk foods will lead to unhealthy weight gain and impair the athlete's on-field performance. O'Shea advises against the use of several nutritional supplements, such as creatine, human growth Hhormone and anabolic steroids while attempting to gain weight. While these substances will likely add weight, their ramifications, such as cancer and liver failure, far outweigh their benefits, O'Shea says.
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