The only way to know if you’re a hardgainer is by attempting to get fat while attempting to overtrain.
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everybody eventually turns into hardgainers
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If you’re a football player why not use a program written by the guy famous for developing elite football players
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I think this is an awesome program, but I also think a high schooler without an experienced coach to oversee it will screw it up.
Hey dude, I’m not sure what you mean here. The e book is free on Jon’s website. Just type “deepwater method free e book” into Google and it’s the first link, you’ll have to sign up for a newsletter to receive it.
@TrainForPain I play Wide Receiver. I’m hoping to be able to move up to the next level, there’s always at least one player a year from my school that moves up to play college ball so hopefully I’ll be able to take that next step.
I’m sorry to everyone if I mixed up the term hardgainer. I really thought hardgainer meant a naturally skinny person, and I’ve had to eat well over 3000 calories a day, normally around 3500 to be able to gain weight but I’ve been able to pack on around 20lbs since January and be consistently putting on lean muscle so I’m not really sure where I’d fit in there, but mostly I assumed I was a hardgainer because I’m naturally extremely skinny. Again, I’m new to a lot of weightlifting knowledge so bear with me.
I’ve actually tried quite a bit of stuff since the fall and the only thing that seems to give consistent results is lifting heavy with high volume. I started with a 3x a week full body split but I didn’t get great results, less than 1lb per week. I’d look for something more like a 5 or 6 day split but 4 is the most I can do with the way I have to manage time.
If I’m not actually a true hardgainer, would a plan like Deep Water work? I could at least attempt it without a coach, I could maybe get a trainer. I actually saw it advertised for sale which is kinda strange but it was “for sale” for 179$ lol. I just got the E book so it might be worth trying if the program is as good as everyone has said.
Then your running is by far the most important. Colleges scout speed and height; they’ll fill you out size-wise.
In terms of Deep Water, it’s honestly hard to screw up lifting weights. That program is big lifts for high volume. Just push yourself and eat and you’ll be fine whatever you do; I don’t think you need to spend money on a trainer.
IF college ball is the goal, though, your speed matters first, last and always. Prioritize that. In this case, that means doing whatever running plan your coaches gave you (a lot of college coaches will post a generic offseason plan nowadays) and layering in lifting, working your way up so you’re not too sore from the weight room to perform on the track.
Keep in mind, we’re all a bunch of weight sport athletes (bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman); that colors our thought process. When you ask how to gain weight, we know that answer. That puts the other stuff at risk, though. Pick one goal and freaking crush it. You never get another chance to play college ball, so that would be my choice if I were you.
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You are looking at the wrong book. You don’t need the $179 one. I own that, it’s a fun read, but the free e-book’s program is what people are referring to when they say “Deep Water”. Specifically the beginner and intermediate program.
Deep Water broke me out of a plateau and got me from a lean 184 to an even leaner 193. You really can’t go wrong. And the program is free. It’s hard, which will make you mentally tougher, and thus, better for football.
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It’s looking like Deep Water is exactly what I need. Getting big and more lean is what I’m looking for, I’m thinking it’ll also improve my speed.
I’ve got two more years of football left before college so I’m hoping if I stay with this plan I’ll be able to seriously bulk up. My speed in the 40 yard dash is currently 5.54 so I’ll watch it and make sure I don’t drop under 5.6 when I start the serious bulk.
Should I follow the diet plan in the book to the letter or would I be alright hitting the same protein and calorie goals with a different diet, maybe with more carbs?
It helps you recover better if you follow the diet. I highly recommend it. It’s really simple to follow
Potentially, definitely. Depends on their own lifting experience and willingness to stick to the program as weitten imo
@TrainForPain is right
I get paid to bring high school athletes to the next level, mostly in rugby and basketball.
Getting bigger, unfortunately, won’t make you faster unless you’re a lineman and won’t need to accelerate for longer than about 5-10m.
As a WR or DB, maximum speed is where you “make your money” so to speak. Deep Water would be a phenomenal program to help you gain mass, but it won’t help you become a better WR.
Antonio Brown didn’t make it to the NFL because he was jacked, he made it because he was a phenomenal athlete.
I’d actually recommend you have a look at:
- Fowler Fitness (Grant Fowler)
- Jochum Strength (Austin Jochum)
- Always an Athlete (Max Schmarzo)
As an aside, do you play basketball? I genuinely believe that good basketball players make excellent football skill players. The multi-directional speed, rhythm and coordination required to drive the lane for an open lay-up usually lays the ground work for phenomenal coverage/catches
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I find its the rotation of max effort work, understanding straining and identifying weak points to address with supplemental and assistance work that tends to be the issue with solo conjugate, especially with that age.
Understandable, but I feel like generally weak athletes needn’t worry about weak points. They just need to train a variety of tissues/angles/ranges consistently, with intensity and appropriate recovery
I feel as though I’m heading toward a no true scotsman here, haha.
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Are we talking D1 aspirations? I’m not trying to hurt feelings or be a jerk at all, but you’ve got just enough time that maybe some hard facts can be helpful: you are a full second too slow and gaining weight is not going to help.
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Totally see your point, “conjugate” programs where you dont worry about weak points aren’t “true” conjugate
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Damn that’s a typo lol.
I meant 4.54 speed, that’s my bad. From what I’ve heard I’ll probably be going to a low level division 1 or high level division 2 school currently but I’ll be a junior this fall so I’ll hopefully be able to build more interest and get a decent scholarship, maybe to a power 5 conference school.
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Whew. I feel so much better. I was like “wow, dude…”
I still would not accept a loss of speed. If you’re relatively undertrained, strength-wise, maybe you can even get under a 4.5 and now you’re in a whole new recruiting list! But speed is definitely not a gap for you if you maintain, which is great.
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