How To: Safely Bulk Up
Besides always being told that I needed to improve my foot speed as a young hockey player, coaches would also tell me that I needed to put on weight. I have always been a skinny kid and it was extremely hard to put on weight during the off-season, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t try. I listened to my coaches recommendations, did what they said and started eating everything I could get my hands on. It didn’t matter what type of food it was, as long as it would make me heavier I would eat it. Looking back I’ve realized I was given the wrong advice and as a result, I did it completely incorrectly. Everything I gained during the off-season wasn’t helpful when it came to my performance on the ice. It actually made me slower and I definitely couldn’t afford to get any slower. Not only did I suck when I first got back on the ice I would end up losing all the weight in the first 2 weeks of training camp anyways. The extra weight I gained did me no good. A few years wiser now, I know that there’s a huge difference between healthy (usable) weight, and just adding weight to be heavier.
Bulking up during the off-season probably has more to do with your nutrition than the type of workout program you’re doing. But with saying that, if you’re following the incorrect workout plan then you’ll be wasting your time and energy trying to put on extra muscle mass. Each time we lift weights or do some type of conditioning, we are creating a stimulus for our body. The response we get is determined by that exact stimulus. If we’re trying to accomplish a specific outcome then we need to apply the correct stimulus so we can achieve our specific goal.
I’m going to lay out some basic things you should follow in order to safely add healthy, usable weight that won’t slow you down on the ice. I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did!
Supplementing appropriately before and after your workout probably has the biggest impact on adding muscle size. Before your workout, you’ll want to take roughly 5g of BCAA (branched chain amino acids). BCAA’s are made up of 3 amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Consuming these amino acids pre-workout will make them readily available for your muscles to use while you’re training. When lifting weights the muscle fibers break down (this is a good thing) and in order for the muscles to get larger, they need amino acids to repair them. The amino acids can start the repair process during the workout when consumed before. This not only helps to increase the muscle’s size but can also help with the recovery process.
After the workout, you’ll want to consume a protein shake along with some carbohydrates. Post workout you should have roughly .44g of protein per 1kg of body weight and 3-4 times the amount of carbohydrates (more protein isn’t better for you). For example, if you weighed 60kg you would have 26g of protein and somewhere between 80 – 105g of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates help the muscles absorb the proteins faster and also supply energy to the muscles so you can train harder in the gym the following day. You’ll also want to add an extra 300-500cals per day on top of your recommended daily allowance.
Now, what type of workout should you do?
Workouts focused on muscle hypertrophy (growth) require the correct balance between volume and intensity. Too much or too little will hinder your results. Performing sets of 8-12 reps with around 60 seconds of rest between sets is ideal for muscle hypertrophy. You’ll want to make sure you change up your rep count throughout this training phase (should be about 6 weeks) which will give your muscles a slightly different stimulus to spark new muscle growth. Don’t be in the gym for over 90 minutes as this will hamper your growth by having too many of the wrong hormones released. Keep the rest short between sets and make sure you’re getting your pre and post nutrition shakes to maximize your gains.
If you want a plan that is specifically designed for hockey players check out the one below. I have put together two different programs. One is for the advanced lifter who has at least 2 years of training experience while the other program is for a beginner who has less than 2 years of training experience. If you decide to purchase my program I’ll send you a promo code so you can receive 30% off my nutritional guideline eBook for hockey players. This eBook will give you all the knowledge you need to make sure you’re fueling your body correctly to maximize your efforts in the gym!
