Advice needed: college athlete

[Random12467]

I’m looking for some fitness advice. I currently am a freshman in college and I wrestle. I’m 6’2 and 225lbs. My coaches and I decided it was best for me to make the transition to heavyweight (Max 285 lbs.) collegiate heavy weight wrestling can be brutal and most guys are very large, strong, heavy dudes, and I can’t compete only weighing 225. I know I want to put on a MINIMUM of 40 pounds over the next 8 months, and I need to get as strong as possible, however I still want to keep my athletic ability and not become a complete pud. I’ve heard that I need to be at 4K calories, I’ve heard 6k, 8k+ calories. What should my calories/macros look like? I also know I need to spend most of my time in the gym, even though I already do. What should my training split look like? I’ve thought about going 3 days a week high volume and 3 days a week strength training, but I’ve also heard that this is ineffective and that I should train in fazes, 8-12 weeks hypertrophy first, and then focus on strength training after. What is best for my bulking journey in order for me to be a primed, large, strong, 265 lbs+ tank 8 months from now? Any advice helps, thanks.

 

[woodswise]

40 lbs over 8 months is 5 lbs per month, or a little over 1 lb per week. First, I would increase your protein consumption until you are at 250 g per day. Then, I would keep fats at 100g per day or so. Then add in carbs until you are steadily gaining 1 lb per week. If you are eating 2,800 Kcals per day now, you should increase by 500 Kcals per day at first, to see if that is enough to gain your 1 lb per week. If it is not, increase by another 250 Kcals per day, etc.

To keep track, you will need to log your food and beverages. Failure to do so will significantly impair your progress. I use fitday.com, the free version. Friends of mine use myfitnesspal.com.

Monitor your bodyfat. If you start gaining too much fat, cut back on carbs and increase the protein a bit. Let us know how it goes, bud!

 

[BLTC]

that's a tall ask without gear....you're going to get fat/slow. Maybe work on being a lightning quick 250lb heavyweight?

 

[SAD]

I feel like I already answered this with some clear but soft advice so I’ll be a little harder this time.

You cannot do what you want.
It is impossible.

Even if it were possible to gain 40lbs of lean weight in 8mo, you wouldn’t be able to yield it the way you want.

You can either

A.) be unrealistic and anal about every single little detail and still fail at your goal and be left fat and frustrated

B.) be realistic and concentrate on the basics without over complicating everything and wind up happier and a more effective grappler

My second .02

 

[woodswise]

I feel like I already answered this with some clear but soft advice so I’ll be a little harder this time.

You cannot do what you want.
It is impossible.

Even if it were possible to gain 40lbs of lean weight in 8mo, you wouldn’t be able to yield it the way you want.

You can either

A.) be unrealistic and anal about every single little detail and still fail at your goal and be left fat and frustrated

B.) be realistic and concentrate on the basics without over complicating everything and wind up happier and a more effective grappler

My second .02

These guys are right. You won't be able to gain 60 lbs of muscle in that short amount of time. At most you might gain 7 to 10 lbs over a year if youre lucky.

Most likely, you'll gain a few lbs of glycogen and water in your muscles, 7 to 10 lbs of muscle (probably closer to 7 over a year) and the rest will be fat.

That is why I qualified my advice with you monitoring how fat you're getting, because you don't want to get too fat because it will be hard to take off later. I would keep your bodyfat below 20%, max or even better below 15%.

 

[Littleguy]

just curious are you one if those new fangled Transgender athletes?

 

[midevil]

Lets be realistic bro! Most wrestlers in that weight category aren't lean at all.

I'd say put as much weight on as you can, fat / muscle, as healthy as possible. I'm sure your coach doesn't expect you to be sub 10 bf.

In wrestling weight = power (With proper strength training).