The game of basketball is fast paced and very racy, every move at every second counts. You need a body that will sustain the high energy impact that this game requires. It’s not about being skinny or fat, it’s about gaining weight the healthy way, after all you don’t want to be pushed down or manhandled when you’re dribbling the ball or passing it on to a team mate. You need the energy, strength and most importantly the weight to sustain the pushes, nudges and the roughness of the game.

As a basketball player you need to shift your focus from a lot of fat. You don’t want to end up like a sumo wrestler running up and down the court. You need food rich in proteins and carbohydrates that will give you a lot of muscle strength as well as help you keep your energy levels up when pacing the court. Along with putting on weight you need to train with weights, this means that your final reps in your exercise routine should be difficult to complete. This training program helps even the skinniest of basketball players to put on muscle and also prevents any kind of plateau in strength training. This will make you an intimidating opponent in a high impact sporty game like basketball.

It’s true that you can get your daily dose of calories and nutrition from your everyday food. It is only seldom that you will have to turn to weight/protein shakes that will help you with your calories, if gaining them is impossible from your daily diet. What you need to stay away from are supplements that enhance performance and enhance muscle like ephedrine and creatine, since these have a lot of side effects.

Your protein, carbs and fat intake should be good enough to help you endure the high concentrated workout sessions and practices. So, if you are looking at gaining weight, since most basketball players are lanky and look like they can be blown off with even the gentlest of winds, then you need to get into a strict routine along with intense workouts.

You need to make sure that you have an intense training session atleast 3-4 times a week. Your muscle groups like legs, biceps, triceps should be your focal point, this includes a lot of sprinting, jumping and arm strength that will help in shooting and passing.

Your calorie intake should be increased by atleast 500+ calories per day, but be sure that you don’t go overboard though, your meals should contain a large amount of proteins and carbs, don’t leave out fats have it in moderation. Your protein intake should be 56g + per day if you have to gain muscle.

Make sure that you have regular small meals spread out during the day. This will make sure that you don’t die out on energy. Your calorie intake in these 6 small meals should be of 600 cals each and should consist of fruits and vegetables that will have positive effects on your weight gain. You can also add some protein shakes that are made out of fruits. This will also help you build up on muscle that you need most as a basketball player.

Keep in mind your body requirements. Over eating is not good as so is not staying nourished enough.

Picture credit: Neeta Lind • Creative Commons Attribution