My 15 year old DS is quite 'weedy' how can he chunk up?

[BridgetDrones]

My 15 year old son is self conscious over his weedyness. He is average height for his age but very very skinny. He eats a lot of food I think. Is there a type of exercise or food he can eat to make him a little chunkier?!

Well when things get betterr he could go to the gym. But to be honest I think you need to stop saying weedy and tell him he is fine as he is and that some of these muscle men are not all that healthy. Point to him the dangerous practices boxes and bodybuilders put them selves through.
Tell him about being healthy. He can do swimming, boxing whatever he doesn,t need muscles. When I met my husband he was worried aboud not been able to put on weight. (he was 19 at the time.) Now he is an inactive, overweight and in his 30,s. (ok this is not by choice but he rather be that slim man again.)

Maybe he should take up road cycling....they’re all super skinny so maybe he’d have an advantage.

Loads of teenage bits are really skinny though aren’t they. They naturally fill out a bit as they get older

Obviously I haven't called him weedy! I'm his Mum and think he's perfect! However I also can appreciate that he is very skinny with not much muscle. Again, I have not pointed this out or commented on it in any way!

Weight lifting is the way to build muscle and bulk, teamed with a decent diet that’s high in protein and fibre. To bulk he’ll need to eat more calories than normal and build muscle with weights.

But some kids are always going to have a more slight build. I’ve always been boney despite exercising and weight lifting. It’s just how I am. So he might need to learn to embrace that.

I meant teenage boys, not teenage bits obviously

He needs to eat protein and do resistance training, such as lifting weights. But get him to follow a decent plan.

DS has always been self conscious because although he is quite average height and athletic most of his mates are huge. He does weight training to build muscle and cardio (running and cycling) to tone.

Don't try the protein shakes, they're full of crap and not good for a growing body.

My son is similar and when it was open he was going to gym twice a week. He didn’t do huge amounts but definitely looks better for it. Also a lot of cycling will make upper limbs torso toned which looks good. I also make him stand up straight and put his shoulders back, makes a difference.

Mine was like this at 15 (VERY skinny and looked 12). He's now 19 (and can be mistaken for 17) and still considers himself skinny, but I would call him 'wiry' (picture Mo Farah). My DS is also a runner so it works for him as a comparison.

Personally I don't think there's a lot that will make a difference until he stops growing if he's already eating a lot, maybe he has a fast metabolism.

My son has gone through similar with great success. Things that worked for him:

1 posture posture posture. If you have poor posture and do exercises they won’t work, you just build up the bits you are already overusing.

1. Time ~ the testosterone tells the body to build muscle

3 posture during exercise and principles about core strength. So slow push-ups are much much better than quick ones

4.he does also eat some weird protein supplement from Holland

Sports, and eating more. If he doesn’t like “traditional” sports, something like swimming, a bodypump class, dancing or cycling will all build muscle. But primarily he needs to be eating more.

My DPs natural body shape is very very lean and he is a bit conscious of it. He’s very into very long distance walking which doesn’t help that look!
He does a lot of conditioning and has fucking horrid protein powder with collagen in it as well as eating a daft amount of healthy food.

This is normal at his age. Hes likely just had a growth spurt.
His body will fill out on it's own.
Maybe just going to the gym regularly. But once over 25 they have a fight stopping going the other way.

Try not to let him get into the gym culture though.
Too many protein shakes aren't healthy especially at his age. And sometimes people can push drugs/ steroids which can cause further issues.
He will fill out naturally anyway, he's only 15.

If you have one near you when they open up, how about him trying out an indoor climbing gym? It's great for all over body strength and him being on the skinnier side would be an advantage starting out. He could boulder, which doesn't need a partner, or see if the gym has buddying up lists for roped climbing (if he doesn't have anyone who would like to go with him).

Mine does weights - he follows some
Jo Wickes workouts and has a protein shake after the workout. He is slim but muscly. He also plays rugby and trains for rugby which is muscle building endurance stuff. He also targets specific muscles with particular things - like body resistance bands or repetition of certain simple exercises.

Nice to want to be strong and I do think these are good habits to build at a young age but of course he needs to take care and have a balance..

Wrong about the eating more, more like eat the right things. Not junk. And to be honest surely one should focus on health not build. Too much pressure to look good and fit in. I would worry about 15 year olds fealing th need to have protein shakes.

They do a teen club at my CrossFit gym, I would recommend that sort of thing - it's (well, when the gym is open) all coached and the teens that join the adult classes lift appropriate weights and trounce everyone in the running!

Time. He's only 15. My friend's son was a skinny thing until about 23 then suddenly got all 'manly' overnight!