• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Bulking Up

L

lee-unit

Guest
Hi, this is my first post on this website so I will see how many replies I get. I am 14 years old, 5ft 10 and roughly 10 stone. I am probrally one of the skinniest people on our team and I am not very confident running with the ball, if I bulk up abit i think it will improve my game alot. Need some tips/ advice on workouts and dieting but would prefer to not use supplements. :)
 
First of all, I wouldnt start bulking up at 14. your body is nowhere near finished growing.

Secondly, if your lack of confidence relates to your fear of getting mushed, then your size will never really be the problem. Bulking up wont make too much of a difference as you will still run into bigger guys than you, and you'll worry about running with the ball.

I'd suggest you deal with the mental side of it first. You need to try enjoy the physical side of the game. Remember Brian O'Driscoll (he who is god) is one of the most physical players on the pitch yet he is consistently one of the smallest (height and weight) on the pitch.
 
I would agree with the above post. Trying to bulk up at 14 will cost you and only result in the opposite in the long run.

Size also isn't everything in rugby. In fact, most of the best players IMO are quite small compared to the bigger guys in their position: Richie McCaw, Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Williams believe me I can name plenty more. I used to play at wing and was quite big for a wing and I can assure you that I hated playing against smaller guys more than the big blokes. Sure, you feel it playing against the big guys but the small guys make you look like and idiot by ducking, sidestepping etc. Anyway, I play lock now (my wife is a good cook) so don't need to worry about that too much *yay* any more.

What position do you play?
 
Technique > Size, really
Mirroring what the guys above said, you'll often see in a match a wing or fullback bringing down a prop, because they've got the right technique. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall". And being able to nip around players is just as handy as being able to smash through them, look at Shane Williams :p
The simple way of bulking up is just to eat more than you burn off through exercise. And eat clean as well, so no junk food etc. But at 14 you're still going to be growing, so your body could change alot quite quickly (i went from 5'10 to 6'2-3 between ages 15-17)
 
I am a fullback now but I used to play lock/no. 8 and really enjoyed that. I got moved to fullback as I went from about 5ft 3 to my height now in just over a year!
 
I'm the same age and height, but I'm lighter (I'm around 8 stone) and also play Fullback as my prefered position. I had the same worries about being too small a year ago or so, but just went out there, first ga,e and scored. I went out next week, and scored again. My confidence soared and soared. I've never done weight or anything, but have developed into a solid enough unit through taking hits, as I'm confident enough to think I'll survive them and not get mushed.

I've scored 8 tries in our last 3 games as a result. There really is no substitute for confidence.

If you're pretty nippy, that tends to help, too.
 
If you really do want to add a bit of muscle, or just get a bit stronger, please don't start doing any weights. At your age, it'll just stunt your growth, as the energy usually used to grow taller, will be used to grow muscles. You can always grow muscles later on in life, you can never regain the height you'd loose.

I'd suggest just doing some press-up's, pull-up's and sit-up's. Basically, just excercises using your own body weight as resistance. But as others have said above, your confidence will grow the more times you get tackled/make a tackle and realise that it doesn't hurt as much as you emagined. I was the same as you when I first started out. Everyone was much bigger and had been playing for years.

10 stone and 5'10" isn't small at 14 years old, I was nowhere neer that at your age, more like 5'5" and 7st.
 
Hopefully you'll take all this advice onboard! Much the same, DON'T starting using weights at such an early age or you'll never make 6ft. Just carry on training and playing and you will naturally bulk up the more you play.
My stats were about the same as yours, maybe I was smaller in height, at your age. I'm 20 now, playing centre and pushing 13 stone, which is quite healthy I think and the right way to go about things!!
 
Remember Shane Williams who is technically a midget is one of the best players in world Rugby, only problem being he's Welsh and not Australian or South African.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Logorrhea @ Dec 15 2009, 05:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
First of all, I wouldnt start bulking up at 14. your body is nowhere near finished growing.

Secondly, if your lack of confidence relates to your fear of getting mushed, then your size will never really be the problem. Bulking up wont make too much of a difference as you will still run into bigger guys than you, and you'll worry about running with the ball.

I'd suggest you deal with the mental side of it first. You need to try enjoy the physical side of the game. Remember Brian O'Driscoll (he who is god) is one of the most physical players on the pitch yet he is consistently one of the smallest (height and weight) on the pitch.[/b]
Spot on advice for you. That and the comment about technique. All sport has the psycological side to it. You have to overcome your notions about physicallity and just be ready to take on men no matter what their size. Yes, that's easy coming from me, because I'm massive, but I will say, those smaller guys who play fearlessly are usually the ones who hurt me the most. They have flawless tackling technique and know how to use my body size to their advantage.
I think it's Judo that teaches you how to use your opponents momentum to take them down. That may be something to look into to help your on pitch performance.
 
first of all, you're not that small for a 14 year old who has only just been through their growth spurt. and you should definitely never forget the importance of technique and commitment.

however, advice there's also some very bad advice in here: weight training DOES NOT stunt growth if performed correctly. idk how people can still blithely repeat such nonsense. in fact, 14/15 is usually the perfect time to start weight training provided you've already hit puberty.
 
Where does this apparent 'myth' come from then, and how should weight training be performed properly for a guy of his age then?
 
people repeat this advice all the time, but as far as i know there are no studies that back it up. the concern is that it will damage growth plates but it's not clear that weightlifting is riskier in this regard that most sports.

proper weight training just means good form
 
It's true that weight training could stunt your growth, but only in extreme cases.
Weight training is commonly known to strengthen your body all the way down to the bones. GPs are very often prescribing older people to go to the gym and use weights to help prevent the onset of osteoperosis.
It's claimed that it helps strengthen joints, encourages good posture (which as we all know leads to better bones and muscles as we get older and even proper use of the lungs, so they stay strong til an old age), adapts hand-eye co-ordination when faced with opposing forces, trains the individual a sense of discipline both physically and mentally (if they abuse their technique in the gym, even with the light weights they can damange themselves) - it has so many benefits!

Schools around my way have (i think) 2 sessions a week where the kids can go to the local gym and work out.
It's encouraged for most ages, but to certain extents. Heavy lifting, however, is strongly discouraged for anyone still growing, or too old and of course for someone who's unaccustomed to heavy lifting. There's a very small bracket of people that can endure heavy lifting and it takes time, patience and knowledge before you can start safely pushing your body through - what you originally thought were - it's limits.

Bulking up at 14 is not the way to go about it, but avoiding weight lifting simply because you're still growing - that is most definitely a myth.
 

Latest posts

Top