My Chase for Varsity: Ltownindians07

#1

Me:
Height: 6’1
Weight: 162
Body Fat: 16%
Location: Eastern Pennsylvania

School Information:
Name: Lehighton High School
Size: 850 Students, Bottom 3A
Conference: Mountain Valley
My G.P.A.: 4.0

My Goals:
-Make varsity team
-Gain 20-25 lbs. of muscle
-Eat a healthier diet
-Drop to a single percentage body fat

Current Workout Program:
Monday: Joe Defranco’s WS4SB Four Day Split (ME Upper), Velocity Sports Training
Tuesday: Joe Defranco’s WS4SB Four Day Split (DE Lower), School Open Gym (Hitting, Light Fielding Inside)
Wednesday: Joe Defranco’s WS4SB Four Day Split (Repition Upper), Velocity Sports Training
Thursday: Joe Defranco’s WS4SB Four Day Split (ME Lower), School Open Gym (Hitting, Light Fielding Inside)
Friday: Nothing
Saturday: School Open Gym (Hitting, Intense Fielding, Conditioning)
Sunday: Nothing

My Diet: (Average Day)
7 A.M- English Muffin w/ PB, Scrambeled Eggs, Bacon, OJ
11:30 A.M- Piece of Pizza or Salad or Cheeseburger (School Options are Unfortunatly Extremely Limited)
4:30 P.M- Chicken/Beef, Vegetable, Starch
7 P.M- Some type of fruit
10 P.M-Fruit or any other snack

I’ve charted my diet for a couple days now and I find that I’m averaging about 2,050 calories per day. Not nearly enough. I hate my school for its scheduling. I look at it now and I probably should be eating around 9:30 and the 5 hour gap between meals after lunch has to be changed because in no way is it beneficial to my lifting. Nutrition is something that I’ve had interest in for a while and I even took a class on it this year unfortunatly that class if for the slowest of minds basically covering the simplest of concepts.

Extra Information:
-The velocity sports training, is an actual center in which as a team we go and do conditioning, plyometrics, work on running form, and core work. I was impressed with it in our first workout.
-I have been running defranco’s program to a T for six weeks, and my gains of strength have been great but sometimes I question whether it’s functionality towards baseball is enough.

Questions:
-Does anyone have any information or advice on nutrition and how to end up eating the proper amount of calories in a day?
-Anyone have any comment on defranco’s program?
-Any advice on working hard and achieving my goals.

I hope to make this thread a daily thing for me and I’ll be posting my workouts and how they go and hopefully along with my diet for maybe a week or so. I’ve admired centerfield quite a bit for his work and progress and I plan on documenting mine in the same way.

Thank in advance guys

#2

good luck dude, do you have any info on your baseball stats? What pitches do you have, what velocity are you at, etc.? I think that you are doing the right thing, just stick with it. You will be a “not so skinny bastard” in no time if you keep up that program. Just remember, its not only about nutrition and working out, but about learning the skills of the game. Throw 3-6 times a week, work on your mechanics. That, above all else will help you make varsity this spring.

I’ll follow this as much as possible, keep posting and once again, good luck!

#3

I’m heading into my sophmore season this year. My freshman year the program was coming off a one win season going 1-19 and we had a whole new coaching staff and a whole new importance on winning. We made sure we had huge turn outs at open gyms and workouts and the program made great strides to improvement. Varsity record was 4-16 but losing 8 one run games. The team was plagued by a few bad attitudes in key spots and that lead to some discipline problems, most of those guys are gone. We have 40 guys trying out for two teams and I believe 15 are freshman. The program is becoming alot deeper and our new coach is really using innovative training methods and putting a huge emphasis on hard work which I find as a refreshing idea for our baseball program.

JV:
Offense: 14-32 .438 12 Runs 6 RBI 4 Walks 5 Doubles
Pitching: (1-5) 1 Save 35 IP 48 H 21 ER 10 K’s 10 BB 4.20 ERA

Babe Ruth:
Offense: 16-32 .500 10 Runs 15 RBI 6 Walks 5 Doubles
Pitching: (2-0) 23 Innings 13 H 7 ER 27 K’s 5 BB 2.13 ERA

My Pitching:
Soft-Tossing Lefty
Fastball: 68-71
Circle Change- 61-64
Curveball- 58-61

I basically utilize a my mind when I pitch more than anything. I have a good knack of finding holes in hitter’s swings and basically ever since I’ve been pitching everyone has said I don’t throw hard enough and granted I’m working really hard to get my velocity up I still can get by on a day when I don’t have my best stuff. Somethings I notice when I pitch is the fact that I don’t utilize my legs nearly enough. My stride tends to shrink as my focus goes off of it and that’s something that I need to have consistently. I’m not much of a strikeout pitcher but I tend to have tons of weak ground balls throughout games just from keeping the timing of hitters off. Most of you guys are probably laughing at the numbers I have velocity wise, that’s okay, I’m used to it. I’ve just always kept the ball away from sweetspots but I know that for me to be succesful against varsity teams I’ll need to get my velocity up and be able to have consistent mechanics.

#4

hey that’s not too bad at all, average velocity for a freshman is probably around 70-75, so you aren’t too far behind. I was topping out at 73 at the beginning of my freshman year, and I have made huge strides since then. You will too. Keep up the winning attitude. Do you have any videos of your mechanics to show us?

#5

Monday’s Workout:

Bench: (5x135) PR
DB Bench: (15x40)
DB Rows: (10x50) PR
Rear Delt Flyes: (10x10)
Barbell Shrugs: (12x185) PR
Barbell Curls: 10x70

That’s the max day upper for defranco’s program. What’s anyone think about the benching. I know so many people question it. Overall it was a great day, I felt great, most likely because it was new years eve, but hey whatever it takes.

Tuesday’s Workout:
Box Jumps (Skipped)
Bulgarian Split Squats h/dumbbells: (8x30)
45 degree hyperextensions h/dumbbell: (10x30)
Core Cycle

Total failure of a day. Three weeks ago I pulled my groin or a hip flexor and it’s still nagging me and it’s flaired up again and it makes it almost impossible to have any explosion and I can’t even attempt my jumps. I’m beginning to worry about it, it felt like it was healed up and now it’s back. I took a swing and went through my delivery today and basically if my hip is around during the season, I won’t be able to play. I have no push off of my back leg, totally dibilitating. It’s very frustrating.

Wednesday:
Incline DB Bench: (14x40)
Lat Pulldown: (10x110)
Scarecrows Variation: (10x80)
DB Military Press: (10x35)
Safety Squat Bar Shrugs: (12x155)
Hammer Curls: (10x30)

Fairly productive day today. Things felt good. Physically I feel like a wreck, my hip is killing me and my lower back is awfully sore. These nagging injuries are getting a bit old. I’m gonna skip my fourth day workout in hopes that my hip will heal up, I know heavy squats won’t help it that’s for sure. Overall the days I could lift, were great, but the fact that my body isn’t letting me lift is very frustrating.

I’ll be posting my diet for a couple days on here in a bit.

#6

Monday’s Workout:

Bench: (5x135)
DB Floor Press: (15x45) PR
Seated Cable Rows: (10x105)
Rear Delt Flyes: (10x10)
Barbell Shrugs: (12x180)
Seated DB Incline Curl: (10x25)

Solid workout, nothing overly impressive. Tough being amped up on a monday but a good day. Back and hip still bugging me but improving.

Today was basically the first day of my true season. Now my schedule truly begins for the next couple months.

Showing the true dedication of our baseball program tonight at the velocity sports training complex we had 4 out of 40 of our players show up. Amazing dedication (sarcasm). At least they work you harder on a more individual basis. It’s the first time where I’ve actually been around people educated in physiology and they are very advanced in their way of thinking. It’s refreshing. Great Program

-One Leg Stair Hops
-Pogo Jumps
-Standing Long Jump
-Verticle Jumps
-Star Jumps
-2 Other Jumps
-Running Form
-Sprints
-Ladder Drills
-Stabiltity Ball Core Work
-Many other things

Centerfield, you’ll love this one. On the ride down to the training complex my coach talked of a coaches clinic he was at in philadelphia. Some of the people who spoke were.

-Rick Peterson (Mets Pitching Coach)
-Arizona State’s Head Coach
-Vanderbilt’s Head and Pitching Coach
-Yankees Strength and Conditioning Director

Basically the collaboration of ideas he gathered was that everyone there spoke about. NO olympic lifts. They said no squats, unless they were total body weight squats. No dead lifts. No snatches. No cleans. No nothing. All band work with body weight drills. I’ll be posting the link to the program’s they said but basically that’s what they spoke about. I found it kinda dumbfounding listening to my coach taught. I see I’ll likely be in your position centerfield, dealing with a coach with stubborn ideas that I won’t agree with.

I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts about the ideas the guys spoke on.

#7

Tuesday’s Workout:

Vertical Jumps: (5 sets of 3 jumps)
Bulgarian Split Squats: (10x35) Using Dumbbells
Hyperextensions: (10x35) Holding Dumbbell
Core Circuit: Bridge, Crunch, V-Sit Up, Leg Lift, Chops, Russian Twists

Surprisingly excellent workout today, my hip felt awesome, no problems at all. Explosion on my jumps was fantastic and everything else went great. Challenged myself to work hard for perfect for with each rep. Ecstatic that my hip is healing. My back was a bit sore yet but that’ll heal up too.

Tonight I have my first open gym for baseball. I can’t wait to see the attitude and turn out of our players tonight, hoping for a big crowd. Most likely we’ll hit and do some basic fielding drills. Maybe throw a bullpen. I can’t wait to get into it.

School’s going to become a great challenge within the next two weeks. Finals are breathing down my neck and next semester is going to be a challenge.

2nd Semester
Block 1: Fitness (Awesome, Can get some early cardio and lifting in)
Block 2: Honors Biology (I’ve had people tell me to cower in fear)
Block 3: Geometry (Math never was my strongest class)
Block 4: Software Applications (A+ without a doubt)

I thought about my diet in depth a little more today. I’m thinking something along these lines.

7 A.M.- 3 Eggs, Whole Grain Cereal, Orange Juice, Fruit
10 A.M.-Protein Bar/Nuts/Oats/Fruit (Some kind of healthy food)
1 P.M.-Protein Bar/Nuts/Oats/Fruit (Some kind of healthly food)
4 P.M.-After Workout Protein Shake and Dinner
7 P.M.-Much like a smaller dinner
10 P.M. Not quite sure

That’s six meals. If I can some way get 600 calories per meal that’s 3600 calories which I don’t think would be too bad in hopes of gaining some muslce. I’ll be lifting and what not. Does anyone have any ideas for things I can eat quickly in school or things I can eat right before bed. What are some of the best things I can eat at night?

#8

[quote]7 A.M.- 3 Eggs, Whole Grain Cereal, Orange Juice, Fruit
10 A.M.-Protein Bar/Nuts/Oats/Fruit (Some kind of healthy food)
1 P.M.-Protein Bar/Nuts/Oats/Fruit (Some kind of healthly food)
4 P.M.-After Workout Protein Shake and Dinner
7 P.M.-Much like a smaller dinner
10 P.M. Not quite sure [/quote]
Not a bad starting point. One thing I would add here is to make sure you getting whole foods for a majority of your intake, not just protein bars or shakes. That being said, your 1 pm meal should be more substantive.

An easy one for school is a chicken salad. At the beginning of the week (sunday night) you cook 5-7 chicken breasts on the bbq or in the oven. Put each in an individual ziplock bag (you can chop up a couple for salad, then leave a couple whole for sandwiches). So all you have to do in the morning before school is throw some spinach, lettuce and whatever other veggies you like (tomatoes, carrots, etc) in a tupperware container. At lunch you just combine the chopped chicken with the salad and you are set (you can also find little packets of dressing to throw in a bag). Chicken sandwiches are even easier - just take the cooked chicken out of the fridge and put it on some whole wheat bread, then add some spinach and tomatoes. Throw a piece of fruit in there with some mixed nuts (almonds are really good) and you are set with a great meal.

#9

I have some formulas that a ML team recommends for weight gain, loss, or maintenance. (cal, protein, fat, carbs, etc)

I’d dig em up now, but I have an absurd amount of essays due in school tomorrow. Please be patient, I’ll get em to you by tomorrow night. :lol:

#10

Since you’re looking for weight gain, the formulas listed for daily calorie and protein consumption are:

cal: [(weight in lbs)(23)] + 500 = calories
protein: (calories0.15) / 4 = grams of protein

So for 162lbs, we’re looking at 4226 calories and 158 grams of protein.

This is all according to the nutritionist of an AL team…sounds like a lot to me, but I’m not the one with the college degree :stuck_out_tongue:

#11

Hey what’s up you seem really dedicated, that’s awesome man keep it up. I am in the same position you are I am a sophomore looking to start varsity except I’m not 6’1" I’m only 5’11" lol. So you go to Lehighton, do you guys play Dallas and Wyoming Valley West and all those teams? I have a cousin who plays for Dallas. I myself play for Loyalsock Township just outside of Williamsport. I just thought it was cool someone from a place near me posts on this website. I don’t mean to steal your thread so I’ll stop now. Good luck and keep working hard.

#12

Wednesday Workout:
DB Bench: (15x45) PR
Lat Pulldown: (10x110)
Scarecrows Variation: (10x80)
DB Lat Raise: (10x20)
Safety Squat Bar Shrugs: (8x185) PR
Barbell Curls: (10x70)

Great day today. I’m really happy with how my back and hip have healed up. I was starting to fear they would nag me through my season but taking four days off last weekend healed them up great. Workout went good today.

Velocity Training Center:
Worked extremely hard, soaked through with sweat by the end of the night. Plyos and core work killed me. Feels great though.

Diet is a lot harder than I thought it would be alot easier. I’ll work on it.

Wednesday looked like:
7 A.M-3 eggs, cereal, orange juice
10 A.M-Protein Bar
11:30 A.M-2 chocolate milks
4 P.M-Protein Shake
5:30 P.M-2 baked chicken legs, brocolli, and mashed sweet potatoes
9 P.M-2 Servings of Protein Shake

I figure that’s around 2,500 calories, definitly not enough. I need to put more of an effort on food.

Another thing I’ve realized is that I’m staring down the barrel of a hectic as hell second semester. Looking at having to fit in all these things during one day.
-lifting
-practice or velocity
-eating (never thought eating would need to be a priority)
-homework (I have two classes notorious for homework each night)
-of course time for my girlfriend of two years (she’s great, and the most understanding person I know)

That leaves me with zero time for myself for the next couple months. at the moment I find it like a challenge. I’m actually pumped to get into it just to take on the challenge.

Hey baseballer, it’s cool that you’re from the area too. We haven’t played to many teams out your way. We play more up in the poconos than anything. btw How about those n.l. east division champion phils, haha what do you think of the off season so far?

#13

Ahh I think they could have done better I was really disappointed when they let Rowand go but I was happy to see Lidge come in and Meyers back to the rotation. I still am not too happy about what they’ve done so far they just don’t want to spend any money. Did you know that one of their owners just sold his cigar business for a few billion $! And they say they have no money. What cheapskates! Lol I could go on forever about them I just hope they don’t go back to what they were doing before last year and that is losing.

I see so you guys basically only play Pocono teams btw how far are you from Wilkes-Barre?

#14

I thought it was great when they brought Lidge in and I think Myers will be great, him and Hamels are gonna be one hell of a one two punch at the top of the rotation. The offense has been stacked the last couple years but I think the loss of Rowand will be felt pretty deep. He brought alot to the team. I hate the fact that were looking into next year with Helms and Dobbs platooning at third and Jenkins and Werth in right might add a ton of k’s to the lineup but ahh Gillick could pull something out of his hat before the season. Ownership has always made me wanna scratch my head with the phillies. There isn’t any reason we can’t spend the money, the fan base is solid year in and year out and it’s a great baseball market. It basically looks like were returning a team much like last years with a couple extra question marks.

Thursday’s Workout:
Back Squats: 5x150
Goblet Squats: 10x70
Bulgarian Split Squats: 10x40
Reverse Hypers: 10x40 (holding dumbbell)
Core Work

First time doing legs in over two weeks. I’m convinced my hip is healed. My back gave me a little trouble on the back squats but felt fine with goblets. Tough workout, everything is starting to come together. I’m ecstatic that I’m healing.

What do you guys think of using a belt for squats? It really helped my back today.

Diet:
I’m struggling with it. It’s so tough finding time to eat during school I know I need to focus on it a ton. I feel good from the week of workouts and I’m gonna start weighing myself every monday morning before school to see if I’m putting on some weight. I know consistency is key for accurate readings.

Overall:
I find it funny to be able to look at this from both ends of the spectrum. Last year at this time I was over 200 lbs. and looking for any drastic way to drop the weight. A year later 40 pounds lighter and I’m looking for ways to put the weight back on. In muscle not the former fat of course. Who would have ever thought eating would be this tough.

btw guys, protein, the stuff I’ve been taking is for two scoops which equals 56 grams of powder equals out to be 20 grams of protein. The Optimum Nutrition stuff I’m looking at is for 56 grams of powder around 45 grams of protein. I believe I’m gonna start taking that. It is relatively cheap per serving and from what I’ve read it seems like a quality protein.

That’s all from me
Have a good weekend guys
Dave

#15

quick question for you, who were the two legion pitchers from Lehighton last year?
They seemed to do a heck of a job and Lehighton had a nice team in Legion ball. That’s why I was surprised at hearing your record in high school.

Are they back this year? And what was their best stuff? How fast did they throw?

#16

Monday:

-Stayed after for school, no lifting

Velocity:
-Lots of speed training, some agility, and a lot of explosive work.

Tuesday:

Tuesday’s Workout: (Upper-Body Max)
Dumbbell Press: 3x55’s
Barbell Push Ups: 2 sets of 15
Dumbbell Rows: 8x45’s
Rear Delt Flyes: 8x10’s
Dumbbell Shrugs: 8x60’s
Barbell Curls: 8x70
Plate Pinches: One minute
Grip Trainer: 20 Reps

Everything done in sets of three today.

Things are coming together with lifting. I’m getting into a nice routine. Strength gains are becoming apparent.

Open Gym:
My coach is coming around with his approach to functional training. We’re working hard throughout practice. We’ll do some fielding drills and while your not doing those you’re doing ladder drills, medicine ball drills, or pitching drills. Our program is for once. FOCUSED. I never thought I’d say it.

Wednesday:

Wednesdsay’s Workout: (Lower Body DE)
-Vertical Jumps
-Step-Ups
-Lateral Box Jumps
-Bulgarian Split Squats: 8x40’s
-Reverse Hyperextensions: 8x40

Velocity:
-Core Work (Swiss Ball Crunch, Swiss Ball Side Crunch, Dead Bugs, Bridges, Planks)
-Sprints
-Running Form

Overall Diet:
Could be worse yet better
Yesterday I had

-3 Eggs, Salsa (I love it)
-2 pieces canadian bacon
-cereal
-orange juice
-protein bar
-two chocolate milks
-chicken breast
-asparagus
-homemade au gratin potatoes
-protein shake
-couple pieces of beef jerky before bed

2,700-3,000 I’m guessing, It’s gotta go up. School kills my progress.

Anyway, just took my honors history final, 99%, 100% for the marking period. Keeping a 4.0 gpa is really important to me, doing good with that so far. It’s a tough week to focus. Finals hang over my head.

Anyway, that’s all for me. I’ll try to post after my workout today.
Dave

#17

Thursday

Thursday’s Workout:
Dumbell Incline Bench: 13x45
Assisted Pull-Ups: x8
Rear Delt Fly Machine: 8x90
Military Press (dumbbells): 8x40
Barbell Shrug: 8x190
Hammer Curls: 8x30
Grip Strength Work (Plate Pinches, Rope Roll-Ups)

We’re pickin up some snow right now and the open gym has been cancelled. So it’s kind of an off night for me. I’ll enjoy it. I’m gonna run an ab circuit with my medicine ball and swiss ball in a couple minutes.

Diet:
7 A.M. - Cereal, Glass of Milk
9 A.M. - Orange Juice
11 A.M. - Two chocolate milks
1 P.M. - Grilled Chicken Sandwich
3 P.M. - Protein Shake
5:30 P.M. - Boneless Pork, Green Beans, Corn

As of now that’s probably like 1,900 calories. I’m gonna eat something at 7 and then at 10. Hopefully I can push 2,700. My semester changes next monday. It’s gonna leave me a lot more options for eating during school.

Overall, lifting is progressing and my diet is coming together decently.

#18

With good off speed u can get by but if u find any tips on workin to get velocity up let me know .

#19

Well guys, I’ve been thinking about getting back to updating daily for the last bunch of weeks and it has truly been forever. My schedule is insanely busy with things and tomorrow is the first day of mandatory baseball practice which truly signifies the start of the season. I’m very satisfied with the results I’m having and I’ve been working very hard.

I’ve given myself a few grades on the things that I’m working hard on.

Lifting: B-
Workouts have been good. Things are improving and my lifts have gone up. I’d like to see a little more instant progress but that’s human nature and I’m going to continue to work real hard in the gym. Tomorrow I’m going to start lifting in our high school gym after practice with one of my buddies. It oughta be nice to finally have someone that wants to work hard with me. I’m happy with how lifting has gone.

Diet: C-Food is a struggle. I’m failing to reach my calorie needs each day. Breakfast is a staple. I eat it every day it’s easy for me to get in but I have noticed that from the hours of 9 in the morning til four in the afternoon I fail to eat substantial food and now that baseball practice is starting I will find a way to work it in. I realize it’s more of my fault for not putting the effort in to find something to eat. I’m about to switch over to optimum nutrition protein so that’ll be something to watch.

School: C+
School is my top priority and my dedication had fallen by the way side for a while which wasn’t the best thing for me. At Lehighton we have block scheduling which means we have four 83 minute classes a day.

Gym- Great class, gets my energy up, well educated teacher on lifting and nutrition. It’s a joy in a hectic day.
Honors Biology- interesting class, smug young punk teacher, it’s a shame that he is a terrible teacher because physiology and biology the two topics most covered are very interesting. I’m struggling to keep a B in this class. Very challenging, Massive amounts of outside the class work.
Geometry- I hate math. Always have. Always will. Overall not terrible. I had a terrible slump with two failing quiz grades. I’ve settled back in and I’m now doing okay with a high B in the class.
Software Applications- Terribly easy class, covering already known knowledge, girlfriend is in the class. My personal favorite of the day.

Baseball Workouts: B+
Velocity has finished up. We lifted towads the end of the last month and shyed away from explosive training and core work, that got me pretty angry. In the end I put 1.5 inches on my vertical, and cut my 40 yard dash by 0.8 seconds. Yup almost a second. It really worked.
Open gyms have been good. We’ve been throwing off mounds for a couple weeks. Control is pin point and velocity is up. I’m liking what I’m seeing.

Note: We had a kid on our team get clocked at 90. The school and team is buzzing. It’s good to have some excitement for baseball up here.
I’m pumped for this season and I’m pumped to see how I turn out this year.

The next two weeks are crucial. They will decide whether or not I’m on varsity. I couldn’t be more pumped.

also guys, how are you’s. I haven’t posted in forever. Anything new to the forum?

#20

Little to no time to post anymore with the season underway. I’ll still work in getting these posts up on a consistent basis.

School has come around tremendously, my grades are way up.

I’m up to a solid 178 pounds.

Lifting has been going great, seeing lifts go up 5-10 pounds per week and packin on some solid muscle everywhere especially my legs.

and my biggest goal this year was just achieved, I made varsity.

I’m pumped about it and with about a week til our first game. I’ve been busting my butt pitching wise, getting my arm in shape, and things have been great, mechanics are a little too inconsistent for my liking, but my pitches are looking good and my control has been spot on.

Otherwise:
New to my thread, I’m going to be posting results of my games in here too.

Scrimmage Tomorrow vs. Northwestern High School

I’m gonna appear in 1-2 relief innings.