Resources for teenagers?

[DoctorTaco]

I coach Boxing and I am going to rip my goddamn hair out if I cannot figure out a way to help teenagers understand calories, nutrition, macros, and how they all affect their weight and training.

We don’t cut weight because I want them growing in a healthy way. We will water load a little fight week and maybe skip dinner if we need to the night before weigh ins. I just need these lovable fucking dummies to drink lots of water, how to eat reasonably healthy and cut back on carbs a few days before we fight.

Help me sherbros.

 

[NoSmilez]

Honestly you need to look towards Tiktok. Kids nowadays are smart but it's in their own way and their attention span is very low. I think you can probably calculate how much calories they need a day then adjust or subtract. You can ask them to download an app to do it. They will min/max it afterwards.

 

[1rawdog]

I coach Boxing and I am going to rip my goddamn hair out if I cannot figure out a way to help teenagers understand calories, nutrition, macros, and how they all affect their weight and training.

We don’t cut weight because I want them growing in a healthy way. We will water load a little fight week and maybe skip dinner if we need to the night before weigh ins. I just need these lovable fucking dummies to drink lots of water, how to eat reasonably healthy and cut back on carbs a few days before we fight.

Help me sherbros.

FWIW I feel your pain, this pretty much goes for every age but youngins are the worst. "Bodybuilders" or anyone desperate to get big and strong with weights will sometimes take nutrition seriously but it drops off rapidly with other sports.
And frankly the first group I mentioned usually are hung up on getting you to affirm that all they need to do is gulp down some oral roids or do tren.
Shit kills me.

I'm guessinng you probably only have so much time with them too. Other than some really short material to absorb I'd suggest that you might have some luck with pounding a few short quips into their heads. "you are what you eat" type of things. Then you can bring them back up in both positive and negative ways. "you think that bag of chips you had for lunch might not have been the best choice? A different choice might have made the differnce in that last 30 seconds" "You came in a little better hydrated today huh? you look faster in that drill"
Those are dumb examples but you'll have better ones I'm sure.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Honestly you need to look towards Tiktok. Kids nowadays are smart but it's in their own way and their attention span is very low. I think you can probably calculate how much calories they need a day then adjust or subtract. You can ask them to download an app to do it. They will min/max it afterwards.

I’ve got one kid with the potential to make the US national team. I told him if he downloads and uses MyFitnessPal or some other macro and calorie tracking app for 30 days straight, I’d buy him a new pair of gloves, or headgear, foul protection, whatever.

TikTok is actually a really smart idea. Good thinking, man.

FWIW I feel your pain, this pretty much goes for every age but youngins are the worst. "Bodybuilders" or anyone desperate to get big and strong with weights will sometimes take nutrition seriously but it drops off rapidly with other sports.
And frankly the first group I mentioned usually are hung up on getting you to affirm that all they need to do is gulp down some oral roids or do tren.
Shit kills me.

I'm guessinng you probably only have so much time with them too. Other than some really short material to absorb I'd suggest that you might have some luck with pounding a few short quips into their heads. "you are what you eat" type of things. Then you can bring them back up in both positive and negative ways. "you think that bag of chips you had for lunch might not have been the best choice? A different choice might have made the differnce in that last 30 seconds" "You came in a little better hydrated today huh? you look faster in that drill"
Those are dumb examples but you'll have better ones I'm sure.

this is a great mindset. Thank you

 

[NoSmilez]

I’ve got one kid with the potential to make the US national team. I told him if he downloads and uses MyFitnessPal or some other macro and calorie tracking app for 30 days straight, I’d buy him a new pair of gloves, or headgear, foul protection, whatever.

TikTok is actually a really smart idea. Good thinking, man.

this is a great mindset. Thank you

Myfitnesspal is free but it's decent. If the kid is willing to pay for an app then he might be able to get something better. The paid apps track macros and offer suggestions. It might make eating even easier. Ask the kid if his phone is jailbroken. He can try out different apps without paying for it.

The apps also connect to a strap or watch. They can monitor other parameters etc etc. There are tons of stuff the kid can do it. Kids usually optimize stuff to their own liking. Look for an app that allows a printout. He can print it out or send it to you.

Edit: oh yea get a scale and measuring spoons/cups from Amazon.

 

[1rawdog]

I’ve got one kid with the potential to make the US national team. I told him if he downloads and uses MyFitnessPal or some other macro and calorie tracking app for 30 days straight, I’d buy him a new pair of gloves, or headgear, foul protection, whatever.

TikTok is actually a really smart idea. Good thinking, man.

this is a great mindset. Thank you

You are gonna know way more about boxing specific stuff than I ever will but a couple more thoughts for ya. For all of them just as a life lesson but especially for the national team hopefull - make sure that they are awre of the very tiny percentage of gifted guys who achieve something in the sport by just winging it vs the larger group of less gifted who have to absolutley squeeze every last percentage out of every angle to get somewhere.
Then there are a few guys that afaik are examples of the second group, talented for sure but optimizers of that last precious few percent. I'm sure you know about Lomachenko and the years of dancing but I've heard he is also crazy with the nutrition as well. Another one is Alavarez super strict and measures everything apparently.
I think it's a pretty good bet that almost all of them have a chef and a nutritionist once they get some "fuck you money".
My point being as we near our maximized potential everything can be a difference maker, especially when the game can be decided by split seconds.
Good luck, love hearing about a coach who really gives a shit especially about kids.

 

[shunyata]

I’ve got one kid with the potential to make the US national team. I told him if he downloads and uses MyFitnessPal or some other macro and calorie tracking app for 30 days straight, I’d buy him a new pair of gloves, or headgear, foul protection, whatever.

TikTok is actually a really smart idea. Good thinking, man.

this is a great mindset. Thank you

I'd second tiktok, it's one of the only things kids seem to listen to these days.

If you can find someone puts out good content on nutrition and send them those tiktoks they're much more likely to watch those clips than read a webpage or a nutrition textbook.

 

[DoctorTaco]

You are gonna know way more about boxing specific stuff than I ever will but a couple more thoughts for ya. For all of them just as a life lesson but especially for the national team hopefull - make sure that they are awre of the very tiny percentage of gifted guys who achieve something in the sport by just winging it vs the larger group of less gifted who have to absolutley squeeze every last percentage out of every angle to get somewhere.
Then there are a few guys that afaik are examples of the second group, talented for sure but optimizers of that last precious few percent. I'm sure you know about Lomachenko and the years of dancing but I've heard he is also crazy with the nutrition as well. Another one is Alavarez super strict and measures everything apparently.
I think it's a pretty good bet that almost all of them have a chef and a nutritionist once they get some "fuck you money".
My point being as we near our maximized potential everything can be a difference maker, especially when the game can be decided by split seconds.
Good luck, love hearing about a coach who really gives a shit especially about kids.

Thanks man. I think a taste of national competition will help him see that his raw talent isn’t enough. When these other kids are at his level (granted, it took them 5x longer to get there) it’s the things he does different that will put him over on them. His unique coaches and their unique approach to training. His nutrition. The emphasis on fun. I think when he sees the nutrition piece helping him train harder and feel better he’ll be a believer