Loduca adds 30 lbs and may play LF

[lesgrant]

Firstly, I'll state that I am a Dodger fan...

Secondly, most of the reports I've read say he's gained 20 pounds of muscle...officially, on the Dodgers site at MLB.com he is reported as gaining 25 pounds of muscle.

Thirdly, if it's not muscle, he's not going to be able to lie about it for long...hence, why lie in the first place...and since Lo Duca is a stand-up guy in my book, I can't see him lying or using steroids period.

Gaining 20 to 25 pounds of muscle in 6 months, using only natural supplements, is not a medical impossibility...nor would I say it's even a medical improbability if the person is dedicated enough...I've gained 20 pounds of muscle in 3 months before, drinking only whey protein shakes to supplement my workouts...of course, I went from 170 to 190, while Lo Duca's gone from 185 to 205/210...and while I have a few inches on Lo Duca, he wore out and lost weight during last season, so some of that weight was replacing former mass he already had.

I think someone wrote that professional body builders can't gain 30 pounds of muscle in a year...I completely agree...but because body builders have already nearly maxed out the possible muscle that they can obtain, they are less likely to put on more muscle mass at any sort of significant rate...a normal person can gain muscle with relative quickness, with a large calorie intake, lots of protein, and a rigorous workout regemine.

Lastly, I'm sure he was disappointed the way he's tailed off the past two seasons after the break. I think it's logical that he would try to make himself stronger/more fit. And Lo Duca using steroids just seems absurd to me. He is a role model for Italian-Americans and he is fully aware of the responsibilities that come along with that job. He is constantly giving back to the community and I have seen or heard nothing that would indicate to me that he is using.

GO DODGERS!

First of all, regarding the issue of is it muscle or fat: Just because he says it’s muscle and the Dodgers say it’s muscle doesn’t make it an “official” fact. In sports, people and teams lie about weight, age, height and anything else that cannot be independently verified. Heck, we don’t even know if it’s 20 lbs.

Secondly, unless you know a ballplayer personally (like you have regular contact with them) don’t try to vouch for his character and integrity. You don’t know him. You only know his public persona. Many people have said similar things about many of the players connected with BALCO. In this forum, people have sworn up and down that Bonds was not juicing. So, unless he’s your childhood buddy, you don’t know what you are talking about on that level.

In terms of being dedicated enough to gain weight like that. If you do in fact body-build or lift weights you know that your muscles build themselves when you are resting not when you are lifting. As such there is a certain threshold for every bodybuilder. No one (that isn’t on steroids) can lift every day. You would never see any results because your muscles would not have time to recover. So during the offseason, LoDuca has only a set number of days/opportunities to bulk up. No amount of extra effort will yield any extra results.

Lastly, in terms of the fitness you mentioned: Athletes put on muscular weight at a much slower rate than guys who are just lifting to bulk up. Someone like LoDuca can’t just lift weights and call that conditioning. He has to balance that out with cardio exercise. Otherwise it’s not likely any weight gain will be pure muscle. Similarly, to maintain flexibility, he has to stretch out and lengthen his muscles. Otherwise, we won’t even be able to swing a bat for a full range of motion or stretch for a ball at first base. Stretching and cardio significantly slow the weight gain process. So to compare results that an athlete can attain to those of a pure weightlifter is not really appropriate.

I don’t know what happened this off-season with him, but chances are there’s something fishy somewhere in this scenario.

[KULCAT]

Ive been lifting for 4 years now and ive mantained the 10 pounds of muscle i added the first year. It is not easy to get that big and it doesnt just depend on will. Gaining or losing weight depends of the type of body you have and your methabolism. Smaller guys usually get bigger muscles faster but reach their limit pretty quick because they dont got that much body mass in them. Slender guys on the other hand have more "room " to add muscle.(look at Will Smith in Ali, he added 30 pounds). No that im an expert but im quite convinced that loduca did hit the weights, probably used something like Creatine and then ate a lot, maybe not happy meals all the time but probably increase his intake by a 1000 calories. There´s no way you can change your body like that without changing your diet too.
As for Loduca, well how can i put it? Ill put him in the "what have you done for me lately" category and draft lecroy ahead of him.

[cannonarm21]

Mt question is...who catches for L.A. if LoDuca is in the outfield?

[reelbiggecko]

David Ross...who sucks.

[fezzik]

Let's see...where to begin...
I'll attempt to address some points made in response to my post and I apologize if I don't cover them all because I don't know how to copy only a single sentence of a previous post.

I was 24 when I hit the gym and put on the weight. I play a lot of sports (soccer the most demanding of them) and have a high metabolism (I also ran during my lifting so not to detract from my athleticism). Now I'm 25. I ate more food and had a whey protein shake in the morning after I ran and in the evening after I lifted. Three months later I had gained 20 pounds of lean muscle.

Okay, someone said you can't workout everyday, because your muscles grow when they are actually recovering from the strain of working out...while your muscles do need time to recover/heal/mend, it's quite easy to work out everyday if you isolate different muscle groups each day (i.e. chest, tricep, shoulder followed by back, bicep, neck followed by legs...if you want to stay on a weekly schedule, you can take one day off each week, so you're working out six days instead of seven).

Obviously I don't know Lo Duca personally. I was only stating what I believe to be true. Following that, I gave some reasons why I believe what I do. I tend to trust people until they give me a reason not to trust them. Lo Duca has given me no such reason.

Someone has questioned the factual nature of my comments...this I find the most laughable, since no facts are currently available. I've read multiple articles on his weight gain, and most said he gained 20 pounds, with one apiece for 25 and 30...all implied it was muscle. Every argument made AGAINST him was purely subjective in it's interpretation of his weight gain. I at least alluded to personal experience and clarified the possibility (and in my mind probability) that (1) Lo Duca put on muscle and not fat and (2) he put it on without the use of steroids.

I agree for Lo Duca to put on the weight, he must have worked hard. And not everyone could put on that much muscle in 5-6 months. However, since I remember him looking pretty sickly at the end of last year, and since I trust people until they give me cause not to, I think it entirely possible he did it...and did it off the juice.

Another quick point. I've never mentioned he'd be a viable fantasy catcher this year. While I expect an improvement over last year, I still have him ranked as a borderline starter in a 12 team league (ranked around 11-13).

You're not going to change my mind. I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm just getting another perspective out there, so that when people decide to read the thread, they can have something else to mull over while they're deciding for themselves what to believe. This is a forum of opinions. I've stated mine.

[lesgrant]

For clarification, by “lift every day” I meant work the same muscle group everyday, which would still limit the amount of days to work that particular group during a three to four month period.

Anything, pro or con is purely speculative at this point – not just those points that are against him. My main point is that we do not know.

But, I’ve heard this many times before about people. I remember about how I heard Mo Vaughn LOST weight. That didn’t happen.

Is Paulie worth it anyway?

[Freebird27]

Hey, when you saw La Duca on TV? was his head bigger?

ROTFL