CU's Givens trying to pack on the pounds

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 5, 2008 at 11:24 p.m.

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Bryce Givens is giving gluttony a good shot.

So far, it's not working.

Givens, a strapping freshman offensive lineman at the University of Colorado with a metabolism that might make a hummingbird envious, is on a serious weight-gaining mission, trying to add about 30 pounds to his 6-foot-6 frame.

But that's only a start. On any given day since reporting in August at slightly less than 250 pounds, he weighs anywhere from 239 to 245, and even adding 30 pounds before next season would get him to a weight that most offensive line coaches still believe is on the light side.

So Givens, a Mullen High School product who was among CU's prized 2008 recruits, has become a very conscientious calorie counter - but going in the other direction. Trying to add 1 to 2 pounds a week, he has doubled his daily meals, ingesting nearly 7,000 calories daily.

"I've been talking to a nutritionist and we've been figuring it out - I'm probably somewhere under (7,000), but I need to be around that in order to gain weight," he said.

"I've been just pounding everything I could in sight. I'm trying to eat about six or seven meals a day, keep full of fluids and just keep pounding away."

His position coach, Jeff Grimes, a former offensive lineman at Texas-El Paso, dreamily says, "I wish I could do that."

Despite his push for poundage, Givens has tried to eat healthy. He's big on vegetables, fruits and salads, with meat eaten in large quantities. And, of course, he's carbo-loading at a marathoner's pace, shoveling down potatoes, pasta and bread.

"It's my metabolism . . . and just the grind (of practice)," he said. "I've been busting my butt every day out here to get better. And even with all the eating I'm doing, it's still just not enough calories to get that weight on. So we've just got to find a way to get more calories in me, and then we'll go from there."

Adding weight to large frames isn't new for CU. Starting left tackle Nate Solder, a former 250-pound tight end, is now a 300-pounder. Backup defensive tackle Taj Kaynor embarked on a similar weight-gaining mission two years ago and now is listed at 280.

Time might be on Givens' side - or maybe not. Grimes hopes to redshirt Givens but keep him on the "ready list" if depth on the offensive line declines. His technique is improving, which Grimes attributes to Givens "simply wanting to succeed. He cares about this."

Said Givens: "I'll be ready to go, if I need to."

If he can't add the desired pounds, Givens says he even has been "threatened" with punitive action from strength/ conditioning coach Jeff Pitman.

" 'Coach Pit' is kind of frustrated with me right now," Givens said, grinning. "He says if I'm not at a certain weight by next week, then he's got a little punishment program that's been proven to work. He said I won't like it too much."

What's a guy to do? Couch potatoes the world over, perhaps even his position coach, would tell him, "Eat up and enjoy it - you're living the dream."

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