An Overview Of Weight Gain Powders

If you are looking to gain weight there are a few simple rules; eat, train, sleep and repeat! You need to eat plenty of calories if you want to gain some serious muscle mass with an abundance of protein and carbohydrates. Weight gainers, when used wisely can be the difference between you reaching your goals and having little progress.

This article will explain, typically what ingredients are used in weight gainers, what to look for and how to supplement optimally for the best results.

What makes a gainer a gainer? Carbohydrates!

More than just a protein shake weight gainers contain lots of carbohydrates from various sources. Carbohydrates are essential if you are looking to refuel energy stores and gain muscle mass.

Maltodextrin/Dextrose

The main source of carbohydrate energy in weight gain products. Maltodextrin is classed as a long chain carbohydrate although it does act in a similar way to a simple carbohydrate. Dextrose is a simple carbohydrate and will be classed as a ‘sugar’ in the supplement facts.

Choosing how much carbohydrate is contained in your gainer is a matter of choice. If you take your weight gainer post workout you may want a slightly higher level of dextrose or simple sugars to spike insulin and start the muscle building process. You still want sugars to be quite low in your gainer even if you do take it post workout; taking too much sugar at any time is obviously not great for lean muscle gain. A good weight gainer will have about 30 – 60g of sugars, anything above 65 – 70g per serving you want to only take post workout.

Protein – Different Types

There are many different types of powdered protein that can be contained in a weight gain powder.

Whey Protein
Whey protein is the fastest acting source, either from isolate or concentrate. It is very unlikely that you will find any large amount of whey protein isolate in a weight gainer because of the high cost. Usually concentrate is used, this has a biological value of about 105

Egg White Protein (Egg Albumin)
Egg albumin powder is a powdered form of egg white and has a biological value of about 90. This form of protein is cheaper and as you can tell from the biological value isn’t absorbed efficiently as whey protein.

Casein Protein & Milk Proteins
Casein protein absorbs even slower than egg white with a biological value of about 75.

What Quantities To Look For
Most weight gainers contain a mixture of two or all of these different protein sources. The cost is kept low by incorporating the cheaper protein sources however don’t be put off. As these different protein sources digest at different times they feed protein over different stages to the muscle. For example whey protein is absorbed fairly quickly within a few hours, but casein protein is absorbed over 7 – 9 hours. Using protein that absorbs at different rates can be beneficial, but as a rule products that use higher amounts of whey are of a better quality.

Fat
Fat is often added in weight gain products for the simple reason it contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates and protein. Fats are ok in a gainer – you are taking it because you want to gain weight and the excess calories will help you do that. Low fat gainers may contain 7g per 200g serving, a high fat content is about 35g per 200g serving. Look for gainers that add MCTs, flax oil or similar good fatty acids, these are fantastic to consume, but steer clear of saturated fat.

Added Extras
Some weight gainers go further than just the macronutrients. Added vitamins and minerals, creatine, glutamine, HMB, BCAAs etc can be added. These gainers can be great value considering the amount of nutrients they contain but are usually more expensive. Before choosing a gainer with lots of added extras think if you actually need the extras. For example some weight gainers contain 2 – 5g of creatine per serving. However creatine itself is probably more efficiently used as an individual supplement.

Overall the added extras can be a little bonus that saves you buying 2 or 3 more supplements.

When To Take Your Gainer
Gainers should invariably be taken post workout, this is the most important time to attain fast acting, easy digesting powdered products. It is also the time that virtually no excess calories will be stored as fat. However you may need to take your gainer at other times of the day to make sure you attain those much-needed extra calories especially if you cant fit in 5 or 6 meals per day. If taking your gainer between meals you may want to choose a MRP (Meal Replacement powder). These typically contain more protein and less carbohydrate (and sugars) they also usually have added vitamins to be more nutritious.