whey protein or weight gainer?

D

devilmaster

0
Hey guys!
I am 20 years old guy. (Height=6 feet n weight=55 kg) I want to gain weight. I have started gym recently but I am very much confused about weight gainer or whey protein. What should I use to gain weight effectively? I think I am a hard gainer :(
Please suggest me with good guidance.
(optimum serious mass or gold standard whey protein) or something better and effective??
thank you!! :)
 
At this stage you probably dont need anything but a good balanced diet with enough calories. By my calculation you need to be getting in 2150 calories on a non-training day and just over 2750 calories on a training day. Are you getting enough calories? If not why not?

You only need about 100g of protein per day at this stage which should be easy from your normal diet without needing expensive supplements.

The other key part is your training. How are you training? If you are training at low intensity or doing lots of cardio you are not going to gain much weight.
 
There are now 2 types of weight gainers and most should have whey in them if not a blend. There are now lean gainer shakes where the calorie content is around 600 from protein good carbs and fats. These can make you big without gaining fat. Then there are weight gainers with higher calories around 3000. They also contain more sugars as well. Those are for guys with super high metabolisms that they can eat anything and stay lean. If your super skinny with no body fat go with the high calorie. If you have the tendency to put on fat go with a lean gainer. My favorite brand is ANSI. They do a awesome buy one get one free sale. But they have the best tasting shakes on the market with a blend of hydro and isolates. Super high quality without the big price tag. Their lean gainer is called ISO 62 and their main gainer is Fast 3000. Both rock can put on a lot of muscle and taste awesome hope that helps
 
You should take someprotein weight gainers to increase and maintain your body. I know a supplement that is good for weight maintenance such as Garcinia Cambogia Extract. I hope you'll have a great body. :)
 
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You shouldn't depend solely on supplements to gain muscle.
You need to look at your diet and the number of calories you consume first, as well as the type of weight training you're doing and frequency.
 
You want to use a protein powder combined with a lot of the right food. Try and create a diest that includes a lot of protein anyway and gear your workouts to exercises that will use up that protein. You obviously need fat and carbs as well, but your body will take all of these and build up your weight in muscle rather than fat if you're eating the right things.
 
I would suggest you purchase a high quality whey protein concentrate or isolate and then add your own additional ingredients to boost the calories to about 600-700 per serving. Start with approximately 25 grams of protein (100 calories) and then add banana, blueberries or strawberries etc.. and then almond butter or an avocado etc..
 
I would suggest you go with the Whey Protein (and also Blended proteins) for your supplemental protein and get your 'weight gain" part thru healthy carbs added to your diet.
Sadly, too mant weight gainers on the market go the cheap route and load up with sugars to boost the carb numbers.

Michael Spitzer
Author
Fitness at 40,50,60 and Beyond
highpointproducts.com/book.htm
 
Elaborating on my earlier reply to your question .... I like an alternating combination of Real Food and Protein Shakes as a way to keep your protein values high for growth without getting too many extra calories from carbs or fats ..

So in other words, if you are eating 6 meals per day it might look something like this ....

Meal 1) Egg whites and Oatmeal
Meal 2) 45 gram protein shake
Meal 3) Spicy grilled shrimp and Rice
Meal 4) 45 gram protein shake
Meal 5) Jamaican Jerked Chicken Breast on tossed salad
Meal 6) 45 gram Protein Shake

That kind of thing has always worked best for me over the years.

Michael Spitzer
 
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The protein story. Sorry if this appears sarcastic, I have posted serious versions many times and I am feeling a bit fed up. This is not aimed at a single person I've just had enough of seeing protein portrayed as the miracle food it was proven not to be decades ago.

In the beginning there was a protein drink which contained 45 grams of protein. But the gut couldn't absorb more than 17 grams at a time apart from just after training when it can absorb 25 so either 20 or 28 grams of the protein didn't even get into the blood, they went out the other end instead.
To get into the blood the protein had been split up into amino acids to make them easy to transport and reassemble into all manner of things from skin and eyeballs to enzymes and of course muscle. This is great but unfortunately these free form amino acids degrade quickly to ammonia so the body knew it only had a little bit of time to use this before it became dangerous.
Now the body lives in the western world where the average diet is already high in protein so it didn't actually need any more of this it was actually proportionately low in complex carbohydrates, which are as all little children know what the human body is designed to have as its primary energy source.
Fortunately the body is very clever and has ways of dealing with a diet that is far too high in protein. What do you think that is? Do you think it will add more muscle like it says on the box? No, that's right children it doesn't do that at all but it does convert as much of it as possible for storage as lipoproteins. That's right lots of the excess protein becomes fat stored around the body, which is exactly what most taking the protein supplements don't want. And yes of course it doesn't matter what brand or source the protein is from the same happens. Not all of the excess protein silly people pay out for can be converted to fat though so the body has to throw it away as urea.
So in the end the excess protein will either be in your poo poo, wee wee or stored away as fat. Isn't that a happy ending for the people selling protein supplements, after all the silly people will see the increased fat as a way of proving they need more protein in their diet.

That was the silly fairy tale version. It is taking the mick and talking to those taking them like children, which is a bit unfair as Until I learned the truth about diet I used them. When I stopped my muscle gain remained and I trimmed back on fat because I kept my dietary calorific intake at approximately the levels needed 60-65% carbs (95%+ complex, 5% max simple), 25% lipids (fats and oils) 17.5% protein. This is what the body is designed for, increase in training means needing more protein to repair and grow but it also means increased need for energy during training and recovery so the proportions vary little.

As Justin said eat real food. There is no rule against supplementing your diet but look at what you consume and see what needs supplementing first. If you are eating 30% of dietary calories as protein then you sure don't need more.
 
Crazy Old Man raises a good point, there is a problem with some people overdoing protein.

But the question is .. what do we define as too much ?

I have never prescribed to the "% of total calories" way of looking at macronutrients.
That kind of formula assumes you know the right total calories to begin with.
So I see that as a kind of backwards approach to calculating what your body needs.

I prefer the more direct approach.
Design your meal plan to feed the body you want.

Let's assume you are aiming for a 200 lb lean muscle mass body.

I won't go into all the research and documentation now, but that would basically look as follows

Protein daily = Body Weight in Pounds X 1.0
Fats = Body Weight in Pounds X 0.20
Carbs = Body Weight X 1.5

So as a basic starting spot, that 200 pound lean body would need to be fueled daily with
200 grams Protein
40 grams fat
350 grams Carb

Since Protein is second only to water in the body's structure, that 200 grams would not increase or decrease regardless of weight gain or weight loss goals

Fat would also remain constant for it to serve it's purpose.

Carb amounts and types are what will be most variable in the diet.

I agree with Old Man that for this body, no more than 200 grams would be required.
Furthermore the standard advise of 5-6 small meals is also important since the body can only use 30-40 grams of protein in any 3-4 hour window of time at best.

An analogy is like a car ... you can't plan a trip from Florida to California and put all 110 gallons of gas in the car at one time -- it will not be used, it will spill out on the ground.

Likewise trying to eat one massive meal for a 24 hour time frame produces the same waste, spill over and digestions issues he referred to

But the body is essentially Water + Protein
Making these the 2 top priority by far.
Fats are like the motor oil in your car -- you only need so much

And carbs are of course the gas (petrol for my new UK friends on here) .....the more you drive, the more you need.

A bit oversimplified , but you get the point.

In the 6 meal plan example I gave above, that was the equivalent of about 220 grams protein daily ... which was about right for me (217 lbs) ....... and of course would be all wrong for a 112 lb female.
 
I agree on most of that exception being the amount of carbs needed being so little more than the amount of protein. For the record they have the same calorific value per gram, but in total fairness only sad acts like me carry that around in their head.
Your summary would be as below in terms of calorific value total consumed is 2560
200 grams protein at 4 calories a gram 800 calories 31.25%
400 grams fat at 9 calories a gram 360 calories 14.0625%
350 grams carbs at 4 calories a gram 1400 calories 54.6875%

Using the comparison to bodyweight however would be good if the proportions were right. A lot simpler than mine, but of course you would need to increase as activity levels go up. I consume enough food for two people most days, but my colleague who is heavier than me would balloon up if he did that.

I will use your car analogy because it's a good one, I'll make it a bit less realistic by declaring the car has to be returned at the end of every day in the same or better condition than it started. I'll also give the car a two stroke engine.
Carbs are the primary fuel, equivalent of petrol or gasoline, fat is the two stroke oil, still burned for fuel but only with the carbohydrate petrol.
Protein repairs the wear and tear and adds to areas suffering this the most. It replaces the wear on the tyres so the air is held inside but of course most of the tyre volume is air (muscle is 75% water, so different proportion) these get most wear so may become stronger over time, suspension springs dampeners etc. similar story, engine likewise. Other areas like the seats steering wheel etc. wear slowly so little is needed here, like our teeth and bones etc.
All of the wear and tear to the whole vehicle will not amount to nearly as much volume as the fuel used. The same is true of the body, fuel is primary tissue repair and growth is very secondary.
 
Totally true.

Most things in our life outside inevitable death are not 100% fact or 100% applicable to everybody all the time.

As we know any general guidelines or advice only really apply to most people , most of the time.

My basic (slightly oversimplified) analogy to a car is an accurate starting point for most (80%) of average people to use to start thinking about nutrients if they are just getting into fitness.

But certainly when dealing with humans, there will always be exceptions to any basic rule.

But for people just starting to think about diet planning and nutrition for the first time , they need a basic starting spot.

Case in point - I have had clients remark "I eat a spoon of peanut butter everyday, so I get all the protein I need"
OR
"I have been drinking nothing but fruit smoothies for 6 weeks now and I can't lose weight"

There is a large portion of out society who only think of food in terms of taste and enjoyment -- they have no clue what the Protein/Fat/Carb composition is for basic everyday foods.

This revelation came as a shock to me.
I thought much of this was basic knowledge in general society by now, but I was wrong.

This may partially explain the exponential growth of the number of overweight people in society today.

Again - another shock to me.

Since I sold my last big company, and spend much time at the gym facility or on our property ----- I don't spend as much time in big public crowds as I used to.

About a year ago, we have company in town and they wanted to go to one of the massive malls we have near us (400+ stores over 97 acres)

I just sat and watched people walk by as they shopped .

YIKES .... I got a shock.
There really is an obesity problem
No exaggeration .................... at least 60% of the men looked like Fred Flintstone
and 45% of the women looked like Oprah Winfrey

Few and far between were people who you could say .. "looked good"

I had read the news stories about how quickly Americans were getting overweight, but I did not really see it in my daily routine

Even most of the kids were overly chunky
 
Not been to the US but see plenty of Greenpeace most wanted here in the UK, more in younger groups all the time.
This was reflected in a very short lived post campaign years ago saying 'The obese child dies at 50. the pension crisis is resolved.' The most stupid and scary thing is this received massive complaints.
Frankie Boyles is a Scottish comedian I like, his humour takes no prisoners and he has a great way of taking truth to far or pretending to be the worst kind of person that will offend everyone at some point but is still funny. He features on a TV series over here where they get topics to talk about one he stepped forward for was the nations health. Below was his piece.
So I see Scotland is now officially the most obese nation in Europe. Imagine how it would be if not for all the heroin.

I try to keep dietary guidance really simple, knowing how little real knowledge people have and how much nonsense they think is true. I learned this when I was training people, give them a diet you have worked on for hours, they'll stick to it for a day tops. A simple cut down not out thing you can give them in minutes and they'll expect it to fail but try it, then see it work and come back for more.
Most of my family are obese, a few of them morbidly but they refuse to accept it could be them. I have given up trying to help them, I have demonstrated age and years are not the issue by example but they won't put in the commitment.

Good diet is simple but it needs to be displayed in a simple manner. This is why I like food pyramids for balance illustrations. Some go to far and state servings and that causes confusion, proportion is easier. I say easier but in todays processed age little is easy, and less is as you expect.

One of the biggest lessons in nutrition is accepting less than perfect. None of us eat exactly what we need in perfect balance everyday. This is fine as long as the balance is within tolerance and the body is incredibly tolerant, making the mess we make seem crazy.
We have one of the greatest tolerances to simple carbs in any animal not designed to have sugar as their key energy source, but type 2 diabetes is the fastest growing health issue worldwide (age related of course, yes I did some of those figures).
We are designed for a diet high in complex carbs, anatomy, evolution, everything tells us this. Yet people eat low carb diets to lose weight making the body think food is scarce and reduce it's metabolism.
I could go on but I doubt it's news to you.

The crazy thing I see here is the extremes. Either severely under weight or over, very little balance. Officially I am overweight, BMI says so, but just over 17% body fat says this is not an issue. My wife watches people on internships in her workplace arrive from university like beanpoles looking at her as fat, most female power lifters are used to this error, then at the end of the year they look like blimps and see her as slim.
 
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