Best Supplements to Gain Muscle Mass: Mass Gainer vs Whey Protein

Do you want to gain muscle mass?

There are many supplements on the market that claim to help you gain muscle mass, but which is the best for you?

If you want to gain muscle mass, then this article will cover the best supplements for you.

Learn about the best supplements to take for gaining muscle mass.

Fitness and good looks have become vital requisites in today’s world. Fitness is necessary to keep one going with the fast pace of life and good looks help base confidence. Looking good is not about wearing expensive make-ups and using elite cosmetics. It refers to overall well-being inside and outside.

With the increasing sway of fitness, a lot of people are striving hard to reach their ideal body weights either by losing weight or gaining weight. But there is something to bear in mind that body weight is not just all about fat, it is basically a combination of muscle mass, bone weight, fat mass, and body water. Weightloss basically cites about fat- loss whereas weight gain refers to obtaining more muscles and fat.

However, weight loss is a strenuous process but gaining weight is moreover a lengthy task which requires extreme dedication and commitment. It requires lots of hard work, proper diet, and appropriate supplements to gain even a few kilograms of weight.

For an individual to gain weight, it is very essential to consume more calories per day, than he or she is burning either through exercise or via normal daily metabolic activities occurring inside his body. If he doesn’t consume extra calories through proteins, carbohydrates, and fats (by diet and supplements), the body would not be able to gain any weight. One important point to remember is that diet and supplements work parallelly for weight loss as well as weight gain, therefore choosing the right supplement is crucial for getting the desired results.

Opting the right supplement is very essential and it depends upon numerous variables as per individual goals. The supplements majorly used for the purpose of gaining weight are elaborated below:

1. Mass Gainers (Mass Gainer/ Lean Gainer/ Weight Gainer/ Carb Supplements)

Mass gainers are supplements loaded with “calories” through carbohydrates and proteins with a limited amount of fats. That is why they help in gaining both fats as well as muscles. Leans gainers too are as mass gainers, but they are lower on their carbohydrate content leading to lesser fat gain than mass gainers.

Whereas, weight gainers provide plenty “calories” through carbohydrates and restricted amount of proteins and fats, typically resulting in fat gain. Carb supplements, on the other hand, are beneficial for adding lots of carbohydrates to diet, as it is often not feasible to have sufficient carbohydrates through diet alone required for weight gain.

2. Whey Proteins and Casein

Whey Protein and Casein Supplements promote muscle gain majorly as they are wonderful means of consuming good quality proteins with very little carbohydrates and fats. They are generally low in calories, hence support weight gain only resulting through gain in muscles. Whey and casein rarely lead to fat gain.

How to Choose the Best Supplement to Gain Muscle Mass?

To find out the answer to “mass gainers vs whey proteins”, the individual goal needs to be identified first. There can be various reasons behind incorporating supplements for gaining, some of which are listed below:

Case 1. You have been trying to gain weight through a healthy diet since long, but are unable to do so.

Case 2. You are a teenager and extremely underweight. You want to be like your friend who is of your age but has a tough- muscular body.

Case 3. You are a middle-aged person but have always been on the lower side of your ideal body weight.

Case 4. You want to become a professional bodybuilder, participate in competitions or just out of interest you want to look like a bodybuilder.

Case 5. You always had a strong muscular body, but have lost a considerable amount of weight and muscles either due to no workout because of official workload or due to some diseased condition such as recently discovered type 2 diabetes, etc.

The cases mentioned above might sound similar, as in all the above-mentioned conditions, the ultimate goal is to gain weight. But there is a huge difference between their solutions to achieve the desired body.

Mass Gainer versus Whey Protein

The foremost and the most common scenario is case 1. It is very essential to understand that to gain weight, one needs to have extra calorie intake per day by following a high carbohydrate and high protein diet plan. If the nutrient demand is not accomplished through diet, then it is required to add a supplement i.e. a Mass gainer or a Protein supplement.

Now, the selection of supplement depends upon the next cases.

A lot of teenagers are struggling with the issue of skinny body and lower body weights (Case 2). The biggest query is, “mass gainer or whey protein for skinny guys”!

Ideally, weight in teenage is very much dependant upon heredity as well as the nutritional health maintained since childhood. This condition is common amongst both males and females, but it is a bigger challenge for males as they want to look tough and muscular, especially at this age. Yet, it is to be considered:

A lot of teenagers who are extremely underweight turn abruptly overweight after a few years. This can be a genetic pattern (their prior generations might have undergone the same pattern), or because of improper measures adopted to gain weight during adolescence.

Anyone who is not planning to be a bodybuilder and just want to gain weight for the purpose of looking better (little bulky and muscular), should always have good protein supplements (whey after workout and casein at night) along with carbohydrate-dense foods. A combination of strength training with a diet rich in carbohydrate and protein, along with protein supplements will help in gaining muscle mass majorly, along with minor gain in body fat. This is a time taking process, might take months to show you results but is the most suitable way of gaining for non- professional bodybuilders.

Examples of Post Workout Whey Proteins: Nutrabay Pure Series Whey Protein Concentrate, etc.

Casein (Can consume at night): Optimum Nutrition (ON) 100% Casein Protein, etc.

CASE 3: Coming to “Case 3″, even people who have a genetic history of lower body weights regardless of age should primarily start with a high carbohydrate diet and protein supplements (as mentioned above) along with proper workout regime. They can also consider adding a carb supplement to diet in order to ensure adequate carbohydrate intake for fat gain.

Examples of Carb Supplements: Universal Nutrition Carbo Plus, etc.

CASE 4: Most importantly for Professional bodybuilders i.e “Case 4”, it is extremely essential to have an extra-ordinary workout routine. They need to work-out a lot say 2-3 hours or more per day, and their requirement for calories (carbohydrates and proteins) is immensely high.

Hence, to meet such high nutrient demands they need to consume mass gainers along with very high carbohydrate and protein diet. Mass gainer adds lots of carbohydrates and proteins to normal diet, provided the quantity of foods in the diet plan is not reduced. Decreasing the number of foods to consume mass gainer does no good, as the basic reason behind incorporating mass gainer is to provide “additional” calories (carbohydrates and proteins) than the diet provides alone.

Examples of Mass Gainers: Dymatize Super Mass Gainer, Optimum Nutrition (ON) Serious Mass Gainer, etc.

CASE 5: People relating to “Case 5“, need to understand that if they had a bulky- muscular body in the past and have lost it because of lack of time for a workout, all that they require primarily is to take out some time for exercise.

Supplements can support workout and diet, but cannot work in their absence. Even devoting half an hour- a day to workout accompanied by a healthy nutritious diet helps to improve body weight and muscles gradually. Further inclusion of protein or/ and carb supplements help boost the results.

However, if the weight and muscle loss attributes to some diseased condition (most commonly type 2 diabetes, etc), people should always consult their doctor or clinical nutrition expert before going for a supplement.

Can Mass Gainer and Whey Protein be Consumed Together?

Many people have this query, “Can I have mass gainer and whey protein together”, the answer to which is very simple. There is no point consuming mass gainers and whey proteins together.

A good mass gainer supplement provides approximately 700- 800 Kcal per 200 g powder, via nearly 140-160 g carbohydrates and 28-36 g protein (plus some amount of fat).

Whereas a serving (nearly 25- 35 g) of a good whey or casein supplement provides approximately 22- 30 g protein with very limited carbohydrates and fats.

• A person aiming a bulky and muscular body who takes a mass gainer obtains enough carbohydrates and proteins from it. He doesn’t require additional protein supplement.
•  If a person wants to gain muscle mass with a slight gain in body fat, he can opt for a lean mass gainer, such as BSN True Mass, MuscleBlaze High Protein Lean Mass Gainer, etc.
• However, a person who just wants to gain muscles needs to have a whey protein supplement. He can have casein additionally for slow and sustained muscle recovery and growth.

Conclusion

Hence, will all the above information it can be concluded that gainer and protein supplements have their discrete uses. The choice between the two depends upon individual goals and variables, some of which are explained above. Opting mass gainers or whey proteins for skinny people has to be done very sensibly, considering all the essentials to get desired outcomes.