Health & Fitness Blog: Weight Gainers & Protein Shakes

Even though the majority, at least here in America, are either overweight or obese, the need for buying weight gainers is still in high demand. Personally, I'm not a big fan of weight gainers (high-calorie powders used to make drinks for weight gain), protein shakes or creatine supplements (waste of money, in my opinion), but what doesn't appeal or work for some, may work like a charm for others.

The need for using weight gainers usually fall into two categories or reasons: 1) The individual who is thin but works out regularly and still has trouble gaining mass; 2) The hardcore bodybuilder who needs an easy way to add extra calories to help maintain their current muscle bulk or to achieve even more muscle mass.

I don't have much to say about reason #2 because if you're seriously into bodybuilding and you have a lot of muscle mass, you really are going to have to consume a lot more calories to maintain your beast-like structure. Even though, consuming large amounts of calories can easily be achieved by diet alone, the convenience of gulping down massive amounts of calories from these flavored milkshakes, makes it tempting if you have the money and desire to do so.

When it comes to reason #1, I have to disagree with the use of weight gainers. People who are naturally thin, slim, whatever, don't have the same metabolism nor do their organs function the same as the ones who can easily gain weight just by overeating. These are the type of people who can eat all day long and never seem to gain weight or very little. For the most part, you'll just be straining your digestive organs trying to process and rid the body of extra calories that it doesn't want, evidently. However, if you have this particular body type, there is still hope and you can "bulk up" over time (be patient) without the use of steroids or growth hormones. You have to make your body produce muscle by working hard and getting enough protein to ensure proper muscle repair & development, which has nothing to do with consuming mass quantities of food or weight gainers, for that matter. People with high metabolisms or the ones who stay slim no matter what they eat, often have a totally different rate of digestion, levels of enzymes, and a less efficient nutrient absorption rate - when compared to people who seem to get more out of their food, gain weight easily, and so on. Most people want to blame it on individual metabolism alone, but there is really a lot more to it than that.

Anyway, people who have trouble gaining weight would be better off adding a little more meat and/or protein to their diet and adjust their weight lifting to "less reps and more weight," not "more reps and less weight." Aerobic exercise is definitely not your answer, but it is excellent for your cardiovascular health. Anyway, you need to train your stubborn little body and make it understand that you need more mass to withstand all this heavy weight you lift on a regular basis. But, if you're still seeking weight gainers, feel free; knock yourself out. I'm just saying that if you must purchase and/or choose between weight gainers or protein shakes, you'd be better off with the protein drinks because, in my opinion, you'll waste your money on the weight gainers.

Once again, for the serious bodybuilders that have no trouble gaining weight or that have a lot of muscle mass to maintain - and you have the extra money to spend, weight gainers may be just for you. Maybe I'm old fashion, but a balanced, healthy diet with a few extra servings of meat & potatoes is my idea of "weight gainers." Although, maybe I'm biased when it comes to my views on protein shakes (whatever happened to eggs?) and weight gainers... Especially since I've always been fairly lean with an athletic build, so the need for weight gainers would clash with my sexy, pimp-style body... Ha!

---At any rate, if you're interested in browsing through a big selection of Protein Shakes, click the image (affiliate link) below: