What are gainers and will they really help build muscle?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A sports supplement with which it is important not to overdo it.

What are gainers

A mass gainer is a weight gain sports nutrition product. Like protein, it comes in powder form and is mixed in water or milk. Only there are much more calories in it, and in addition to protein, it contains fats and quite a lot of carbohydrates.

There is no single weight gainer formula, so the calorie content and percentage of macronutrients in different foods can vary greatly. As a rule, 100 g of a weight gainer contains 350-450 kcal, 45-60 g of protein, 50-80 g of carbohydrates and 1-18 g of fat. The serving size is indicated on the package - from 50 to 360 g, but no one bothers you to eat more or less.

What can be a part of gainers

In addition to macronutrients, the following components can also be included in the composition of gainers:

Creatine monohydrate

This amino acid helps 1. Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance / The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

2. R V T Santos, R A Bassit, E C Caperuto, L F B P Costa Rosa. The effect of creatine supplementation upon inflammatory and muscle soreness markers after a 30km race / Life sciences has a positive impact on power, strength and recovery rates.

Also creatine can provide P. J. Cribb, A. D. Williams, A. Hayes. A creatine ‑ protein ‑ carbohydrate supplement enhances responses to resistance training / Medicine and science in sports and exercise

If the weight gainer contains about 3-5 grams of creatine, it will most likely help increase your performance in training and improve body composition. True, for the effect, the sports supplement will have to be drunk constantly.

Vitamins of group B

Almost any gainer includes riboflavin and vitamin B6, which are needed for energy production, as well as folate and vitamin B12, which are involved in the synthesis of new cells and the repair of damaged cells.

Lack of riboflavin and B6 may be K. Woolf, M. M. Manore. B-vitamins and exercise: does exercise alter requirements? / International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism reduce exercise performance, so an additional source of these vitamins is useful for those who exercise a lot and eat little.

However, if you are in order with your diet, supplementing with vitamins will not provide Vitamin B-12 / Mayo Clinic with any benefits.

Antioxidants

Most weight gainers include vitamins C and E, antioxidants that help fight oxidative stress.

Research into Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance / The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) does not support muscle building and performance benefits of such supplements. Quite the opposite: additional doses of antioxidants can weaken the body's signaling pathways, reducing the stimulus for muscle growth.

True, there are much less vitamins C and E in gainers than are needed for any effect.

Vitamin D

With a lack of vitamin D, additional intake of it as part of the supplement can be S. Pilz, S. Frisch, H. Koertke. Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men / Hormone and metabolic research has a positive effect on the level of testosterone, an anabolic hormone. True, the dose of this vitamin in a portion of the gainer is many times less than what is needed to fill the deficit.

If everything is normal and there is no vitamin deficiency, the additional intake will not affect in any way S. D. Scholten, I. N. Sergeev, Q. Song. Effects of vitamin D and quercetin, alone and in combination, on cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle function in physically active male adults / Open access journal of sports medicine on performance.

Trace elements

Often, the composition of gainers includes a full set of macro- and microelements: calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, iodine, magnesium, zinc and others.

A deficiency in any of the essential elements can negatively affect performance and well-being. But if you get enough of them from your diet, supplementation will not have any impact on body composition and athletic performance.

Probiotics and fiber

Some gainers add fiber and a complex of probiotics - a set of lactobacilli that are good for M. L. Ritchie, T. N. Romanuk. A meta ‑ analysis of probiotic efficacy for gastrointestinal diseases / PloS one on the intestinal microflora.

However, these microorganisms do not live very long, and it is impossible to say for sure how many of them are left in the product. In general, it is doubtful whether the lactobacilli in the gainer have any gut benefit.

Do gainers really help build muscle?

Since no one studies specific brands of gainers, it remains to judge by the general information about protein-carbohydrate mixtures with various additives.

In meta-analysis F. Naclerio, E. Larumbe-Zabala. Effects of Whey Protein Alone or as Part of a Multi ‑ ingredient Formulation on Strength, Fat ‑ Free Mass, or Lean Body Mass in Resistance ‑ Trained Individuals: A Meta ‑ analysis / Sports medicine 11 studies have found that whey protein is combined with other ingredients like carbohydrates and creatine accelerate muscle building (hypertrophy) and maximize leg strength. Moreover, supplements that contain creatine give the best results.

In another meta-analysis, S. M. Pasiakos, T. M. McLellan, H. R. Lieberman. The effects of protein supplements on muscle mass, strength, and aerobic and anaerobic power in healthy adults: a systematic review / Sports medicine 38 scientific papers have also concluded that protein supplements are effective in accelerating hypertrophy and developing strength.

Fresh K. R. O'Bryan, T. M. Doering, R. W. Morton. Do multi-ingredient protein supplements augment resistance training-induced gains in skeletal muscle mass and strength? A systematic review and meta ‑ analysis of 35 trials / British journal of sports medicine, a review of 35 studies confirmed the results of previous studies: multi-component protein supplements, especially with creatine and vitamin D, significantly increase muscle mass and maximum strength in the upper and lower extremities. Although in the end, the scientists noted that when compared to pure protein, there is not much difference.

A reasonable question arises: why then add carbohydrates at all, and is it not better to buy simple protein?

Can a gainer accelerate muscle growth better than protein?

On the one hand, carbohydrates can have a positive effect on the balance of protein synthesis and breakdown. So, in one experiment M. Wilk, M. Michalczyk, A. Gołas. Endocrine responses following exhaustive strength exercise with and without the use of protein and protein ‑ carbohydrate supplements / Biology of sport have found that 40 g of a protein ‑ carbohydrate supplement after exercise significantly raises insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels, which reduces protein breakdown and promotes hypertrophy.

In another scientific work, J. Baty, H. Hwang, Z. Ding The effect of a carbohydrate and protein supplement on resistance exercise performance, hormonal response, and muscle damage / Journal of strength and conditioning research found that a protein-carbohydrate mixture up to, during and immediately after strength training, can protect muscles from damage, lower levels of the catabolic hormone cortisol, and increase the production of the "anabolic" insulin.

Another experiment compared P. J. Cribb, A. D. Williams, A. Hayes. A creatine ‑ protein ‑ carbohydrate supplement enhances responses to resistance training / Medicine and science in sports and exercise the effect of pure protein and its mixture with carbohydrates and it was found that protein wins.

The protein supplement combined with strength training helped the participants build muscle and shed some fat. Muscle grew in the protein-carbohydrate cocktail group, but in addition to muscle, the participants gained about 2 kg of fat.

Interestingly, the best results in the experiment were in the third group, which consumed a supplement with protein, carbohydrates and creatine. With this mixture, the athletes built muscle better than in the other two groups, and at the same time did not increase the body fat, despite the carbohydrates.

This suggests that creatine gainers may have advantages over regular protein.

Who should try gainers

Given the high calorie content, this sports nutrition is useful for people with an asthenic physique who cannot cram into themselves the amount of food that is needed to gain weight.

A gainer will provide a calorie surplus, and together with strength training, it can have a positive effect on the growth of muscle mass and strength, especially if the composition contains 3-5 g of creatine monohydrate per serving.

At the same time, you should not buy gainers if you strive not only to pump up, but also to dry out: the high calorie content of the product will increase the risk of gaining excess fat.

As for the rest of the gainer ingredients - vitamins, trace elements and fiber - you shouldn't rely on them and skip full meals.

If you can't have a normal lunch, it is better to drink a gainer, rather than eat a chocolate bar. But try not to replace normal food with sports food. Remember that this is a nutritional supplement, not a complete replacement for regular foods.

How to drink gainers correctly

The size and composition of one serving of the product must be indicated on the label. So you can independently calculate how much powder you need to drink in order to gain your daily need for calories, protein and other nutrients.

Dissolve a scoop of gainer in water or milk and drink the resulting shake. It is better to do this at least 30 minutes before training so that the fats are absorbed and the heaviness in the stomach disappears.

Is it possible to make a gainer from conventional products

Considering that the main active component of a gainer is proteins and carbohydrates, which are also found in regular food, you can easily prepare such a drink at home.

Protein can be found in Greek yogurt, soft cottage cheese, egg whites, and milk. Carbohydrates are honey, bananas, berries. Try peanut butter shakes for more fat, or oatmeal and seeds for fiber.

For flavor, you can add cocoa, vanilla and various syrups. Since a gainer is a high-calorie thing, there is no need to be afraid of sugar in the syrup.