Gaining weight has been the focus for many athletes and weightlifters due to high caloric need. It may be hard to believe, but for some people gaining weight is difficult. Weight gainer is calorie dense, which has its positives and negatives. There are a wide variety of weight gainer types and choosing the right one may be difficult for you. Reading the label is important so you can make an educated choice when picking one.
Benefits
Weight gainers go beyond just gaining weight. These additional calories can help repair your muscle tissue. The repair of muscle tissue allows you to recover quicker from workouts and gain a larger amount of muscle mass in a shorter period of time. Your glycogen, or energy, stores may also recover more quickly based on the type of gainer. Some gainers also have creatine. Creatine has been proven to improve performance in short, intermittent activities such as weightlifting and improve muscle mass. You may also benefit from the convenience that weight gainers provide. They are easy to make and some products are ready to utilize right away. This allows you to get the calories you need, when you need them.
Drawbacks
These additional calories do have one severe drawback; they may cause an undesirable increase in body fat. Unfortunately, your body can not just shuttle extra calories to create muscle. This increase in body-fat can have other adverse consequences such as decreased speed, agility and body control. If you are a bodybuilder, this increase in body fat can hurt your performance during competition. You may experience an increase in flatulence when taking weight gainer. Also, you may be at increased risk of a glycemic event depending on the formula of the gainer.
Types
There are two ways to find weight gainer products; a pre-made ready to drink liquid and a powder that needs to be mixed with water or milk. The RTD offers more convenience while the powder is typically less expensive. There are also three different formulas for weight gainer. A hard gainer formula, also called mass gainer, has high calorie content with large amounts of carbs and fats with a moderate amount of protein. A lean mass formula contains lower amounts of carbs and fats with a higher amount of protein and lower overall calorie content. The other formula is a hybrid that is a combination between the previous two.
Read the Label
You must read the label on the back of a weight gainer to help you decide which one is right for you. For hardgainers, look for products that contain the mass gainer formula of high calorie content, with large amounts of carbohydrate and fat, and a modest amount of protein. Choose a product with a lower ratio of carb and fat to protein if you are concerned about gaining fat. The product should read high in carbohydrate and protein in relation to fat if you are looking for a post workout weight gainer. If the product has a moderate amount of all three, than you are looking at a meal replacement powder which can be taken any time of day.
Warning
Consult your physician and a licensed nutritionist before taking any weight gainer. Weight gainers typically contain milk or a milk derivative so if you are lactose intolerant you will need to avoid certain ones. Always consult your doctor if you have any food allergy before taking weight gainer. There is also an increased risk of a glycemic event when taking a weight gainer, so if you are diabetic or are predisposed to hypo- or hyper- glycemia consult your doctor.
References
- Bodybuilding.com: Weight Gainers
- Bodybuilding.com: Choosing a Weight Gainer
- Cribb, Paul J.; Williams, Andrew D.; Stathis, Chris G.; Carey, Michael F.; Hayes, Alan. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: February 2007 - Volume 39 - Issue 2 - pp 298-307
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