Mass Gainer

What is a mass gainer?

A mass gainer is a high-calorie recovery shake. These shakes contain high amounts of carbohydrates, protein and oftentimes, muscle building ingredients such as creatine. All of these ingredients combined result in a dense shake with high calories that is perfect for someone looking to maximize recovery or enhance weight gain.

For best results, these muscle building shakes are best taken in the evening after your last meal, this is so that you are not substituting calories from your daily routine with a mass gainer shake, but rather adding calories with a mass gainer shake. If you want to add even more calories, feel free to add ingredients such as eggs, fruit and peanut butter into your mass gainer for a few extra calories.

What are the benefits of a mass gainer?

A mass gainer is an excellent way to increase calories and meet your daily required macronutrients. The high carbohydrates and protein content lead to enhanced recovery, and the creatine that is present in certain formulas increase adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This, in turn, can increase explosive power and strength.

Another great benefit to the high amount of calories and blend of quick and slow release protein and carbohydrates is that mass gainer makes an excellent meal replacement shake. If you are short on time to prepare a meal but want to get some calories in, a mass gainer is a great option to quickly and conveniently consume your calories and keep you going throughout the day.

What are the ingredients in mass gainers?

Mass gainers are high-calorie muscle building shakes that contain high amounts of carbohydrates, fats and protein. Now, not all mass gainers are the same, besides obvious differences such as calorie content and macronutrients, there are also different ingredients.

Some mass gainers are higher in lactose and sugar than others. This is due to higher amounts of maltodextrin and whey concentrate. Others are easier to digest and contain less sugar, these mass gainers often contain whey isolate as well as natural sources of carbohydrates such as quinoa, rolled oats and sweet potato. While the fat content is relatively low in comparison to the high amounts of carbohydrates and protein, there are still more grams of fat present in mass gainers than in whey protein. Some of these sources of fat include avocado, coconut oil medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) and pumpkin seed.

What is the difference between mass gainer and whey protein?

Whey protein powders are far lower in calories than mass gainers. Mass gainers are high-calorie protein shakes that contain additional carbohydrates, healthy fats and even muscle-building ingredients like creatine.

Whey protein powder is very low in carbohydrates, usually between only 1-2G per serving with a very low, fat content as well, these whey protein powders are also absent of the muscle-building ingredients such as creatine. Due to fewer calories to digest as well as fewer carbohydrates and fats, whey protein is easier to digest than a mass gainer.

The majority of mass gainers contain whey protein, however, this is usually the cheapest variant of whey in the form of whey protein concentrate (WPC). Mass gainers usually have several forms of protein present such as casein, milk and whey protein to provide a mixture of quick and extended-release protein.

What is the digestion time of mass gainer?

Mass gainers often contain a mixture of fast and slow-digesting proteins, from whey isolate to casein, the same can be said with the carbohydrate sources, fast, and slow-digesting. For this reason, there is no one time that is better suited than another to take your mass gainer, however, due to the high amount of calories and presence of slow-release protein, similar to regular casein supplementation, at night before bed, is most optimal to consume your mass gainer shake.