So you’re looking for the best protein powder to gain weight?
Chances are, if you’re skinny and looking to gain weight, you’ve probably heard a ton of people tell you..
“Eat big to get big broooooo.”
Well, is that really true? Could it really be as easy as eating everything in sight and gulping down liters of mass gainers? Moreover, do mass gainers really work? And what even are they?
Slow down, big boi (or girl) dw, we gender neutral here 😉
In this article, we answer all these questions. Plus, we also reveal why making your own will ALWAYS be the better option. So without further ado, let’s get into it!
The Skinny Person’s Dream
Gaining weight and muscle as fast as possible. Every skinny person’s dream. No longer do you want to go around hearing:
“Oye, ziada khaaya karo!” (Oi skinny guy, you should eat more)
You’ve heard the advice to eat big and get big, and may have even tried it.
3 rotis each meal. Chugging a banana milkshake every 30 minutes. Stuffing yourself with as much fried chicken as you can at KFC.
Of course, eating all these calories, you see some results. But sooner or later, you get sick of it.
Then you hear of this mass gainer thingy…
1250 calories a scoop! Could it really be that easy? But then you check the price….
Rs 14,900 for 6lbs.
And what’s worse? It’s only 12-16 servings!
Why is it so expensive and why so little servings? To answer the cost part, we’ve got a whole separate article that you can check out here.
For the other part, let’s first try and understand what exactly a mass gainer is….
Everything You Need To Know About Mass Gainers
Mass gainers or weight gainers, are a type of supplement that help you gain…mass (duh).
But few people know what makes up a mass gainer and how it has so many calories.
We’re going to make this as simple as we can.
What Makes Up A Mass Gainer?
A mass gainer consists of 3 things:
- Protein source or a blend of different proteins.
- A carbohydrate such as maltodextrin, dextrose, or waxy maize starch.
- An anabolic substance such as Creatine for enhanced muscle building effects.
Take Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass for example.
The primary ingredient here is Maltodextrin, which is a carbohydrate. This is what essentially provides most of the 1250 calories that you get per serving.
Next up, you have Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) as your primary protein source. Some mass gainers can also contain a blend of WPC, casein, egg protein, soy protein, etc. But in this case, it’s just WPC.
(Note, the ingredient list does not mention what percentage of protein the WPC is. Ideally it should be 70% or above.)
Then you have your sweeteners and flavorings to make this stuff easier to chug down.
So there you have it. Carbohydrate/simple sugar + protein + sweeteners + flavorings. A basic mass gainer.
Now that you know what they are, onto the real question….
Do You REALLY Need Mass Gainers?
A lot of this depends on whether you can afford it.
This stuff is outrageously expensive these days. In fact, just 16 servings of ON Serious Mass will set you back $84. And you can imagine how much this is going to convert into rupees.
These products might seem appealing if you’re naturally thin and want to pack on mass. However, keep in mind that you don’t need a HUGE calorie surplus to maximize muscle growth.
Even a couple hundred above maintenance will work. Dirty bulking beyond that point will just result in excessive fat gain, which will make the cutting phase even harder.
Secondly, as we mentioned before, a lot of these weight gain powders are just a blend of protein powder and carbohydrates. The reason there’s so few servings per container is because of the MASSIVE serving size.
Just look at Serious Mass for example. A single serving is 340 grams! If you buy 1 kg of this stuff, you’re going to finish it in as little as 3-4 days!
If you’re struggling to consume the necessary calories to gain weight, buying a massive tub of some fancy powder may not be the best solution.
Instead, a more affordable, nutritious, and better-tasting option is to buy a high-quality protein source and combine it with your own preferred sources of carbs and fats. This way, you have greater control over the quality and taste of your weight-gain shake.
At the end of this article, we’ve included a list of super easy, high calorie shakes that you can make at home. The best part? You probably already have most of the ingredients! The only thing you will need in most recipes, though, is a high quality protein powder.
The Principles Of Weight Gain
Well, we probably should’ve covered this before we told you about the mass gainers. But then we also wanted to be nice chaps and give you what you wanted early on in the article. So if you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU.
We’ve already talked about weight loss on our blog and why it is one of the most commonly misunderstood phenomena in the fitness world.
Well, guess what? Weight gain stands right up there as well.
Remember when we said earlier above that you don’t need a huge calorie surplus to gain weight?
Turns out, a lot of people don’t really get this. They want the gains FAST. And this is where the concept of dirty bulky arises:
Eat whatever you want, as much as you want, whenever you want.
Spoiler alert, you will gain weight. But not all of it will be muscle. If you’re on a daily 500-600 calorie surplus, there’s a good chance that you’re going to gain a bunch of fat as well.
Now, this might not seem like too big of an issue in the short term. I mean, you are gaining weight, right? Isn’t that what you wanted?
Yes, but ask anyone who’s trying to lose fat and they will tell you that it is BY FAR one of the harder things to do on a fitness journey.
The smart thing to do, is be a little cautious of your overall calorie intake, right now. So that later on, you’re saved from the agony of losing that stubborn fat!
Keep in mind though, there is no magic food or pill that is going to help you with weight gain. In fact, just like weight loss, it all comes down to one very simple principle:
Calorie Surplus
Consuming more calories than you’re burning. Do this, and the scale will rise. It’s a sure shot principle. Heck you could even be eating salad all day, but as long as you’re eating in a surplus, your weight will increase.
To demonstrate this principle, we’re going to rely on our trusty ol’ friend…Science!
But worry not! We won’t go all Einstein on you. To make things simpler to understand, let’s visualize two identical twins.
The Diet Of The Two Salman’s
Salman # 1 and Salman # 2.
Both are skinny lads and are trying to gain weight. Let’s imagine that to maintain body weight, they need to eat 2500 calories a day.
We decide that we’re going to put the Salman’s on a calorie surplus of 200 calories per day. This will lead to some nice, steady weight gain, as it should be.
Moving on, let’s assign each of them separate diets.
For Salman # 1, we’re going to let him eat his all time favorite food…
Pizza!
Salman # 1 loves pizza. So cheesy, greasy, ooey and gooey! He would gladly eat it for every meal. And that’s exactly what we’re going to make him do. For 2700 calories a day, that comes out to be a 1.5x large pizza.
On the other hand, Salman # 2 get’s to eat chicken, avocado, and rice for every single meal..
Alongside, he also has a glass of milk with each meal, as well as two spoons of peanut butter at the end of the day. Yes, it’s boring. But it’s the classic body builder diet. He, too, eats 2700 calories of this stuff everyday.
The Results
We make both Salman’s follow this diet for 2 months. At the end of the two months, who do you think will have gained more weight?
Do you think it’s Salman # 1?
You’d be WRONG.
What about Salman # 2?
WRONG AGAIN!
Here’s the surprise, they both gain an identical amount of weight!
“Hang on. You’re telling me the person who ate only pizza, gained the same amount as the chicken and avocado guy? Pfffft.”
Well, dear readers, this is where the principle of calorie surplus comes in.
As said before, if you’re consuming more calories than you’re burning, you’re going to gain weight.
In terms of food choices, the two Salman’s diets look completely different. But when you look at macronutrients, they’re actually surprisingly similar.
Now, a lot of people will think that what we’ve concluded is just straight up garbage. Typically we relate pizza as something that is going to make you gain weight faster than any other food.
On the flip side, most people think that a diet of chicken, avocado and brown rice would be healthy (which it is), and therefore you’d gain less weight.
However, the research of time and time again has allowed us to conclude one thing…
Diets matched for calories and macronutrients produce similar weight gain. Again, this is regardless of the types of foods you’re eating.
What Foods Should I be Eating Then?
This brings us to the question…
“Well, if you’re saying all this, then technically I can eat pizza all day, everyday to gain weight, right?
And the answer to that is…absolutely not.
Yes, you’d gain weight, but A LOT of this is going to be fat. And not the good kind. This is fat that will clog up your arteries, raise your cholesterol, and leave you feeling your worst.
Don’t believe us? Just try out an all-pizza diet for 1 week.
However, when it comes to sustainable and progressive weight gain, we’d recommend the chicken and rice diet. Every. Single. Time
Easy Homemade Protein Shakes For Weight Gain
We realize that in the Pakistan of today where inflation is frenzying out of control, buying a Rs 25,000 tub of mass gainer may not sound like the best idea.
Advocates could argue that “health is an investment”, but let’s be real. Times are tough. People want to take care of their health but are finding it gruesomely difficult to sustain the costs of health supplements.
Therefore, we’ve prepared a list of cheaper homemade protein shakes to gain help gain weight using stuff you probably already have!
That’s right. We’re not going to ask you to go and buy some fancy schmancy ingredient from the nearest hypermarket.
It’s actually really easy to condense a really high number of calories into a small volume if you just choose the right ingredients.
This’ll give you all the calories and macronutrients you need to support muscle growth. In addition, you also get the added vitamins, minerals, fibers, and healthy fats that most weight gainer supplements don’t have.
With that said, though, you still might need to go and buy at least a few things. And one of those is a good high quality protein powder.
Yes, it too is expensive, but the convenience of a massive addition of protein from just a scoop or two, is oh-so worth it.
We’ve used our very own Hyper WPC 80 as the choice of protein in the recipes as it comes unflavored and thus allows you to add whatever you want to it!
Recipes:
Banana Nutella Shake
- 2 bananas
- 2 tbsp Nutella
- 2 scoops of PakNaturals Hyper WPC protein powder
- 1 cup of whole full-fat milk
- Calories: 760
Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 scoops of PakNaturals Hyper WPC protein powder
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup of whole full-fat milk
Calories: 750
Strawberry Cream Shake
- 1 cup strawberries
- 2 scoops of PakNaturals Hyper WPC protein powder
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup of whole full-fat milk
Calories: 680
Peach Cobbler Shake
- 1 cup sliced peaches (70 calories)
- 2 scoops of PakNaturals Hyper WPC protein powder (240 calories)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (150 calories)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (6 calories)
- 1 cup of whole full-fat milk (150 calories)
Total Calories: 616
Mango Lassi Shake
- 1 cup mango (100 calories)
- 2 tbsp honey (120 calories)
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (70 calories)
- 1 cup of whole full-fat milk (150 calories)
Total Calories: 440
Oatmeal Banana Shake
- 2 bananas (200 calories)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (150 calories)
- 2 scoops of PakNaturals Hyper WPC protein powder (240 calories)
- 1 cup of whole full-fat milk (150 calories)
Total Calories: 740
A Simple Guide To Making Your Own
In case none of these recipes sound good to you, here’s a general guide that you can use to create your own homemade mass gainer.
There are 4 main things that you will need:
1) A Protein Source:
This is important as protein is essential for building muscle. Without this you’re just consuming calories that would have little to no added benefit for muscle building. So, be sure to include a good protein source. Some great options include:
- Protein powder
- Greek Yogurt
- Egg whites
- Nut butters
2) A carbohydrate:
This is going to bump up the overall calorie count which will transform your shake from an ordinary one, to a heavy duty mass gainer. In addition, carbs will also fuel you throughout your intense gym sessions!
We’ve found that the best carbohydrate source for a homemade mass gainer is none other than…
A banana!
These suckers are amazing! They have 100 calories each, pack a ton of vitamins and minerals, and are by far the best high calorie carb source that you can add to your shake.
Other options include:
- Oats
- Quinoa
- Dried fruits
- Honey
- Ice cream.
3) A healthy fat:
Healthy fats can help increase calorie intake without having to eat a large amount of them.
Good options include:
- Olive oil
- Nut butters
- Coconut oil
- Nuts such as cashews, almonds, etc.
4) A Liquid base:
Something to bring the entire shake altogether.
By far, the best option would be to use whole milk. Not only will this make your shake taste so much better, but also pack a bunch of calories as well as extra proteins and carbs. In case you’re allergic to milk or don’t want something too heavy, you can always substitute with non-dairy milk, or even water.
Take-Home Message:
Wow, that was quite the read! But we hope you now have a solid understanding of weight gain and mass gainers, as well as some top products available on the market.
And if you’re looking something more affordable, don’t worry – we’ve also shown you how to make your own mass gainer for just a fraction of the cost.
If there’s anything you learn from this article, it should be this:
Don’t rely solely on mass gainers for weight gain.
While they may seem like a quick and easy solution for consuming lots of calories, your focus should always be on maintaining a balanced diet that includes a variety of whole foods.
We’re a protein powder company ourselves and we’ll always push for real whole foods over anything that comes out of a plastic tub.
So, what did you find most insightful about this article? What would you like to add or disagree with? Do you have any weight gain tips that you’d like to share?
Let us know in the comments below!
