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What’s the simplest thing to do to put on muscle mass? Eat more calories than you burn AND get a decent amount of protein daily! But how do you get more calories when you have a steady small appetite or a high basal metabolic rate? That’s where supplements come in.
Today, we’ll venture into the supplements industry and find out how to use mass gainer effectively. It worked wonders for me, but let’s talk about you! If you’re looking at getting supplements to power up your gaining efforts or if you simply wish to be more educated about mass gainers, then keep reading. Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of mass gainers together.
Useful Pointers For Builders: How To Use Mass Gainer
What Is Mass Gainer And How Does It Work?Why Should You Use A Mass Gainer?What You’ll Need:How to Properly Use Mass Gainers#1 – Track Your Food Intake.#2 – Do Not Under-eat.#3 – Get Enough Sleep.#4 – Train Hard.#5 – Don’t Forget To De-stress.Awesome Tips From the Pros!#1 – Know Your Body Type To Make The Right Mass Gainer Choice.#2 – Work On Your Weaknesses.Final Thoughts
What Is Mass Gainer And How Does It Work?
A mass gainer is a supplement that comes in powder form that you combine with either milk, water, or both to make a shake. It is designed to provide you with your daily calories and nutrient needs without prompting you to eat carelessly and more than needed.
The mass gainer shake is best to use post workout. Go for one with a high carbohydrate and low fat content. These carbohydrates will help drive the insulin cycle and push the amino acids to the muscles in half the time as it does when you don’t take mass gainers. This ultimately builds muscles faster and helps them recover faster.
Why Should You Use A Mass Gainer?
If you (a) are a busy bee who don’t even have time to eat thrice a day, (b) always find yourself having no appetite, or (c) are a hardgainer and needs more protein, then you need to consider taking a mass gainer supplement.
But what if you’re already taking whey protein? Okay, let’s pause for a bit there as the supplements industry can be quite confusing. Let’s differentiate the two once and for all. Whey protein powder contains around 100-150 calories per serving, while mass gainer powder has a whopping 1300-1500 calories per serving.
The whey protein’s goal is to burn fats while improving your satiety. The mass gainer’s goal, on the other hand, is to help you gain weight without overdoing your caloric intake. So, if you have a slender body, don’t get stressed out trying to choose between the two.
There’s no reason you can’t take both at the same time. After all, the whey protein will help you with your protein intake target, and the mass gainer will help you with your caloric intake target.
What You’ll Need
Food Journal
There’s a plethora of online food journals you can get online to keep track of the food items and the corresponding amounts you’ve taken in for the day. If that becomes overwhelming, you can always use a handy physical notebook for logging the food items during or at the end of the day.
Video Camera
Set up a video camera during your workouts, so you’ll see if you’re doing an exercise correctly. You will find the recorded video handy when trying to perfect your form.
Green Tea
Did you know that green tea is essential in muscle building? Green tea raises your body’s production of human growth hormone (HGH). The HGH is necessary for gaining mass and building muscles. With an increased growth hormone, your stress level significantly drops, sleep better, and you get a stronger drive to work out.
How to Properly Use Mass Gainers
#1 – Track Your Food Intake.
You won’t be able to manage your gains if you don’t measure what you eat. Not tracking your food intake is a common mistake. Get a tracking journal to list down every food item you consume during the day. It may be a physical notebook or an app you can download to your phone.
By tracking your food intake, you condition your mind to eat properly. Tracking also allows you to see what foods make you gain a healthy weight while using a mass gainer. This is, of course, possible if you use a weighing scale as well. Be efficient and track both your food intake and your weight.
#2 – Do Not Under-eat.
You won’t get the strength you need when you don’t supply your body its needed nutrients. And you get these nutrients from the foods you eat. If you’re not getting enough food, then you’re not getting enough nutrients. But is it impossible to gain mass by undereating? Not really.
You can still gain mass even when you under-eat. You still gain mass partly because you’re taking mass gainers, but mainly because you’ll be training with much vigor. The drawback to this is that progress in the gym will reach a hiatus, and that’s it. From that moment on, your body’s capability of gaining muscle mass is greatly diminished.
#3 – Get Enough Sleep.
If you are trying to gain mass, it’s especially important that you get enough sleep. Sleep is muscle’s ringleader. Without enough sleep, muscles don’t get built. Weightlifters often get injured because the micro tears in their muscle fibers don’t get healed. Why? They don’t sleep enough. Think of sleep as the muscles’ recovery period.
But how do you get enough or a good night’s sleep? It’s ideal that you sleep for 8-9 hours straight. Go to bed at 9 pm if possible. Is your bedroom dark enough to create a cozy ambiance? Do you happen to have earplugs you can use to block all noise? How’s the room temperature? Make sure it’s conducive to sleeping – 70°F is recommended.
#4 – Train Hard.
When starting out, it’s best to use light weights to master the correct form. But once you’ve perfected your form, you must shift your focus and efforts to heavy weightlifting. Focus on major compund movements such as overhead press, weighted chins, and deadlift.
How do you know you’re training hard? When you’ve maxed out your energy trying to challenge the number of reps you can do during deadlift, squats, or any other compound movements. That’s when you know your training intensity is on the spot.
To monitor your form, set up a video camera in front of you during your workouts. Try to compare your form with professional trainers’ form in their YouTube videos. With correct form, you’ll be gaining mass much faster than when you’re working out without proper form and alignment.
#5 – Don’t Forget To De-stress.
Stress is a killer. It kills your momentum, your appetite, and decreases mass gainers’ ability to fuel your calorie and fat intake. What stresses you out during training? Are you constantly comparing yourself to buffed lifters in the gym? Do you find your goals not being met?
Whatever is stressing you is downplaying the mass gainer’s capability to transform your body. So, if you’re taking a mass gainer yet you can’t manage your stressors, then it’s counter-productive. Did you know that stress increases liver burden and decreases your body’s ability to use leptin, a satiety hormone?
There are lots of ways you can de-stress, but one of my favorites is to drink green tea. Not only does green tea detoxify, but it leaves you feeling lighter and satisfied. Watch your anxiety go after drinking green tea.
Awesome Tips From the Pros!
#1 – Know Your Body Type To Make The Right Mass Gainer Choice.
Tobias Young, Optimum Nutrition sponsored athlete, suggests that you familiarize yourself with different mass gainer brands and their nutritional value. Why? So you can choose the one that’s perfect for your body type.
Of course, you must know your body type prior to taking mass gainers. Serious Mass, for one, is excellent for hardgainers, and Pro Gainer is recommended for mesomorphs. If you’re a beginner, then perhaps you should try Muscle Juice.
#2 – Work On Your Weaknesses.
Taking mass gainer is never enough to gain the weight you need. If your long-term goal is to build muscles and transform your physique, you should be willing to train hard even if it means working on your weaknesses doubly hard. Do you find yourself not being able to complete a set of squats? Then that’s your cue!
Noah Siegel, a contributing author from Bodybuilding.com, explains that the mass game is all about creating an illusion of beast-like proportions. He claims it’s important to know your weak points and to turn them into stand-out features.
Final Thoughts
Lots of beginner gainers tend to forget about nutrition and just try to compensate with gym time. We all have to unlearn that not eating equates to getting fitter. So, while you need to eliminate bad fats, we need to gain weight to prep your body for the actual “building”. And you won’t get that right balance without finding the perfect mass gainer for your body type.
If you’re past the beginner level and have progressed to the hardgainer status, then the Serious Mass mass gainer may be your ally in bodybuilding.
Whether you’re a beginner, a mesomorph, or a hardgainer, the trick is to get the calories and proteins needed to support lean muscles. For a rock solid muscle mass, opt for a high-calorie and high-protein mass gainer.
I hope you found the article helpful and that you’d share it with friends! Do you have some awesome tips that worked for you while you were gaining mass? Let us know in the comments; it’s always fun to learn new things!
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