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Mass gainer is a controversial supplement topic with a lot of important questions. Most important for today, however: is mass gainer good for bulking?
We’re going to look at what is in mass gainer, how it works, and if it’s good for bulking up and building muscle.
Is Mass Gainer Good for Bulking?
Yes. Mass gainer is the bulking supplement – it’s not only good for bulking, but specifically designed to help you gain weight. It’s a high-calorie, high-protein supplement that can be added to a balanced diet to take you from maintenance calorie intake all the way to bulking.
Mass gainers are some of the easiest and most reliably effective bulking supplements.
They add a significant amount of effective calories to your day in liquid form to make sure that you’re not getting too full – and that makes them super convenient.
Other uses for mass gainers typically include convenient top-ups during busy days, a way for athletes to replenish their energy stores, and a simple way for underweight people to gain weight.
These are all legitimate in their own way, but the main use is for building muscle and replenishing carb stores in the muscles.
Let’s take a quick look at how mass gainers build more muscle mass…
How Do Mass Gainer Supplements Work?
Mass gainers are high in calories, protein, and carbohydrates. This makes them effective bulking supplements since these are the 3 most important factors you need to increase when you’re trying to gain more weight and build muscle.
1. High Calorie: Boosting Results And Building Muscle
Calories are the total energy you’re taking in through the day – and mass gainers are packed with them.
This makes them a great driving force for bulking, especially if you’re not very good at consistently eating lots of food.
Mass gainers can contain as many as 1300 calories per serving. While this is extreme, even adding 500-600 calories to your diet every day can turn a maintenance diet into a high-quality muscle-building diet.
This calorie intake is why they’re mass gainers in the first place. Without this feature, a mass gainer wouldn’t actually help you build more muscle.
However, more calories is not always better – you want a serving and product that helps you get a small surplus – around 500 calories per day more than your maintenance needs.
2. High Protein: Making Sure You Gain Muscle, Not Fat
Protein is an important part of any bulking supplement, as it’s the main macronutrient that turns into muscle in the body (1).
If you don’t get enough protein, you’ll hamstring your development and struggle to put on high quality muscle mass.
Protein intake is the difference between gaining fat and muscle in many situations. A higher protein diet is a better way to build muscle, repair damaged tissues, and improve your performance in exercise from one workout to the next.
Mass gainers that are high in protein are better for your health, as well as results, and should be a top priority.
3. High Carb: Energy For Bulking Up
When you’ve got a high protein mass gainer, the rest of the calories should (ideally) come from carbohydrates. These are the short-term, high-energy macronutrients that your muscles prefer as their main energy source.
Carbs are also the macronutrient your body primarily uses to keep score of your energy levels (2).
This makes them the key player in your muscle-building signals inside your body, and carb intake is a key player in the building of muscle mass.
When you limit your carbs, you limit muscle growth.
With proper carb feeding – especially combined with protein – you can get far more from your mass gainer. You want to look for a high-protein mass gainer to get the best results – building more muscle and less fat while bulking up.
Final Thoughts: Using Mass Gainer Properly
Is mass gainer good for bulking? Yes, a mass gainer is a perfect weight gain supplement with a perfect ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fats. This makes mass gainers great for bulking and building muscle.
Mass gainers are a useful and versatile supplement – especially some of the lower-calorie, higher-protein choices.
The important thing is that they’re used as a supplement to your diet, and not as a crutch for poor protein and calorie intake throughout the day.
Remember that more isn’t better, quality should come first, and a mass gainer needs to fit in with your lifestyle, schedule, and diet plan.
Put time into getting the right kind of product – you can refer to our guide to the best mass gainers for muscle mass if you’re still struggling to choose!
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Rohan Arora is a Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist and has been actively involved in sports and fitness for over 8 years. He now leads the team of fitness specialists and personal trainers who help people around the world with personalized workout and nutrition plans, along with providing the right information on sports supplements.
