Post: #1

I'm thinking of getting this

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/gainer.html

I'm slightly above 6'2, 185 pounds 15% body fat, I want to gain muscle but finding time to eat enough is a bitch...what do you guys think of mass gainers? is it just sugar and fats? the one I linked above seems healthier .

Post: #2

Why do you feel you need to take a mass gaining supplement ?How much are you currently eating right now ? What are your numbers on deadlift / bench press / squat ??

Post: #3

Almost ruined my teeth. Way too much sugar. Luckily my dentist noticed...

Try milk instead.

Post: #4

Make your own for half as much and it will be twice as healthy.

Use ingredients like:

Milk
Heavy Whipping Cream
Peanut/Almond Butter
Coconut Oil
Oats
Whey Protein
Yogurt
Fruit, eg Bananas, Berries
Ice Cream
Cottage Cheese
Eggs
Flaxseed

Pick as you like, with at least a scoop or two of protein. No sugar if you don't want it, and superior ingredient quality.

Gainers are full of sugar-like substances like maltodextrin.

Post: #5

Eggs have been my secret. I've gotten flak on these forums before for my pro-egg stand point but I put down more eggs in a week then most people do in a year, I'm continually losing weight and stacking on muscle. Eggs are loaded with protein and good fats and lots of calories. Best part is they're dirt cheap but delicious.

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #6

Weight gainers like Twinlab Mass Fuel Extreme is great, because it has 50g protein per 600 kcal serving. However, ON Serious Mass sucks, as it only has 50g protein per 1520 kcal serving.

Post: #7

(02-09-2012 03:09 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  Eggs have been my secret. I've gotten flak on these forums before for my pro-egg stand point but I put down more eggs in a week then most people do in a year, I'm continually losing weight and stacking on muscle. Eggs are loaded with protein and good fats and lots of calories. Best part is they're dirt cheap but delicious.

Curious, how many eggs we talking? And raw or cooked?

When I'm using them in a meal, I get 4-6 in, but I never do it during the week. Each egg is exponentially harder to eat than the last, especially if you're not eating with a starchy substance like rice or potatoes. Makes me slightly nauseous. I don't have the same issue with say, large quantities of meat.

Post: #8

Whole-Eggs have much cholesterol and saturated fat in them. Egg-whites on the other hand, have almost zero fat. I usually have 4-6 egg whites a day.

Post: #9

(02-09-2012 03:26 PM)basilransom Wrote:  

(02-09-2012 03:09 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  Eggs have been my secret. I've gotten flak on these forums before for my pro-egg stand point but I put down more eggs in a week then most people do in a year, I'm continually losing weight and stacking on muscle. Eggs are loaded with protein and good fats and lots of calories. Best part is they're dirt cheap but delicious.

Curious, how many eggs we talking? And raw or cooked?

When I'm using them in a meal, I get 4-6 in, but I never do it during the week. Each egg is exponentially harder to eat than the last, especially if you're not eating with a starchy substance like rice or potatoes. Makes me slightly nauseous. I don't have the same issue with say, large quantities of meat.

I eat about 10 scrambled eggs every morning for breakfast M-F

I've never had a problem eating eggs, part of the reason I like them so much is that I Find them very easy to eat and quickly. Hit em with a pinch of cheese, lots of pepper and then shovel em back. I'll put down 10 eggs worth in five minutes easy, which is nice when I'm eating on a time limit like I do at work.

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #10

(02-09-2012 03:36 PM)bengalltigerr Wrote:  Whole-Eggs have much cholesterol and saturated fat in them.

Which only should be a problem if your body also is full of fat and cholesterol.


If you have a healthy lifestyle, eat away. If you are a sedentary office worker whose ass overflows both sides of the chair, then yeah, avoid eating whole eggs.

The yolk is the best part of the egg.

Post: #11

(02-09-2012 03:54 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  

(02-09-2012 03:26 PM)basilransom Wrote:  

(02-09-2012 03:09 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  Eggs have been my secret. I've gotten flak on these forums before for my pro-egg stand point but I put down more eggs in a week then most people do in a year, I'm continually losing weight and stacking on muscle. Eggs are loaded with protein and good fats and lots of calories. Best part is they're dirt cheap but delicious.

Curious, how many eggs we talking? And raw or cooked?

When I'm using them in a meal, I get 4-6 in, but I never do it during the week. Each egg is exponentially harder to eat than the last, especially if you're not eating with a starchy substance like rice or potatoes. Makes me slightly nauseous. I don't have the same issue with say, large quantities of meat.

I eat about 10 scrambled eggs every morning for breakfast M-F

I've never had a problem eating eggs, part of the reason I like them so much is that I Find them very easy to eat and quickly. Hit em with a pinch of cheese, lots of pepper and then shovel em back. I'll put down 10 eggs worth in five minutes easy, which is nice when I'm eating on a time limit like I do at work.

Holy shit that's a lot of eggs. Calorie-wise, it's reasonable. But I just know I couldn't do that without feeling disgusting. I've been eating 4-6 eggs at a time for a while now, and that's still my limit. I usually mix in eggs with some combination of rice, potatoes, yams, onion, or bacon, plus butter, and possibly a shake, to get the calories up there.

It's great that you can do that though - like you said, eggs are a cheap convenient staple.

With most other foods, I've been able to increase my uptake per sitting over the years, but not so much with eggs.

Post: #12

You arent the first person I've heard say that, most everyone I work with is amazed at how many eggs I eat, but its quick easy and I think it tastes good (I crumble bacon over top of them too heh)

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #13

Quick way to add calories to your protein shake is to throw a couple of scoops of oats in. I buy the pre powederized oats available at any supplement site because the texture is better, but regular oats from the grocery store work just as well.

Post: #14

i agree w. Chad and basil. These things are a big waste of money, just make a shake with lots of protein/carbs. Way more variety + you can control exactly what is in it.

If you're gaining just eat fucktons of food, just try to avoid eating carbs + fat at the same time or you'll gain more fat and hit the squats regularily.

A cornerstone of your diet should be eggs. I eat 6 eggs for breakfast every day cooked in about a tablespoon of butter. Keeps me going thru my workout and a lot of the day.

Post: #15

Go the natural route. Cocconut oil or Olive oil will give you clean calories. Eggs and full fat yogurt are good also. Those mass gainers are packed with a lot of garbage.

Post: #16

I agree.
ripped 50's bodybuilding Vince Gironda was big on eggs...specially Fertilized eggs!

btw what type of whipping cream do you recommend while making shakes? what is half-n-half?
I already put oats, egg white, whey, milk (usually skim, maybe I should go whole milk, arnold's encyclopedia and starting strength recommend whole milk), greek yogourt, berries, cottage cheese, banana.

I eat fat-free quark cheese from time to time (less sugar and sodium than cottage cheese but less protein).


at the end of the day I want to put on muscles !

btw I already do deadlifts, squats etc..

I can do 5 reps of 225lbs in squats
5 reps of 225lbs in deadlifts (but I can do a bit more, it's just that my fingers start chaffing)

my bench press is weak though at 155lb x 5 reps
I can over head press 90lbs x6 reps

Post: #17

whole milk is good because you get fat with it too, skim milk is just sugar and protein = less calories = less effective for bulking.

Anything with lots of fat will be high in calories for the whipping cream. also try coconut milk with your protein shakes. I put some in a banana strawberry flavoured protein powerder and it was stupid tasty. Its pretty much entirely fat with 110 cal for 1/4 of a cup.

As a general rule try to eat only things that you can grow or kill if you've got room in your budget get free range eggs as I've read they are higher in nutrients.

Basically: eat stupid amounts of fat protein and veggies from natural sources for every meal and make your main carb meal your post workout and have protein fat and carbs. You'll be bound to put on muscle as you do with minimal fat gain.

Post: #18

If coconut milk can grow baby elephants as a suitable alternative to theirs mothers milk ... your good! Take in clean fats you will put on good solid clean weight.

Post: #19

(02-09-2012 07:28 PM)metalhaze Wrote:  at the end of the day I want to put on muscles !

btw I already do deadlifts, squats etc..

I can do 5 reps of 225lbs in squats
5 reps of 225lbs in deadlifts (but I can do a bit more, it's just that my fingers start chaffing)

my bench press is weak though at 155lb x 5 reps
I can over head press 90lbs x6 reps

With these stats and your current bodyweight...I just don't think Mass gainers are what you need right now.

A few posters have already mentioned eggs which is extremely important when building muscle. There is a certain way you should eat your eggs in order to get the full benefits of what they have to offer.

..and despite what any newbie will tell you, CHOLESTEROL is your friend, load up on it.

Post: #20

After high school when I was a disgustingly skinny chump, I started lifting hard and took ProLab N-Large 2, which made me go from 125-152 in like a month. It was fairly lean mass too.

However, you don't need this. At all. If you want a shake, get some whey isolate or concentrate. But really, you should just be eating meat, eggs, veggies, and fats. Coconut oil is great stuff. If you want to get cut and build muscle, train hard and stay away from carbs and sugars. Boom. Done.

Post: #21

According to Dr.Mirkin, high cholesterol lowers testosterone level. http://www.drmirkin.com/men/1008.html

Post: #22

(02-09-2012 10:57 PM)bengalltigerr Wrote:  According to Dr.Mirkin, high cholesterol lowers testosterone level.

This is in regards to having high SERUM cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol, like from eating meat and eggs, has no bearing on this. Do your homework.

In fact, eating high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol, especially before bed, has a significant positive impact on your testosterone. About 800mg cholesterol before bed, which is about 4 eggs, will do the trick.

Post: #23

(02-09-2012 03:54 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  

(02-09-2012 03:26 PM)basilransom Wrote:  

(02-09-2012 03:09 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  Eggs have been my secret. I've gotten flak on these forums before for my pro-egg stand point but I put down more eggs in a week then most people do in a year, I'm continually losing weight and stacking on muscle. Eggs are loaded with protein and good fats and lots of calories. Best part is they're dirt cheap but delicious.

Curious, how many eggs we talking? And raw or cooked?

When I'm using them in a meal, I get 4-6 in, but I never do it during the week. Each egg is exponentially harder to eat than the last, especially if you're not eating with a starchy substance like rice or potatoes. Makes me slightly nauseous. I don't have the same issue with say, large quantities of meat.

I eat about 10 scrambled eggs every morning for breakfast M-F

I've never had a problem eating eggs, part of the reason I like them so much is that I Find them very easy to eat and quickly. Hit em with a pinch of cheese, lots of pepper and then shovel em back. I'll put down 10 eggs worth in five minutes easy, which is nice when I'm eating on a time limit like I do at work.

I eat at least 6 eggs a day, scrambled, boiled, omelettes.

I hate cooking so love eggs for the simplicity, and they are very cheap.

Post: #24

(02-09-2012 03:26 PM)basilransom Wrote:  

(02-09-2012 03:09 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  Eggs have been my secret. I've gotten flak on these forums before for my pro-egg stand point but I put down more eggs in a week then most people do in a year, I'm continually losing weight and stacking on muscle. Eggs are loaded with protein and good fats and lots of calories. Best part is they're dirt cheap but delicious.

Curious, how many eggs we talking? And raw or cooked?

When I'm using them in a meal, I get 4-6 in, but I never do it during the week. Each egg is exponentially harder to eat than the last, especially if you're not eating with a starchy substance like rice or potatoes. Makes me slightly nauseous. I don't have the same issue with say, large quantities of meat.

i eat around 30 eggs a week

scrambled

all my blood levels are good.

Post: #25

(02-09-2012 07:28 PM)metalhaze Wrote:  I agree.
ripped 50's bodybuilding Vince Gironda was big on eggs...specially Fertilized eggs!

btw what type of whipping cream do you recommend while making shakes? what is half-n-half?
I already put oats, egg white, whey, milk (usually skim, maybe I should go whole milk, arnold's encyclopedia and starting strength recommend whole milk), greek yogourt, berries, cottage cheese, banana.

I eat fat-free quark cheese from time to time (less sugar and sodium than cottage cheese but less protein).


at the end of the day I want to put on muscles !

btw I already do deadlifts, squats etc..

I can do 5 reps of 225lbs in squats
5 reps of 225lbs in deadlifts (but I can do a bit more, it's just that my fingers start chaffing)

my bench press is weak though at 155lb x 5 reps
I can over head press 90lbs x6 reps

respectable newbie numbers.

sounds like you're doing it already but if not, get Rippetoe's Starting Strength.

Do the workouts with linear progressions

Drink a gallon of grass-fed whole milk a day.

in three months you'll be a new man.