Weight Gainers

I was wondering if anyone here had recommendations on weight gainers. I've been doing some research and it seems that Muscle Juice is pretty popular.

I'm an ectomorph and find it really hard to gain weight (even when trying to eat a lot) and I was wondering if there's any benefit to weight gainers besides being an easy 1000 calories. Should I take it after workout or before?

I was also wondering how often you're supposed to take the weight gainer. Every day? That seems like it'd get expensive, as the cheapest one I've seen is $26 for 20 days worth.

The other option I've seen on a couple sites is to make your own... essentially a smoothie with 16oz of milk, a banana, oats, whey protein, and some peanut butter. Does anyone here make their own gainers?

Thanks a lot for your input.

I hope I can ask this question one day.

Originally Posted by jaustin

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I was wondering if anyone here had recommendations on weight gainers. I've been doing some research and it seems that Muscle Juice is pretty popular. I'm an ectomorph and find it really hard to gain weight (even when trying to eat a lot) and I was wondering if there's any benefit to weight gainers besides being an easy 1000 calories. Should I take it after workout or before? I was also wondering how often you're supposed to take the weight gainer. Every day? That seems like it'd get expensive, as the cheapest one I've seen is $26 for 20 days worth. The other option I've seen on a couple sites is to make your own... essentially a smoothie with 16oz of milk, a banana, oats, whey protein, and some peanut butter. Does anyone here make their own gainers? Thanks a lot for your input.

that **** is so unnatural. enjoy being an ectomorph. i'm a 189cm and weigh 71 kilos... believe me, other people would be happy if they could eat what they want without becoming fat. if you get older, the metabolism will slow down and you start to gain weight.

I'd bet what you think of as eating a lot isn't really eating enough (for your body specifically). Can you list out a typical day of what you eat?

I like HDT Pro Blend Solid Gains... Tastes good and is a quick way to add calories that are not just all sugar to your diet. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hd/solid.html But you also definitely need to make sure you're eating enough as well. As to when to take - you need to eat 6 times a day. You can replace one or more of the between meal snacks with a shake. I would definitely have one after working out and then one right before bed. You need protein within 45-minutes of working out and you need to protein that will last while you are sleeping so you don't go into a catabolic state.

How many calories are you consuming? If you do not know the number, don't consider weight gainers. This stuff is a science.

It is pretty easy to get >3000 calories a day. If you aren't gaining at 3500, consider a weightgainer. But remember, the carbs in that are generally ****. Make sure to read the label and know what you are putting into your body.

how tall are you and what's your weight?

maybe you should just eat a lot of meat and rice and noodles.

Originally Posted by TheHoff

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I'd bet what you think of as eating a lot isn't really eating enough (for your body specifically). Can you list out a typical day of what you eat?

I DEFINITELY know that I'm not eating enough, and that this is the real reason why I'm not gaining weight. I'm going to get on a strict regiment soon, and was just wondering if a weight gainer would help me reach the target caloric intake without having to walk around all day with a chicken breast in my hand.

I find it hard to eat a lot throughout the day because I rarely get hungry, and I know I need to "quit being a ***** and just eat more," but I'm not used to shceduled eating, so it's kinda difficult.

I'm 6" 150lbs.

Originally Posted by jaustin

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I DEFINITELY know that I'm not eating enough, and that this is the real reason why I'm not gaining weight. I'm going to get on a strict regiment soon, and was just wondering if a weight gainer would help me reach the target caloric intake without having to walk around all day with a chicken breast in my hand.
Think of it in reverse... imagine you're obese. You wouldn't expect to get slim unless you scheduled your eating and ate what was scheduled. You need the same eating discipline -- you won't gain unless you eat on a schedule and everything that is scheduled. Until you figure out what you're taking in now and what you need to eat to gain reasonably, you'll always be guessing. So if you're dedicated to numbers and that sort, use www.fitday.com or similar to budget your day until you start gaining. There are better, portable, options than the liquid weight gainers that are typically full of processed sugar. One tasty treat I eat for calorie intake is a peanut butter and oats bar. Basically just peanut butter, protein powder, honey, and oats... lay it into a baking sheet and then cut it into bars. You can figure out the calories and servings pretty easily, but it is simple to eat on the go and full of good calories.

Is six meals a day really necessary? I find it so hard to set aside that much time for eating. I can manage eating four times a day but six is just too much.

Here I'll give you some great advice for gaining weight. I'm trying to lose weight because I've been so good at gaining it.


Don't eat 6 times a day. Don't even eat 3 times a day.

Binge eating is the key. Eating 1-2 times daily is optimal.

When you do have a meal, go for concentrated calories. Two chocolate croissants + a frappacino for breakfast should be somewhere around 1500-2000 calories.

Or you could go get one of those breakfast sandwiches from burgerking. If I remember just one has like 1200 calories.

Fried foods are excellent for gaining weight. French fries are pro.

The less active you are, the better. Just sit around all day, don't workout until you gain weight. It'll kill your metabolism and help you gain that weight.


I'm just kidding though, don't do that to yourself. Being naturally skinny is about a billion times better than being fat. Just be healthy.

^ I think threads like this should be required reading for noobs who just get into resistance training. I just wish they could all appreciate how laborious it can be to get big in a healthy way, then stop all the "I don't wanna get Arnold-huge" BS complain and work their asses off in the gym every day.

Originally Posted by TheHoff

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One tasty treat I eat for calorie intake is a peanut butter and oats bar. Basically just peanut butter, protein powder, honey, and oats... lay it into a baking sheet and then cut it into bars. You can figure out the calories and servings pretty easily, but it is simple to eat on the go and full of good calories.
Sir, I commend you on your good taste... for that's how I roll too. Actually, mine is a variation of the AnimalPak oat cookie. Good stuff.

Originally Posted by DucatiCole

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Is six meals a day really necessary? I find it so hard to set aside that much time for eating. I can manage eating four times a day but six is just too much.
A meal can be lean meat over rice/bread w/ almonds, or just cooked oatmeal mixed w/ peanut butter + egg white or protein. A quick 15 min, and it's all (eaten and) done. Or you can even just have some sizable snacks.

In any case, what you eat and how much you eat are more important (w/ the latter being by far the most important factor). Eat big, lift big, and re-evaluate every 3 or 4 months.

Thanks for the replies so far.

So I was checking out FitDay and trying to see how many calories I eat in a typical day vs how many calories they say are burned doing the activities I would do.

My typical caloric intake is probably around 1700-2000. When I checked how many calories I spend (without any real exercise) it came out to around 450 for sleeping 7 hrs, and 1950 for the other 14, coming to around 2400.

Obviously my intake is lower than my expended, but what exactly does this mean? Where are the other calories needed for my regular activities coming from?

Finally, what would you guys recommend a target intake to be? Around 3000 or so? How does extra amount of calories correlate to muscle gains (would eating 3500 vs 3000 make much of a difference, or do I just need to get a bit above my expenditure)?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks a ton.

Originally Posted by jaustin

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Thanks for the replies so far.

So I was checking out FitDay and trying to see how many calories I eat in a typical day vs how many calories they say are burned doing the activities I would do.

My typical caloric intake is probably around 1700-2000. When I checked how many calories I spend (without any real exercise) it came out to around 450 for sleeping 7 hrs, and 1950 for the other 14, coming to around 2400.

Obviously my intake is lower than my expended, but what exactly does this mean? Where are the other calories needed for my regular activities coming from?

Finally, what would you guys recommend a target intake to be? Around 3000 or so? How does extra amount of calories correlate to muscle gains (would eating 3500 vs 3000 make much of a difference, or do I just need to get a bit above my expenditure)?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks a ton.

Do 2800 for a while, see where you end up after 4 weeks. If you really want to know whats going on, buy some calipers and take some skinfold measurements to see if you are gaining lots of FAT or muscle. After all, not all weight is created equal, even for skinny guys.

If you stay flat at 2800, bump to 3200 for a couple of weeks. Do this until you see gains. Remember if you start eating a lot more make sure you go to the gym regularly otherwise welcome to Fatsville.

An ideal place to put the extra calories when you do bump up by 400 is in the post-workout meals. Whether the post-workout shake or the post workout carb-heavy meals, make sure you get enough nutrients then.

Books have been written on this topic, check out some articles at T-Nation for example. But that's my opinion on a good starting point. You don't want to shock your body to soon and go from 1700 calories to 3500 all of a sudden.

One of the easiest ways to add a meal is to just make a sandwich in the morning and eat it while you're driving or doing work. Just carry some fruit, protein bar or whatever your ideal snack would be and munch on it while doing other things. You don't have to sit down and eat separate from the rest of your activities so if you take an extra 5 or 10 minutes in the mornings to plan out your snacks/meals you can save yourself a lot of time.