Powder

[ZmanCarlvr]

What do you guys think of the big jugs of the powder mix you put in H2O or Milk and it is high on calories and such..


Mainly to help you gain the weight while workin out etc.

??


-Z

[ProWriter]

Depends entirely on which one. Twinlab, for example makes good ones like Gainers Fuel 1000 and fat free GF, both of which have a good serving of protein and limited amounts of sugar and fat, but they also make Gainers Fuel 2500 "Bulking Formula" or whatever they call it, whose first and main ingredient is nothing but a sugar. Might as well blend up a box of Fruit Loops.

There's no magic powders for gaining muscle; just train regularly and have maybe one extra meal per day (or shake, if you prefer). Force feeding yourself and drinking massive quantities of "weight gain" supplements doesn't "build" much of anything, except maybe a nice soft, puffy uniform layer of body fat that some guys like to hide behind because it makes them look "big" in their clothes.

[ZmanCarlvr]

I don't want a 'puffy layer of fat to hide behind'

My problem is with school and work I find it difficult at times to keep up with a routine.

So if I was able to use a little bit in a healthy fashion to get a bit of a boost when I do find time to work out.

Does that make any sense?


-Z

[Cop Writer]

Zman, what is your goal? Weight gain or more endurance during workout? Or quick boost?

[ProWriter]

ZMan

If you're just looking to replace a meal with a shake, that's fine. Usually people asking about powders are looking to eat themselves into some new muscles, which doesn't work. I mix Twinlab Gainers Fuel 1000 with Universal Hard Fast for breakfast, into my iced coffee myself. About 700 calories, 40g protein, 80g complex carbs, 4g fat. There's plenty others to choose from, just avoid the ones with fructose, dextrose, sucrose or corn syrup as one of the first ingredients listed.

CopWriter, what kinda stuff do you write?

[Cop Writer]

Prowriter, thanks for askin'.

My writing really runs the whole spectrum. I've written for many police publications with some "Front Page" / "Main Story" credits.

I have one short novel in circulation, but I've told my editor to pull it at the end of next year. It was a sophmorish attempt, and I have a lot better stuff in the works.

Working out the details of a four novel series I hope to get off the ground next year. The first three are written, the fourth is still in outline form.

I don't focus on police work though unless I'm writing for a journal or paper. My heart is in fiction. Spent too much time at Universities and research cramps my style these days. Got to be able to back it up if you want to get paid.

Damn, I could go on and on but this is a police thread, not a writing thread...

[ZmanCarlvr]

Originally posted by Cop Writer
Zman, what is your goal? Weight gain or more endurance during workout? Or quick boost?

I would say I am looking to gain the endurance and the bulk.

But since I usually do the workout alone, I have to motivate myself... So I suppose a quick result would help with the motivation to continue.

Know what I mean?

-Z

[audi0xpl0de]

I would stay away from the weight gainer products, most of them are extremely high in calories with little protein so you mostly put on fat. I would add more protein sources to your diet, steak, chicken, tuna, and a few whey protein shakes if you want to put on muscle and not fat.

[krj]

Originally posted by audi0xpl0de
I would add more protein sources to your diet, steak, chicken, tuna, and a few whey protein shakes if you want to put on muscle and not fat.

Just watch the whole calorie-count-thing though. It doesn't matter if your calories come from protein, carbohydrates or fat; whether your food choices are healthy or unhealthy; or whether those calories come from whole foods or powders/drinks - if you take in more total calories on a daily basis (from all sources) than you burn you will gain weight in the form of body fat.

Watch the calories, try to eat a wide variety of foods from all food groups, and ProWriter is right - you can't eat your way into new muscles. That's why they call them "work"outs.

Put in some time in the gym. If you can stick with the workouts for even a couple of months you'll begin to see the results you're hoping for.

[DrewSVT03]

Originally posted by krj
Watch the calories, try to eat a wide variety of foods from all food groups, and ProWriter is right - you can't eat your way into new muscles. That's why they call them "work"outs.

Put in some time in the gym. If you can stick with the workouts for even a couple of months you'll begin to see the results you're hoping for.

I have to disagree a bit here. I'm not saying working out isn't important in gaining muscle size, because it's extremely important. But working out only tears apart existing muscle cells. Eating is what gives your body the nutrients it needs to rebuild these cells larger and stronger.

Big muscles are built in the kitchen, not in the gym.

[ProWriter]

Originally posted by DrewSVT03
Big muscles are built in the kitchen, not in the gym.

Oh yeah? Then try this experiment: Workout a lot without changing your diet one bit and compare your results to increasing your food and/or protein intake as much as you want without working out at all.

I wasn't going to continue beating a dying horse, but ZMan again used the phrase "bulking up." There's no known tissue called "bulk." You can gain muscle and/or you can gain fat. Plenty of novice body builders try to "boost" or accelerate their weight gain by eating as much as possible, but it's not necessary, and when you do that, much of your increased weight is fat rather than muscle. If you're an offensive lineman who needs to put on 20 lbs to keep from getting pushed around, then by all means, "bulk up." Same goes if you're a cop and you just want to look like you fill out a uniform better for some intimidation factor, where necessary, or to hold your own better when things get physical, then train for strength and "bulk up." Otherwise, realize that "bulk" is almost always mostly added fat.

Yes, you do need adequate amounts of protein to rebuild the muscle tissue you tear down in the gym, but that only requires about one extra serving of protein per day, plus however many calories necessary to replace those burned by the extra activity. People whose genetics allows really quick muscle development from training will grow even faster if they also eat more, but people with less favorable genetics, whose muscles don't grow all that fast from training can't "boost" or accelerate their muscle gains by force-feeding themselves ridiculous amounts of calories and/or protein. Their muscles will continue to develop (or not) at whatever rate their training and genetics allow, and they'll add some unnecessary body fat for every bit of actual muscle gained.

I'm guessing from the original question that ZMan is not one of those natural easy gainers. Therefore, about all he can do to "boost" or accelerate his results is to train harder, more often, and better. If he adds very much "kitchen work" toward that end, he's just going to get that soft puffy, inflated look that you see on a lot of gym rats who really need to concentrate more on training and less on eating and the endless search for magic potions and lotions.

[SMPPD87]

Originally posted by ProWriter
Oh yeah? Then try this experiment: Workout a lot without changing your diet one bit and compare your results to increasing your food and/or protein intake as much as you want without working out at all.

I wasn't going to continue beating a dying horse, but ZMan again used the phrase "bulking up." There's no known tissue called "bulk." You can gain muscle and/or you can gain fat. Plenty of novice body builders try to "boost" or accelerate their weight gain by eating as much as possible, but it's not necessary, and when you do that, much of your increased weight is fat rather than muscle. If you're an offensive lineman who needs to put on 20 lbs to keep from getting pushed around, then by all means, "bulk up." Same goes if you're a cop and you just want to look like you fill out a uniform better for some intimidation factor, where necessary, or to hold your own better when things get physical, then train for strength and "bulk up." Otherwise, realize that "bulk" is almost always mostly added fat.

Yes, you do need adequate amounts of protein to rebuild the muscle tissue you tear down in the gym, but that only requires about one extra serving of protein per day, plus however many calories necessary to replace those burned by the extra activity. People whose genetics allows really quick muscle development from training will grow even faster if they also eat more, but people with less favorable genetics, whose muscles don't grow all that fast from training can't "boost" or accelerate their muscle gains by force-feeding themselves ridiculous amounts of calories and/or protein. Their muscles will continue to develop (or not) at whatever rate their training and genetics allow, and they'll add some unnecessary body fat for every bit of actual muscle gained.

I'm guessing from the original question that ZMan is not one of those natural easy gainers. Therefore, about all he can do to "boost" or accelerate his results is to train harder, more often, and better. If he adds very much "kitchen work" toward that end, he's just going to get that soft puffy, inflated look that you see on a lot of gym rats who really need to concentrate more on training and less on eating and the endless search for magic potions and lotions.

sorry, but i disagree.

i'm a hardgainer and in order for me to gain weight from my training i need to eat, ALOT, along with taking weight gainer (usually Pro-Lab NLarge2). i can train all i want but if i'm not eating enough to support my training i do not gain weight or strength as easily. and i'm definitely not fat.

[ProWriter]

If you're an experienced weight lifter and you eat more to maintain a lot more bodyweight than is natural for you, then what I wrote for ZMan's benefit doesn't really apply all that much to you.

He's apparently a novice with very little gym experience and he's asking about weight gain shakes to boost his gains. Novices don't usually train well enough to break down muscle so much that consuming sufficient nutrients is an issue. Same for endurance: It's not likely a nutrition issue, either. His efforts should be directed at training and not at finding some magic powder that will help him sprout muscles from an inconsistent sounding gym routine.

Once you train well enough, often enough and hard enough to make gains, eating more will definitely allow you to maintain a higher trained body weight than is "natural" for you. We've all been there, where being as big as possible was a major goal. In my case, I used to carry around 200lbs+ on a 5-10" frame that wasn't really designed to carry that much weight. I was definitely never "fat," but looking back on it, I wasn't exactly all that lean, either. If your arms weren't meant to be 17" you don't usually maintain them without adding a certain amount of body fat. Just look around the any gym for evidence of that.

More importantly, from a psychological maturity perspective, it dawned on me (eventually) that force feeding myself to maintain an artificially high body weight for my frame and genetics was somewhat compulsive. Since I don't play professional sports or wrestle with dirtbags for a living, it also started to bother me that I was investing so much effort just to "be big" for cosmetic purposes and that I needed to lift so heavy, basically for purely ego/identity reasons.

Now that I'm secure enough psychologically to just weigh whatever I naturally weigh without purposely eating to be as big as possible, I carry around about 20 lbs less, I'm leaner than I ever was when my "build" was so important to my identity, and the irony is, women I dated more recently are more attracted to me now, than when I was infinitely more preoccupied with being big, and I was never "fat" either.

Live, learn, then try to spare others from doing some of the things we're a little embarrassed we did once upon a time. I'd add more, but my lower back bothers me in this chair...another by-product of years when squatting close to 500 lbs was also one of the most important things in my life.