Whey v. Weight Gainer

**apollyondestrud** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 10:30am

I don't know much in the way of supplementation, but enough to know that a high quality whey is going to trump a high caloric weight gainer 9 times out of 10, however...

The other day I ran my personal gauntlet: Up at 4:30am, weight training, work, and lastly four hours of MA. My schedule was so tight that there was little room to devote any kind of substantial nutrition to fuel my activities, so I'm certain I burned more than I took in, which is pretty counter-productive when trying to gain muscle mass.

I start everyday off with 50g of whey mixed in with my morning coffee and 10oz of water. Should I substitute a high calorie weight gainer for the days I'm going to lift and train MA?

**Emevas** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 12:23pm

It's just food man. Eat more of it.

Hell, take the protein and the weight gainer.

**muddy** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 3:24pm

Eat some real food. The weight gainer type products are just buckets of sugar from what Ive seen (not sure about the specific one your refering to).

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 5:10pm

Given the choice between a lot of protein and a lot of sugar, your body will thank you for the protein and curse you for the sugar. The gainer might "help" you by spiking the **** out of your insulin, thereby causing you to retain all the calories as fat.

**Emevas** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 5:16pm

Originally Posted by muddy

Eat some real food. The weight gainer type products are just buckets of sugar from what Ive seen (not sure about the specific one your refering to).

Depends on the brand. Serious Mass and Cyto Gainer are both pretty low in sugar.

**muddy** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 8:46pm

Originally Posted by Emevas

Depends on the brand. Serious Mass and Cyto Gainer are both pretty low in sugar.

But they just have maltodextrin instead, which as I understand it is as nutritionally useless as sugars. This is actually almost more of a question than a statement as I havent had the need to thoroughly research it due to a mistrust of anything that is over processed.

Why not just eat up a shitload of oatmeal, quinoa, lentils, nuts, etc? ... besides being good for you I suspect its a lot cheaper.

**Emevas** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 8:58pm

Originally Posted by muddy

But they just have maltodextrin instead, which as I understand it is as nutritionally useless as sugars. This is actually almost more of a question than a statement as I havent had the need to thoroughly research it due to a mistrust of anything that is over processed.

Why not just eat up a shitload of oatmeal, quinoa, lentils, nuts, etc? ... besides being good for you I suspect its a lot cheaper.

I'm talking total carbs dude. Check the nutritional labels on both. It's maybe 32 grams of sugar per serving. You get worse in a coke.

There's a lot to be said about dextrose and maltodextrin. Some say that the two are essential vehicles to delivering protein to muscles, others say it's nutrition voodoo.

Regaring cheaper, I'd say in a price per calorie ratio, a gainer is typically gonna win. Besides, why not just mix the gainer with oatmeal, nuts, etc?

There's nothing magical about weight gainers. It's usually a lot of brown rice powder with a protein blend of whey/cassean/whathave you and some other stuff.

Like I said, it's food, don't overthink it too much.

**muddy** · Posted On: 6/03/2009 9:58pm

Originally Posted by Emevas

I'm talking total carbs dude. Check the nutritional labels on both. It's maybe 32 grams of sugar per serving. You get worse in a coke.

There's a lot to be said about dextrose and maltodextrin. Some say that the two are essential vehicles to delivering protein to muscles, others say it's nutrition voodoo.

Regaring cheaper, I'd say in a price per calorie ratio, a gainer is typically gonna win. Besides, why not just mix the gainer with oatmeal, nuts, etc?

There's nothing magical about weight gainers. It's usually a lot of brown rice powder with a protein blend of whey/cassean/whathave you and some other stuff.

Like I said, it's food, don't overthink it too much.

Assuming I didnt make a mistake:

150 g Cyto Gainer - $2
calories 580
Protein 54 g
Carbs 79 g
Fat 5 g
Sugar 6 g
Fiber 1 g

2 cups oats - $1.12
calories 600
Protein 20 g
Carbs 108 g
Fat 12 g
Sugar 4 g
Fiber 16 g

**TheRuss** · Posted On: 6/04/2009 12:20am

Originally Posted by apollyondestrud

I don't know much in the way of supplementation, but enough to know that a high quality whey is going to trump a high caloric weight gainer 9 times out of 10, however...

I suggest you discard this notion for now.

Originally Posted by apollyondestrud

The other day I ran my personal gauntlet: Up at 4:30am, weight training, work, and lastly four hours of MA. My schedule was so tight that there was little room to devote any kind of substantial nutrition to fuel my activities, so I'm certain I burned more than I took in, which is pretty counter-productive when trying to gain muscle mass.

I start everyday off with 50g of whey mixed in with my morning coffee and 10oz of water. Should I substitute a high calorie weight gainer for the days I'm going to lift and train MA?

Four hours a day of martial arts plus weight training... and no "substantial nutrition"? That's a recipe for muscle loss.

---

Morning whey isn't a bad idea, but the caloric content isn't a whole lot. 50g whey = 200 kcal, which is more like 150kcal after conversion loss. And the reason people make such a big deal about whey (aside from the fact that it's a byproduct of cheese manufacture, and therefore cheap) is because it's fast. If you want to spike your amino acid levels quickly and for a short period of time, whey is great.

If, however, you're looking for something to keep you fed for hours, rather than minutes, you'll want something substantial. Some combination of slow-digesting protein, fat, and soluble fiber would probably do the trick. If you're not carb-restricted (and with your activity level, I can't see that being a problem), you can get your soluble fiber along with a solid dose of starch in the form of oats.

**apollyondestrud** · Posted On: 6/04/2009 2:13pm

Of the two products below is either worth the coin? They appear to offer the protein and carbs I'm looking to supplement my diet with, but I don't want to jump into bed with one or the other without getting an educated opinion on it first.

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp...168524.2169546

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp...168524.2169546