Gainers are a popular supplement that is commonly taken to gain muscle mass. They come in different types and serve different purposes. But due to the high amount of carbohydrates in supplements, they are more likely to be consumed by people with insufficient body weight. Consider how to take a gainer for weight gain thin and at what age you can start using it.

Who needs a gainer

According to the percentage of proteins and carbohydrates, all gainers can be divided into two groups:

A gainer for the ectomorph with a high metabolism that is low in protein and high in carbs to gain weight faster. It will be the best option for those who are just starting to work out in the gym.
A supplement with a much higher protein content. It will be needed for those who have already built up muscle mass as a result of training.
It is good if the composition includes saturated fats. They serve to produce the hormone testosterone, without which it will not work to gain muscle mass.
The best gainer is the one that contains fast carbohydrates. Such an additive is not suitable for an endomorph, because if fast carbohydrates are not completely absorbed even after a few hours, they will be deposited in fat. Slow carbohydrates will fuel the body for a long time and can even be taken at night. Also at night it is recommended to drink a cocktail in which there is casein protein, it is also absorbed for a long time. In any case, the best option for an endomorph would be a high protein, low calorie supplement.

When to use a gainer

And how long should I take the gainer after a workout or after a meal?

Breakfast is an important meal that is not recommended if an athlete wants to gain weight. Breakfast is the first meal of the day, after which you can take a supplement. But sometimes the athlete does not have time to cook breakfast. In this case, taking the powder can replace it. In rare cases, it is recommended to drink the supplement before eating breakfast.

Gainer helps to increase the caloric content of the diet. In this case, you can drink it even at night. What is the reason for taking the supplement at night? The fact is that the night is a kind of hunger strike for the body, so a carbohydrate supplement will be the source that will provide building material for muscles. Those who are underweight can drink a cocktail at night without fear.

Admission age gainer

Many teenagers strive to quickly gain muscle mass, so they start taking sports supplements from the age of 15. And from what age can you really take a gainer? If a person goes in for sports professionally, then he can drink the supplement from the age of 16.

Basically, manufacturers indicate on the packaging of their products, from how many years it can be consumed. But nowhere does it say that at the age of 15 you can already take any sports nutrition. Often the age is indicated as “18 years old”, and not at all 15 or 16. With such a strict restriction, at 15 years old, you should choose something else.

Taking supplements from the age of 14-15 is also not recommended because at this time the body is growing and must still manage on its own.

If a person is not a professional athlete, and he does not have a significant body weight deficit, then it is better to start taking supplements by the age of 22-24, when the body has already formed. And at the age of 15 it is best to train without “additives”.

Best before date

A gainer is an expensive product, so you should observe the terms of its storage. An expired drug may not work. Of course, you can try to use the drug that has expired by one month, but if more time has passed, then you should not take the supplement.

An expired drug often causes digestive problems, so it must be stored properly. If, upon opening the package, it turned out that the powder had crystallized, then such an expired powder should be thrown away.

Лишний жир от gainer

Многие замечали, что при продолжительном приеме gainer, наряду с увеличением мышечной массы, растет и живот. Perhaps the stomach is growing due to the fact that the dosage of this supplement is too high for a particular athlete. Therefore, after taking the supplement, you should undergo drying, then the stomach will not increase.

In order for the stomach not to increase, it is recommended to switch to protein, in particular to isolate. Also, in order not to grow the stomach, you should reduce the amount of fast carbohydrates in the diet.
Another reason that the belly on the gainer increases is the large amount of sugar. Ideally, there should be no sugar in this supplement at all. But unfortunately, in many formulations, the proportion of sugar is 35% – 40%. It turns out that having bought a package weighing 2.5 kg, the athlete will receive 1 kg of sugar in addition.

Sometimes, producers do not indicate the content sugar in your product. It is easy to determine that there is a lot of sugar in the powder, because it contributes to increased gas formation.

Gainer for women

The female body has its own characteristics. Therefore, when girls want to gain muscle mass, they also acquire some fat at the same time. But for many girls, the main goal of going to the gym is to achieve weight loss.

To lose weight through strength training, girls need to organize their diet and establish a training regimen before taking sports supplements.

Definitely you should not drink a gainer for endomorph girls. As a rule, having such a body structure, the girl goes to the weight loss room.

It is important to know that eating a protein-carbohydrate mixture and not exercising in the weight room is a direct path to weight gain. After that, most likely, you will need funds for weight loss.

If a girl does not seek to achieve weight loss, then she can freely take a mass gainer by diluting the powder in 200 ml of milk with 1.5% fat content and drinking it within 20 minutes after strength training.

In general, a gainer is recommended to be taken only by thin girls, as it can provoke an increase in appetite. Therefore, for weight loss, it is clearly not suitable and you should choose something else.
As a last resort, in order to achieve weight loss during training, you can use a high-protein gainer.