Ultimate mass gain supplement?

The thing is, I think I have worms or something - I am CONSTANTLY hungry, especially on gym days. *sigh* I dont think I could go more than 2 hours without eating lol.

What all are you currently taking?
LITERALLY nothing (not even a Whey supplement)?
What is/have been your training protocol(s)?

These seem kind of basic, but I might as well throw them out there for you to answer so that we may get an even better view on your situation.

With that said though, I’d say you might want to look into:
- A Multi-Vitamin/Mineral complex: Universal's Animal Pak
- A Whey supplement: AtLarge Nutrition's Nitrean (or a wide variety of other Protein supplements)
- A L-Glutamine supplement (more optional than the above two): a wide variety of L-Glutamine supplements out there

I’m one that believes too many people think supplements are a do-or-die thing, when in reality I believe otherwise. I don’t think you have to take every supplement out there to gain, but I think there are a couple/few supplements that everybody should definitely look at (Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Complex & a Protein Supplement). The latter two in parentheses are kind of common sense, but don’t forget about the potential efficacy of other supplements such as a L-Glutamine supplement.

So is there anything else you might be able to tell us?

Well, I take whey protein, glutamine tablets and lots of food lol.

I was thinking of trying this combo:

Uni-Liver by Universal Nutrition at Bodybuilding.com - Lowest Price on Uni-Liver!



Optimum Superior Amino 2222 at Bodybuilding.com: Best Prices for Superior Amino 2222

:eek:

To each their own, but damn that in my opinion is a sh*tload of optional supplements. If you really want to spend the money on all those supplements nobody can stop you but yourself, I’m just saying that I believe you don’t need to take all those supplements.

In fact, don’t you think this supplement and this supplement provide the same nutritional make-up? Both are basically amino acid dense. So you’d be paying for two of the same thing? As for the weight gainer, I always just say f*ck weight gainer (:D ), because I think the supplement industry is just trying to get in your pockets when you could easily make your own weight gainer at home for MUCH cheaper. Flax seed oil? Canola oil? Milk? Peanut Butter? Banana(s)? Those are a few ingredients I often see in some cheaper made-at-home weight gainers. That weight gainer you posted has 17g of Saturated Fat (the whole fat makeup is saturated fat).. woah sh*t batman.

If you really want to spend the money on all those supplements, be my guest, but I don’t think you need to go that far to achieve gains/results. You wouldn’t be open to a supplement list like this?:

- Protein supplement
- Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Complex
- Grocery List
- L-Glutamine (optional)
- [Homemade] Weight Gainer (optional? These are obviously just condensed calories… you could eat more, but some prefer to just consume a high-calorie option like this to make things easier)

Of course feel free to state what you think about the above, and/or if you have any other questions. :up: !

The only thing about a home-made weight gainer is that you have to keep making it, it don’t stay edible for long so I can’t make huge batches of it.

I know it is a lot of supplements, but they all work in their own great ways. I have heard that glutamine is a great fat burner… I don’t want that, I need to bulk!

But it would only be once a day? I’ve seen people make their own weight gainers and it didn’t seem to take long at all; just basically looked like they were slopping stuff together in a blender and blending it. Though, it is up to the individual whether or not they’re willing to make the weight gainer.

True. I guess it’s just up to the individual on whether or not they’re willing to make the weight gainer. I’ve known people who’ve made their own weight gainer, and it didn’t really seem like it took them that long but maybe it was just because they were used to it; just looked like they were slopping stuff together and blending it in the blender. It also seems like I knew somebody that used to make a weight gainer at the beginning of each week, but I can’t remember what it was that they used. This would obviously suggest to me that you actually could make a “batch” of weight gainer? If not though, again, it’s up to you on whether or not you want to make the weight gainer every day (however many times you plan on taking it.. once? twice even?).

Your body relies on L-Glutamine as [cellular] fuel for the immune system. Studies have also shown that supplementing with L-Glutamine can minimize the breakdown of muscle tissue (catabolism) whilst improving protein metabolism (you’ve likely heard of this benefit before if you know about L-Glutamine). Obviously it’s also a proven recovery supplement; it’s even commonly administered in hospitals in Europe to patients whose bodies have experienced trauma. If it’s administered to trauma patients, don’t you think that if you’re working out it should be mentioned in your [optional] supplement list? Note I still say it’s optional, as I think you can still get by without it; but at the same it’s a supplement I think you could definitely consider and benefit from if you don’t mind spending the additional money on it. Let’s not forget about the multiple studies that have also proven it’s cell-volumizing effects. Oh and this one other thing, a recent study showed up to a 400% increase in Growth Hormone production when the test subjects consumed [as little as] 2g of free-form L-Glutamine. Come on now, if you’re willing to spend the money on all those supplements, well then I guess you’re not so worried about the cost of how much you’d be spending on supplements. If that’s the case, why not add a L-Glutamine supplement?

I still think you don’t need all those supplements you listed; instead I think there are 4 supplements you should consider replacing them all with instead (one of them is optional):
- Protein supplement (staple)
- Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Complex (staple)
- Your grocery list (staple)
- L-Glutamine supplement (optional)
~ You said that basically Creatine is out of the question for you personally so I won't mention it on the list.

Of course feel free to state what you think about the above, and/or if you have any other questions definitely feel free to ask away and I or somebody else will definitely be glad to help you with it/them. Don’t fall for every supplement claim; remember, it’s the advertisers job to get you to buy their product, so of course they’re going to make it sound like some “super miracle product that you can’t gain without”. Whatever you do, it always comes back to the basics: stick with your Diet & Workout regimen. :up: :cool: !

Things like plasma, opiates, and saline IV’s are administered to trauma patients as well but don’t make it to my list. We disagree on this one.

"few studies have demonstrated any sort of conclusive benefit from L-glutamine supplementation in athletes, although the existing evidence does support a small benefit." http://www.1fas … gredients_id=42

Still, at $35/kg it is much for of a candidate for, "WTF I’ll give it a try" than some of the redundant stuff on his list.

I went the my local shop and bought tablets of L-Glutamine, they contain 500mg of it in each tablet. I take it that this isn’t as good as the powder right? The powder was about £30, and my tablets were only about £5, lol. Although, there is many more servings in the powder form.

Been some good advice from you guys so far, thanks.

James,
I second dogmann’s recommendation for the 20 rep breathing squats. I went to an all 20 rep workout when I screwed up my shoulders (kind of an expanded version of the breathing squats) and I am gaining. I can’t believe it. I thought I was doing it just to give my joints time to recover. I am lifting less weight and looking better.

I was squatting 245 5x3 sets. I dropped to 195 20 times, then I do 10-15 reps with significantly less weight and no rest, just to burn it out. After 3 months I am squatting 225 20 times. My legs are bigger and so is the rest of my body. I have put on 5 lbs of lean muscle without added fat in 3 months (that’s alot for me) I eat about 3500 calories. I am a hardgainer with muscle and the only other time I have put on significant muscle I had to eat 5000-6000 calories and gained muscle and fat. After another 4 months I will probably switch to my old routine of high weight low reps, but I will cycle back on this routine probably every 6 months.

Another friend of mine also said the key for this routine was drinking lots of milk, not just whey protein. So I did. I drink at least a half gallon a day and sometimes more. Also give up the products with wheat fiber, like bran cereals, wheat bread, etc. It lowers testosterone. If you want fiber, switch to oatmeal. (I know I sound like a crackpot, but this has made a huge difference for me, and there are lots of studies on google about fiber and lowering test ;) )

P.S. Drinking lots of milk has made more of a difference to me than whey protein (which I still use), and creatine, NO2 and glutamine, (which I no longer use)

In my humble opinion Supplements do very little. Are they good? Will they help some? Yes. But like PE Body Building is all about consistency and how you work out. The best thing you can do is eat right. Make sure you are getting everything your body needs to grow. From what I know if you want to build mass you must do some things in the gym. 1. Less reps with more sets 5 sets of 5 is a good mass builder anything over 10 reps becomes more cardiovascular. 2. Rest between sets if you do not need to burn off any fat there is no need to rush into your next set and you will be stronger when you do the set. 3. Most important thing to build mass is to work until you fail if you do not fail you won’t build. I always fail 2 or 3 times when trying to build mass for this you need a partner. Try doing negative reps. This is when you lift weight that is too heavy for you to lift your self. Your partner helps you lift it up and you lower the weight down as slow as you can. I mostly use this method when working my biceps, but it can be done for other workouts as well. Also if you are not sore the next day you didn’t work out hard enough. I am no expert but this stuff works for me I am 5’9 and 210 pounds with very little fat I have been lifting weights for 4 years on and off.

Side note: My Professor told me in a fitness class that the human body can only burn 32 grams of protein in 24 hours. Now I have been reading up on this and it seems to be false. Has any one ever heard of this before? Thanks

Wana B Big: ask a sports physiologist (one who has a PhD).

Protein is for tissue repair. A fat ass sitting around all day may not need more than 32g of Protein per
day to barely survive. Men pumping iron need the dietary protein to be broken down in digestion in order
to make available amino acids for repair of the muscle tissue that is being broken down.

BFLR

I was like this when I was a teenager and throughout my twenties as well.

My advice is, enjoy it while it last. Pretty soon your metabolism will slow down and you’ll gain weight without even trying. Then the next thing you’ll notice is your getting fatter even though you cut back eating. Now you’ll be in the boat I’m in, wishing for the days when you could eat anything and everything you wanted!

How much do you weigh and how tall are you anyway? Forgive me if this has already been answered, I didn’t read the entire thread.

I’ve been like this my whole life and still am.
And I have a bottomless pit for a stomach

I don’t buy the whole high metabolism bullshit. I’ve heard it my whole life and I’m almost 42 and still skinny (fit and trim).
My whole family is this way. Except … for the fact that Anxiety, bipolorism, ADHD, drug addiction, alcoholism, thyroid, and yes intestinal issues, run in the family also. I don’t know Spock, think there might be any correlation going on?

You mentioned that you have an intestinal disorder of sorts but didn’t elaborate on it.
So many disorders could cause this condition. Celiac, Sprue, Crohns, etc, Any one of these disorders could also cause
what’s known as malabsorbtion. Meaning you could eat like a freaking pig forever and never gain because it’s taking that much food just for your body to sustain itself because it’s not absorbing most of the nutrients from your food intake. But you would never know. You’re just that skinny guy that eats a lot and everyones says you must just have a high metabolism. You’re otherwise in good health and it’s not like you’ve got scurvy or berry berry going on.

Any history of Alcoholism or bipolarism or anxiety related issues in the family?

Did you know that the pulorvic valve, the valve at the bottom of the stomach that closes it off from the intestines, is malfunctioning in most alcoholics. That’s why they can drink vast quantities of alcohol. It passes right through the stomach and into the intestines. Unfortunately that valve doesn’t know the difference between alcohol and food. So the food isn’t being properly broken down first by the stomach and the intestines then can’t properly do their job either. End result; malabsorbtion, ability to eat large amounts of food, and insufficient nutrient intake from the food you do eat. Then as you age your intestinal track begins to more and more resemble the clogged up vile sewage canal it actually is.

The psychological disorder aspect? Anxiety issues are often over looked, as well as mild bipoloarism. Most people with these conditions never seek help for it mainly because they don’t know there is a problem. It’s just the way they are. They’ve grown up this way and learned to deal with life in spite of it, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have it. These conditions go hand and hand with eating / intestinal issues. It’s because there’s way more serotonin in your intestines than there is in your brain. If you’ve got issues upstairs, you more than likely got issues downstairs as well, and vise versa. Or so the thinking goes.

Did you know that the medicine that they use to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is part antispasmodic and part antidepressant. The theory being if we can calm your gut down, then we’ll calm your brain as well and maybe you’ll stop shitting yourself too.

So the long and short of it is, I’m with everyone else. Fuck the supps and keep doing what you’re doing.
Wouldn’t you much rather figure out why you’re this way in the first place than going broke trying to compensate for it,
which may or may not work anyways and could mess you more in the long run?