Gaining Weight and Build Muscle Mass

Protein Supplements and Weight Gainers (Part 4)

Protein powders are one of the most essential supplements you should always have on hand for obvious reasons - protein is the building block of muscles. Without enough protein, you're just not gonna grow. You should be aiming to get 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. So for a 200lb person, he/she should aim to get 200 to 300grams of protein each day.

You should not make protein supplements your main source of protein. Try to figure out how much protein you get from solid foods, and make up the rest of what you need from protein shakes, and of course, always take a serving or two right after workout. As far as I know, you body can absorb up to about 50 grams of protein per sitting, so try not to take in more than 50 grams of protein each time.

Whey Protein Supplements & Weight Gainers: 100 Whey, EAS Simply Whey, N Large 2.

If you've read some of my other articles on protein, you'll probably know Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey is my favorite protein supplement. So, it's no surprise that it was among the supplements I took for this cycle. I don't think I need to bore you with more rambling on 100 whey. You can read more about it in the following articles:

Beginner supplement guide part 3: Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey
Whey Protein Comparison Guide part 2: Whey protein concentrate compared

EAS Simply Whey is another good whey supplement I like to throw in the mix once awhile. It tastes good and mixes easily, but I think its still a little shy of 100% Whey's taste. It's NOT necessary that you have both whey supplements. Getting just one of them should be sufficient.

If you're trying to pack on a few pounds, or if you are a hardgainer, then you should consider using a weight gainer like ProLab's N Large 2. It tastes great, and mixes easily - better than any other weight gainer I' tried. Again, I'm not gonna ramble on about it here since you can read more about it in these articles and reviews:

ProLab N Large 2 review
Beginner Supplement Guide Part 4: Weight Gainers

The Regulars: Multi Vitamin and Flax Seed Oil

Everyone, regardless whether you workout or not, should consider taking a MultiVitamin and a essential fatty acid. I take 1 multi vitamin every morning before breakfast, and 1 flax seed oil cap in the morning, and 1 at night before bed time.

These supplements, unlike protein, creatine, or other bodybuilding supplements, don't lead to direct, noticeable results and benefits like more size and strength gains, but they play an important supporting role in your body's health and functions. I have an article on flax seed oil here, so you can read up on that.

Side Note: Your Workout - Squats and Dead lifts

This is just a short ramble on what on my mind about workouts, and what I see in the gym... Maybe it'll change your mind to doing more squats and deadlifts.

The 3 best lifts you can do for growth overall is (in no particular order): 1) bench press, 2) squats, and 3) deadlifts. Everybody does bench, who doesn't want a big chest? But you know what? For optimal growth, you have to do squats and deadlifts on a regular basis. These are the lifts that stimulate increased natural testosterone release in your body, and can be consider whole body lifts instead of just "back" or "leg" exercises.

Walk into any gym, how often do you see anyone do squats? And even more rare, how often do you see people do deadlifts? Never! Period. I can't remember seeing one person in the gyms I goto doing deadlifts. Even my old training buddy who did a few cycles don't do deadlifts. Why? I can't figure it out. Maybe people are afraid of injuries? But when done properly, with proper warm up, the chance of injury is very slight.

I'm a 5'7", 150lber. Pretty small guy by most standards, but people stare when they see this little guy deadlifting 365lbs for 5 reps.

The point I wanna get across is: DO DEADLIFTS and SQUATS. There's no reason not to. They will make you grow. They will help you strengthen and toughen up your whole body.

If you're just starting out with doing deads or squats, you might consider using a belt for some support, but later on, a belt isn't necessary, and you'll probably need some wrist straps for help with griping when doing deadlifts, unless you have superbly built and strong forearms, and always warm up sufficiently before attempting heavy sets. Good luck to you!

Continue to the last part of this guide on a sample supplementation plan.

Weight Gain Articles Index:

Weight Gain Guide Part 1 - Intro
Weight Gain Guide Part 2 - Creatine & Ribose
Weight Gain Guide Part 3 - Tribulus Terrestris, ZMA, and Dealing with Acne
Weight Gain Guide Part 4 - Protein Supplements, Weight Gainers, and Multi Vitamins
Weight Gain Guide Part 5 - Supplement Planning

Protein and Weight Gainers:

• Click here to order 100 Whey Protein 10lb Or 5lb Here
• Click here for Prolab N-Large 2

Creatine and Ribose

• Click here for Prolab Creatine, or Dymatize Micronized Creatine
• Click here for MuscleLink Ribose 100g, or Sci Fit Ribose which is a better priced product

Testosterone Support Supplements:

• Click here Optimum Tribulus 625
• Click here Optimum ZMA

Regulars:

• Click here for Optimum L-Glutamine
• Click here for AST Multi vitamin
• Click here for Flax seed supplements

Click here to shop for all these supplements online and save.

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