Do You Need Supplements to Gain Weight

If you are stick skinny, chances are high that you have considered supplements to gain weight. Often, skinny people get this advice from friends, people online, or others at the gym. Many top athletes in the fitness world have sponsorship deals with supplementation companies. So, if you consume that content, you will definitely get hit with products to buy.

Not all supplements are good. Not all supplements are bad. They are not all created equal.

Do you need supplements to gain weight? No.

Can supplements help you gain weight? Yes.

I’ll dive into my experience and learning about supplementation.

If you decide to use supplements to gain weight, the most important advice I can give you is to consult with your physician. Your personal health situation is unique, and the only thing people can give you without a deep understanding of that is a blanket statement.

Creatine

Creatine is a common supplement that is advised to people looking to gain weight through training. It’s actually a naturally occurring substance that is produced in your liver. Also, you can get creatine by eating certain foods, such as red meat.

However, when you consider supplementing your diet with creatine, you are taking in more than you naturally produce or ingest through your meals. There are many reasons you may decide to do this. If you are vegetarian for example, you likely get less creatine through your meals than someone who eats seafood and meat.

Benefits of creatine supplements

Creatine provides your body with energy. So, when more of it is available, the idea is that your body has a higher supply of energy to help fuel your training. The line of thinking is that you may be able to get through 8 reps without creatine, but with the supplement you find yourself able to push through to 12 reps, for example.

Studies have shown that athletes using creatine actually increase their lean muscle mass. Also, they recover more quickly from training, allowing them to see gains faster and get to the next training session with full strength and energy.

There are other noted benefits to people with chronic conditions, but we’ll leave those out of the discussion as they do not directly related to using supplements to gain weight.

What I don’t like about creatine supplements

I have used creatine in the past. Ironically, I had not used creatine for years when I finally had my biggest breakthroughs to gain weight. However, I think that had more to do with me finally pulling it all together to gain mass quickly– training, fuel, recovery- than it did with the effectiveness of creatine.

Still, there are certain parts of creatine use that I really do not like.

Strain on kidneys

Your kidneys filter out and remove excess creatine from your body daily. This is a normal process and is perfectly healthy. However, when you supplement your diet with more creatine than you can get naturally, you force your kidneys to work harder to filter. I don’t like putting my internal organs through the gauntlet.

To be fair, there are studies about creatine use that come to a variety of conclusions on how safe it is. Most seem to argue that creatine supplements are safe for people without kidney diseases or other disfunction. The average healthy person can take creatine in reasonable doses without concern.

These studies do often mention that a high protein diet mixed with creatine use can put stress on the kidneys, but there isn’t conclusive evidence to support that. So, left to making a personal decision about my health, I just avoid this as I find protein supplementation to be more beneficial. We’ll touch on that later in this post.

Need to chug water

Related to the point above, if you increase your creatine intake, even if it’s safe, you need to also increase your water intake. A lot of people already walk around technically dehydrated. Training to gain weight requires an increase in water already. Throwing an additional need for water on top of that is just unsustainable to me. So, while this may not be a big deal to someone who drinks a lot of water daily already, it was not appealing to me.

Water retention

Remember all of that water you have to drink? Well, it gets stored in your muscles when you supplement with creatine and gives you a more bloated and fuller look. This is a happy result for most people trying to gain mass. Creatine and water intake can give you a more bulky look faster than you can achieve by just lifting alone. The problem is that when you stop using creatine, the retained water finally leaves and you start to thin out. I didn’t like carrying around weight that wasn’t sustainable unless I continued to use a supplement. It didn’t feel like a real increase in mass.

No FDA Regulation

As is the case with many supplements, there is no FDA regulation over creatine supplements. This means that you have to rely on trust with the manufacturer of the supplement on whether their product is a safe and actually matches what they marketed to you. The FDA does not get involved in testing these supplements to verify the mix, the levels of different substances, or hold the products to specific safety standards.

My conclusion on using creatine to gain weight

This can be a safe and effective way to improve your training and maximize your results. However, it also can lead to water weight and stress on your kidneys.

I do not use creatine to supplement my diet, and do not think it’s necessary.

People who use it as pre-workout for an energy boost claim it gives them the ability to do more in the weight room. However, I have found that being well rested and preparing yourself mentality to give your training everything you have is all you need to get the energy in your workouts.

Coffee, creatine and other supplements for energy are not required if you sleep enough for your body to rest and recover.

Protein

There are so many different types of protein that you could create an encyclopedia set on this topic alone. They come in the shape of bars to powders to cookies and pancakes. There are milk based, plant based, soy free, and a whole bunch of other variations. You’ll also find protein marketed for fast recovery, weight gain, and weight loss.

To keep this relevant, we’ll focus on the common protein options that come up for skinny people trying to gain weight- whey protein powder.

Whey protein comes in many forms, including these popular variations for people gaining weight: whey protein concentrate, whey isolate, and mass gainer, which actually contains more than just whey protein.

Whey protein concentrate

This is the typical whey protein powder you see available. Normally, it’s marketed as just whey protein, without the word concentrate. Whey protein powder is derived from cow’s milk. Each serving should provide you with a hefty dose of protein.

However, not all brands are equal. Some concentrate is made of as little as 29% protein, while others may be 85% or more. The higher the protein content, the better for you in terms of value and also gains.

Whey concentrate includes lactose, carbs, and fats as well.

The mix of macros provided when bulking to gain muscle makes whey a useful supplement to both fuel your workout with energy and also rebuild your muscles after training.

Whey protein isolate

Isolate is similar to whey protein concentrate, except it is processed further. This leads isolates to have a higher protein content, usually ranging from 80%-95%. As the name suggests, this provides a more pure form of protein with less carbs and fats than concentrate.

Another notable difference is that the lactose content is much lower in isolate. This means it’s easier to digest for people with lactose issues and can create less bloating.

Whey isolate provides less of the energy boost you get from concentrate since the carbs and fats are cut. However, it provides a high dose of protein to support recovery.

Mass gainer

This is not specifically a whey protein. Mass gainers often have proteins derived from a variety of sources, including milk, eggs, and meat. Mass gainers are similar to whey protein concentrate, but have added calories per serving, especially in the form of carbohydrates and some fats.

Many people looking to gain weight turn to mass gainers, because they can serve as an additional meal in the form of a drink. A single serving can reach nearly 1,000 calories. Just that amount of caloric surplus per day will lead to a 2 pound increase in weight over the course of a week.

My recommendation for protein

I do not use protein supplements daily. My preference is always to get your nutrition by eating food. Many of my criticisms of creatine hold true for protein as well. However, there are days where you are either unable to get the right amount of protein or need to recover from a particularly grueling training session.

For this reason, I keep protein on hand, but am very selective about the type I choose and how often I use it.

Let’s compare the three types of protein above. I compared the whey concentrate, isolate and mass gainer from the same very popular brand to understand the calories, macros and ingredients. All three were chocolate flavored. Here’s what it looks like:

• Whey Protein Concentrate- 120 calories, 24g protein, 3g carbohydrate, 1.5g fat, 1g sugar and includes other sweeteners
• Whey Protein Isolate– 110 calories, 25g protein, 1g carbohydrate, 0.5g fat, 0g sugar but includes other sweeteners
• Mass Gainer- 650 calories, 60g protein, 81g carbohydrate, 9g fat

I much prefer the protein that gets to the point without all of the filler ingredients and added fluff. If I want to turn the protein powder into more, I always have the flexibility to add a scoop to a high calorie smoothie recipe to gain weight. I don’t need my protein powder to include a bunch of extra stuff, including a ton of sugar.

In particular, I would recommend MuscleFeast Whey Protein Isolate. I keep this on hand. The unflavored type is great because it mixes well into almost anything without changing the flavor profile, making it versatile. This particular protein powder has slightly fewer grams of protein per serving than most competitors.

I still think it’s the best whey isolate due to its simple 2 ingredient list. It’s a great, clean supplement.

Anabolic steroids

Since we are on the topic of supplementation, I thought it would be best to at least acknowledge the conversation around steroids. Many skinny people have been offered or considered steroid use as a way to fast track their way to massive gains.

In the 1980s and 1990s, steroid use was heavily stigmatized in popular culture and news media. As the internet has created more pockets of niche celebrities and concentrated communities, steroid use has been discussed and sometimes celebrated more openly.

Why do people use steroids? They basically simulate extra testosterone in your body, making your muscles grow insanely fast. Also, they can speed up recovery from training and injury. So, basically you get more time to train and get a lot more effective results from that training.

Just say no.

The effects on your body are not worth it. You are changing the natural hormonal balance of your body, and as a result you can see hair loss, acne, breast development in men, changes in mood, tumors and heart issues. A grand physique is not worth putting your health at so much risk.

This is not a supplement you should consider.

Thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments!