(Part 2) Best products from r/gainit

So I had a chance to look at Re-Power, and it has a similar amino acid profile to beef. All the extracts are pretty much garbage:

Chemical | Weight | %DV
---|---|---
Chicory Root (as Cichorium intybus Extract) & Rocket Plant (as Eruca sativa Extract) Blend| 500.00 mg|
Chinese Skullcap Root Extract (Scutellaria baicalensis) Catch Tree Bark Extract (Acacia catechu)| 62.50 mg|
Olive Leaf Extract (Olea europaea L.)(as Maslinic Acid)| 200.00 mg|
Olive Fruit Extract (Olea europaea L.)(as Hydroxytyrosol)| 50.00 mg|

Some do have studies done them but most results are nothing more than unremarkable in terms of use for fitness. Chicory root is a coffee substitute good for removing internal parasites. Rocket Plant is just arugula, so you might as well just eat it. Didn't see much studies on the benefits. Chinese skull cap seems to be a traditional Chinese remedy for various ailments with some conclusive evidence for efficacy but mostly it is a nootropic (smart drug). Cool but wholly unnecessary for this application. You'd be better off with Creatine as it is both a nootropic AND performance enhancer. Also, really cheap. I cannot find any info on even what a "Catch Tree" is so no conclusive data for what the extract might do. Olive Leaf/Fruit Extract seem to be super expensive antioxidants with anti-HIV properties. If you don't have HIV just drink Black coffee or tea or eat olives.

So, the good stuff in here seems to be Beta Alanine an Betaine, but Beta Alanine is cheap and Betaine is in beets (super cheap) or is made in your body from Choline (from eggs).

If you have any more questions please let me know. If you can't return these things then I guess just take them until they are gone, but definitely don't buy them again.

Reading your responses, I just have to say - Wow... You've done WAY more research for your son than most new guys do before they post for themselves! Amazing job! It sounds like you've got a great base of knowledge and are anxious to learn.

To answer your question - The reason people don't recommend mass gainers is not only because they are expensive, but because the majority of the calories are from a very inexpensive simple carb (maltodextrin). When you are making your own, you have control over everything. You can add healthy fats like PB and olive oil. You can add healthy complex carbs like oats. You can add fruit (bananas, berries). You can add vegetables (spinach). You can add things like chia/hemp seeds. You can control the sweetness with honey. One scoop protein, or two? You decide! It's just so flexible, and gives you way more nutritional value than a mass gainer will.

My strategy has always been to track my meals for the day. By night time, I look at the remaining calories, carbs, fats, and protein, and I make a shake tailored for that day to fill in all the gaps.

As for creatine, 5g of Creatine Monohydrate daily is what is recommended. I like ON Micronized Creatine. $40 for 380 (THREE-EIGHTY!) servings.

Hey man, many of us have felt the way you did. Wearing layers in summer, avoiding people... all of it. You're not alone. We can help.

These things will make you feel better by improving your appetite, mood, and energy:

• Get more sleep. Stop using screens after 9pm, they disrupt your sleep patterns.
  
  
• Quit smoking. Apparently this book is extremely effective. Check out /r/stopsmoking/ for more help.
  
  
• Drink water. This one's easy. Buy a 32 oz Nalgene, fill it up in the morning, keep it at your desk, and sip from it all day until it's finished. Additionally, drink water with all of your meals. I didn't realize I was dehydrated until I started doing this.
  
  These things will make you bigger:
  
  
• Eat more food. Easier said than done, right? So let's start with one small step.
  
  
• Drink a homemade shake every night before bed. Here is my recipe:
  
  >2 cups whole milk
  
  >1 scoop whey protein
  
  >2/3 cup oat flour
  
  >3 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter
  
  >5 ice cubes
  
  Blend until smooth and drink. It tastes decent--better than mass gainer, I'd wager--but feel free to add fruit or whatever you like. This is 1000 calories. That's probably too much for you to start with, so cut it in half. If the milk doesn't sit well with you, switch to Protein Nutmilk. This stuff is awesome. It has almost as many calories as dairy, but with much less sugar and 10g of protein.
  
  An extra 500 calories a day will cause weight gain, and because you're consuming it before bed, you're not affecting the rest of your meals.
  
  Start with that, do it consistently for a month, and then review. Did you gain weight? Great, keep it up. No? Come back and we'll re-evaluate.
  
  You will want to start lifting soon, but let's get these things on track first.

Look here's what I do:

• Get a blender bottle, for convenience sake. It works really well and they're pretty cheap. I use the standard one.
  Amazon Link
  
  
  
• Then get some protein. Flavored protein is fucking disgusting IMO so I get this:
  Amazon Link
  Maybe there is a better flavorless protein out there but I can't find on, and this has worked pretty well.
  
  
  
• Get some oats, I use these:
  Amazon Link
  This is a box with a fuckton of oats in it.
  
  
  I pour a bit of milf into the bottle (to avoid clumping) and grind 1 cup of oats with the coffee grinder then pour them into the bottle.
  Then depending on the amount of protein you need put a couple scoops into the bottle. Then toss your creatine in there. I don't put bananas in the shake but you could, I'd probably have to use my blender for that though.
  
  Anyway now you have a bottle with a shit ton of powder in it. Add some more milk but save room for:
  
  
  Chocolate syrup. (or whatever type of flavoring you want) I put a bunch in there, like 2 big squirts, but find out however much you need to make it taste good.
  
  Then I take a big scoop of peanut butter and toss it in there. I'm not sure how much I put in but I'm pretty consistent, just be consistent. I think it's between 2 and a half and 3 tablespoons. Add milk till it's mostly full. Then shake the shit out of the bottle like you were trying to jerk off the demon from This is the End. The shake will be thick as balls so just open your throat and chug it Remy laCroix.
  
  Wow, look at all that protein, look at all of those calories you got (1k +) without drinking a disgusting weight gainer.

Get a beginner book on weight training/bodybuilding. Many will throw out the classics (Starting Strength, Muscle Logic, etc).

But those reads only focus on the training side of the equation which is ultimately less than half the story for a great body. I highly recommend the book that got me out of my years of fuckarounditis:

Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Mike Matthews

It's a point A-Z guide providing you each nut and bolt to achieving an exquisite physique.

Covers all ends of diet, even includes a great cookbook for both bulking and cutting cycles, walks you through progressive overload, how to properly track it, lays out a much more comprehensive routine than your standard 5x5, illustrates the proper forms for all of the compound lifts, weeds through all of the BS of the supplement industry and how they take advantage of beginners like yourself (highlights what's worth taking and discusses the other popular garbage out there)

It's an all-in-one guide and has become a bestseller in the crowded fitness genre for good reason.

For sure man! Also, I know you said cheap and at first glance weight gainers might seem super expensive, but if you price it out they're actually a really good deal. I bought a 12 lb bag of Serious Mass for $45, and i used half servings which comes out to 32 servings for the whole bag, with each serving being 625 cals and 25g of protein. each serving prices out to $1.40 so it actually is a good deal if you think about it. I put mine in shakes with strawberries, bananas, peanut butter, and whole milk, and it came out to like 1.5k cals and mad protein per shake. $2.20 or so (taking in consideration the price of frozen strawberries/bananas/PB/milk) is really good for the macros it has. It also tastes insanely good. I have one every morning and it makes it super easy to meet my macros for that day. Here's a link to the exact powder/flavor/size/etc i ordered: http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrition-Serious-Vanilla-Pound/dp/B000GIPJ02

Here's a regular link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TJTASYG

I didn't know what a 'hand blender' was, sounded painful, but it's just another term for what I know as an 'immersion blender'. I have the kitchenaid one, myself. I like it better because it comes apart for cleaning and has a few other attachments. The best attachment is the whisk. The little food processor jar is pretty garbage.
This is the one I have(it's significantly more expensive):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NBA0PS8

Can you store a power rack? Not recommending that particular model, just found the first one on Amazon. If you need it smaller, you can probably build one.

The benefit of the power rack is that you can safely get out of a squat and you can put your bench inside so that the safety rods keep you from getting caught underneath. If you can't store that, then you could do use a regular squat stand and practice safely dumping the weight off your back, preferably with a platform and bumper plates.

If you don't have protection for your bench press, I'd recommend that you not bench by yourself.

Yeah, the volume seems pretty high. Three days of that should help a lot with making gains. Otherwise, maybe squeeze in a couple of quick workouts at home?

You should also check into buying some cheap gear, like bands or a weight vest to supplement your workout. I wrote this up for someone a while back:

Here’s what I would recommend for starting home training balancing cost and utility. Obviously, if you afford all of it and have the space, just do that.

1-pullup bar or rings

2-resistance bands

3-dumbbells (shop for used, if possible, if space is tight try these)

4-adjustable bench (same, used benches go for as low as $30)

5-barbell set (time to start deadlifting)

6-power rack (don’t go cheap here)

Agreed. I have an pulled bar that works as other stuff too, but I noticed that pullups/chinups give great defining results. That with dips and pushups gave me a good defined back and chest, but I think hitting arms and legs is much harder without using weights.

Try craigslist, you can sometimes find cheap power racks on there. You don't need anything fancy, something like this would work, but keep in mind it doesn't have safety bars. You may need to upgrade to something like this later on, because it's easier to bail on a squat with the safety bars. You don't need a spotter if you practice safely failing a rep with an empty/lightly loaded bar.

What would you recommend I start with? Start off this?
In supplements, what would help me best?

Creatine: Don't buy into any bullshit here. Whatever a supplement company is adding to their creatine probably isn't doing anything for you. If you want creatine, just get a huge stock of plain creatine monohydrate. This is personally what I take.

Protein: It's harder to make a decision here because just about every company is hawking some form of whey. Like others have said, some companies have been known to lie about their protein amounts. I would recommend just sticking to a trusted brand like Optimum Nutrition until you've had some time to look at reviews of some other brands you may have seen. Plus ON has the glutamine and BCAAs thrown into their blend, so why not. My only other recommendation would be not to buy into the "hydro-whey" hype. Unless you really have the extra money to throw around, it's probably not going to be worth it in any capacity.

Pick up some Fat Gripz and slap them on an easy bar and do heavy reverse curls super set with forward forearm curls. You wont be able to turn the dial on a lock after a session with these. I promise.

You can try out these. Just Incorporate them into your regular lifting routine and they'll boost your grip strength pretty fast, or you can do forearm isolation work. There are a lot of grip strength articles on bodybuilding.com

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0015R36XU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

This shit has been amazing for me, UK amazon so not sure if its available in the states... but it tastes amazing mixes well and i've been putting on some serious mass with it.

Pull up bars are dirt cheap, buy one. Good lighting or not I can see your abs. I bulked with pretty much the same body fat as you, 30lbs later and I'm still relatively lean. You have nothing to worry about.

Also, keep in mind that body weight training is less efficient than lifting weights so be patient. You can still build plenty of muscle but it won't be as fast as a good weight training program.

A food scale. You can get the #1 best seller on Amazon for under $16. You need an easy, quick way to keep accurate track of what's going in your body, whether it's considered budget food or not.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital-Multifunction-Kitchen-Elegant/dp/B004164SRA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1420578541&sr=1-1&keywords=food+scale

Get a weight set off craigslist. I got an entire set for $90 and it included 2 sets of 45s, 35s, 25s, 10s, and four sets of 5lb plates.

Buy this off amazon

Buy an adjustable bench that goes 0, 45 and 90 degrees off craigslist for $30-50.

And then buy a barbell, don't get a cheap one. Shell out at least like a $100 on a good quality 7ft barbell with a 2 inch diameter.

I would also recommend getting rubber mats to put on the floor, under the squat rack. I use the ones used in kitchens, the rubber mats with holes in them.

This is a good rack for a good price 1/2 off @ $300 is a really good deal: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VLRVSC/ref=gb1h_tit_c-2_7102_72841a17?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1W21612ADFRJ1RM5T2F9&pf_rd_i=9017820011&pf_rd_p=1990147102 Not sure if they ship to Mexico or not.

I wouldn't buy from GNC. You can find much better deals online and Amazon offers free 3-5 day shipping on most orders. 12-Pounds for less than $50.

If you have any money or room for one, for $20 this blender is pretty good:

https://www.amazon.com/Oster-BLSTPB-WBL-250-Watt-Blender-Travel/dp/B004P2OLB8

This is the only vegan protein powder I've found that doesn't taste disgusting: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Naturals-Organic-Premium-Chocolate/dp/B07MZN47WX/ref=dp_ob_title_hpc

I'd love to hear if anyone has found another powder that's drinkable.

late to the party, but getting these really help. i usually put 40 drops in a gallon of milk. you can adjust how much you really need also (ex. using 30 drops if your lactose intolerance isn't as severe).

http://www.amazon.com/Supplement-Certified-Formulated-Seeking-Health/dp/B003VSTRY8

I bought this a month ago: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MVMCUK8


Then, I put ice cubes in with it, and bring a cold water bottle with me. I mix it once I'm done my workout and it's plenty cold.

Hope that helps!

Oster My Blend

600ml, fairly easy to clean (hard to get rid of the smell, though), and relatively compact compared to conventional blenders.

I just bought one at target but this works to!
Ozeri ZK14-S Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale, Elegant Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004164SRA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zuMwCbAR51V3M

Pick up the book Bigger Leaner Stronger (its like $13 on Amazon ) by Mike Matthews. He’s really into the science of building strength and size. Also checkout his 1 year challenge. It’s a tough workout, but that’s what you want 😉

I don't take it every day. I bought a 12 pound bag for $60 give or take here. I only take it on days where I can't be bothered eating as much. Liquid calories go down easier. I've used up about half the bag and I've had it since around June. It's not too bad.

Chobani non fat plain. Here are the nutrition facts. Most stores have them but if not you can usually find a brand thats good if you look around.

I use this oat powder.

It might depend on how old the milk is (maybe the enzyme gets used up?). I personally use these drops in place of lactaid milk... they might work well in this situation!

Get the chocolate whey, peanut butter, whole milk. this will make it taste like a shake, and not coagulated powder balls. Also greek yogurt + whey = chocolate pudding.

Apart from the lack of benefit (as commented below) from eating too much, if you are eating at an surplus the excess protein (that dosen't get used to rebuild muscle) converts into fat.

Source

You may want to look into this: http://www.amazon.com/Lactase-Drops-15-Supplement-Servings/dp/B003VSTRY8

why would you drink more than two glasses in a sitting? If you drink 2 glasses with each meal and assuming you eat three meals a day, that's 800 calories. If you truly have trouble digesting milk then get lactase drops and add them to your whole milk. Less expensive

Here are the links for the products:

floor mats

barbell

255 lb weight set

power cage

clip collars

bench

weight tree

• Multivitamin - Micronutrients (Vitamin D (1000-5000 iu daily, Magnesium 200-500 mg daily, etc)
  
• Fish Oil: 250-500mg combined EPA/DHA (skip you eat fish 2-3 times a week)
  
• Creatine : 3-5 grams per day
  
• Whey Protein: As needed to hit your protein goal
  
• Caffeine: 4-6mg/kg (optional, skip if you’re a coffee drinker)

Buy the iron gym for your door frame. http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Gym-Total-Upper-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K

Here this one you just let it hang from the doorway it's built so it won't fall.

pull up bar

the one i actually use is this http://www.amazon.com/BlenderBottle-Classic-Shaker-Bottle-Clear/dp/B00MVMCUK8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419779854&sr=8-1&keywords=shake+bottle

it comes with the wire but you obviously dont need to use it.

Oh, only 100 calories. I take whey mostly for calories. Check this out: fucking 1250 calories per serving

Bulk Supplements is cheap, flavorless and works well. I recently switched over from BSN after I was tired of paying an arm and a leg for it.