Should I drink muscle gainer on days when I'm not working out?
The thing is I have this trendy Mutant Muscle Gainer that advises me to take 4 cups of it in a day when I workout - 2 cups before the workout and 2 cups after. This goes pretty well to me. But the thing is, however, that I feel a little bit ashamed when I don't drink it during the days I'm not exercising - I'm drinking it to gain weight mass, but I'm not drinking it regularly as I'm only going to the gym 3 days a week.
Should I be bothered at all? Or should I drink this thing each and every day?
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Muscle gainers, protein shakes and the like are supplements. They are meant to supplement your diet if it is lacking in certain essential requirements.
If you have investigated what your daily calorie and macro-nutrient requirements are, and you find yoruself falling short of what is neccessary to meet your goals, they yes continue to take them. However, consider that they are, again there to supplement your nutrition and where possible the bulk of your food intake should come from food, preferably, unprocessed whole foods to ensure that you are getting a diverse variety of essential vitamins and minerals.
I think it really depends on the results you're getting.You need to monitor your body daily. If you find that you are adding excess fat/adipose tissue, then you probably only need the excess calories (ie. weight gainer) on the days you train. I don't see the sense in adding extra calories if you are not going to use them. I tend to add extra carbs/calories on the days that I train (especially post workout) and then I cut them back on my off days and stick to proteins,fats, vegetables and berries. Now if you are very lean and underweight, that is a different story. Then you can be more liberal and use the product more often. One caveat, don't forget the importance of real food. Real food will be your biggest ally above all else.
The other variable you need to take into consideration is that these companies want you to finish off their products as quickly as possible so you will buy more. So take what you are reading with a grain of salt.
I hope that helps,
Mike
Some things to think about, assuming you "gainer" product is one of the many whey protein (+ creatine?) powder:
The manufacturer will always tell you to take too much of it (and sell more of it that way)
Supplement taking does not gain muscle, hard work in the gym does
Extra protein intake can help maximize result of the hard work, and help with recovery, and is usually consumed right after exercise.
Too much protein can be bad for your kidneys especially for people with pre-existing conditions
so if it was me, i would limit my intake to half the recommendation, and only right after workouts. But that's just me.
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