Nutrition for athletes: protein-carbohydrate blend gainer. What is it and who is it suitable for?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Professional sports, and even amateur sports, are already hard to imagine without special nutrition and supplements that help build muscle mass in a short time. Gainer is gaining more and more popularity among athletes. What is it and what is it used for? Authoritative sports publications declare publicly that this is an innovative product that does no harm. But some experts warn that this composition is a solid chemistry, and they do not recommend using it. So who's right?

Understanding the composition

Gainer - what is it? In a literal translation from English, this word means "to recruit, acquire, build up." This supplement is a protein-carbohydrate mixture, the carbohydrate index in which significantly exceeds the protein:

• 50-75% - carbohydrates that have a different glycemic index (several varieties at once). This factor allows the human body to get the maximum amount of energy and form a supply of glycogen inmuscles.
• 50-15% - proteins. The special proteins contained in the gainer supply the body with the optimal amount of amino acids. This fact allows athletes to recover faster after hard workouts.

Experts say that the best absorption of protein can only be achieved by using it in combination with carbohydrates. This information has greatly increased the popularity of this product among athletes.

Special additives

If you choose a gainer, be sure to pay attention to the presence of the following components in its composition:

• Glutamine. A special amino acid that can stimulate the synthesis of hormones: testosterone, somatotropin (growth hormone). This is a real "brick" that helps build muscle mass. In addition, the content of this compound in the blood helps the athlete recover, increases the effect of supercompensation.
• Taurine is a specific compound that actively influences many processes of energy metabolism in the body and directly in muscle tissues. The substance is able to enhance the effect of creatine and many other compounds. This component is very popular: it is added to various sports nutrition systems and drinks.
• Creatine. It is this acid that is called indispensable for raising endurance and developing strength.

Some manufacturers add many more different vitamins and minerals to the nutritional formula, but the above ingredients are the real leaders among them.

Note thatgainers contain virtually no fat, so muscle mass gain occurs due to pure energy, and not body fat. Also, special enzymes are often included in the composition - they stimulate the absorption of all other components.

How they work

Gainer - what is it and how does it affect the body? As you know, proper nutrition is a very important factor in sports, especially bodybuilding, where they actively increase body weight. The nutritional composition was developed primarily to adjust the daily diet of athletes who withstand heavy loads. What is a gainer for:

• To replenish the amino acid and carbohydrate balance just before the start of training. Such an event is designed to maximize the effect of strength exercises, which helps to build muscle mass faster.
• The second stage is to replenish the deficit of carbohydrates and proteins after the end of the load. It is during this period that the body is in dire need of additional stimulation and energy - this allows you to gain mass faster, ensuring the growth of muscle cells.
• The product helps to increase the total caloric content of the diet.
• Serves as one of the important components of the sport mode.

As some experts note, our body cannot absorb and get all the necessary proteins and carbohydrates from food, so it is recommended to take a gainer.

Who will suit this food

Gainer - what is it and who is it useful for? Suitable for slim people orectomorphs. With the help of such supplements, they will be able to quickly gain muscle mass in a fairly short time. However, such products are not suitable for athletes who are overweight - carbohydrates will be actively deposited in adipose tissue. Supplements are not just for bodybuilders. They are also recommended for use by football players, athletes, boxers and other athletes. Such a widespread use of a gainer is due to the fact that before starting a workout, it provides the body with compounds that increase a person’s endurance and have an antispasmodic effect.

There is an alternative

If you can't afford to buy expensive sports nutrition, you can easily make homemade gainers. The main thing is to remember what components they should contain. We prepare cocktails using the following he althy products:

• Protein contains milk, cottage cheese, milk powder, eggs, other products.
• Carbohydrates are rich in bananas, jam, jam, natural honey.
• Cocktail base: sour juice, milk, curdled milk.

To get a he althy drink that will restore strength and help build muscle mass, you need to mix and grind all the ingredients. Bring the composition to the consistency of yogurt and drink to your he alth. This option is suitable for people who are wary of ready-made gainers for fear of harming their he alth.

Note that professional athletes still prefer factory analogues of sports nutrition products. One of the popular compositionsYou can call the additive "Mass Gainer". Reviews of athletes, especially bodybuilders, confirm that the product is perfectly absorbed by the body and helps to build muscle mass in the shortest possible time. True, such pleasure is not cheap.

Dear novice athletes, remember: in order to achieve a positive result from the use of various gainers, you must follow the recommended regimen and adequate dosage. However, it will be absolutely useless to you if you do not load your body with intense training.