Creatine Vs Mass Gainer – Which Supplement To Choose?

I

t’s a widely accepted fact that adding in a supplement can make your job of achieving the required body composition simple. By now, most of you already know that there are supplements designed to suit everyone’s fitness goals. You also know how to choose the right supplement for your needs, yet there has always been some confusion when choosing between the two clear winners in the supplement industry – Creatine & Mass Gainer.

Some consumers write to us like this, do creatine and mass gainer help us gain weight? If yes, can we choose either of them? How do individual supplements benefit us, should we combine both? How do we benefit if we combine the supplements? and so on. All right, people, another question might have flashed in your mind while reading this, well, this blog will clear all your doubts on both the supplements. I promise, by the end of reading this, you’ll be able to differentiate between both and choose the right one for your fitness goals.

Let’s first take a look at what each supplement is, how they help, why is supplementation required and finally, you’ll decide for yourself which supplement fits your goals…

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is a non-essential amino acid, we say non-essential because it is synthesized naturally in our bodies. Creatine is synthesized endogenously in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas by glycine, arginine, and methionine. Muscles are the storehouse of creatine with 95% of creatine stored in skeletal muscles. Creatine can be obtained exogenously from foods like red meat and fish or from supplements.

 

What Does Creatine Do? How Do You Benefit From It?

To put it in a line, creatine supplements increase the phosphocreatine stores in your muscles which will be able to produce more energy to boost intense muscle contractions.

When you consume creatine, it gets stored in skeletal muscles where creatine gets attached to a high-energy phosphate molecule to become creatine phosphate. Creatine gets this phosphate group from ATP (which is the primary energy source) when it loses its phosphate group and becomes ADP during the energy discharge. Creatine recharges the ADP to become ATP again by donating its phosphate group. What this conveys is, creatine’s role in the body is to perform as a driving source for constant energy production.

• The increased energy production by creatine will help allow you to workout longer, which enhances the muscle-building capacity.

• Creatine draws water from plasma and stores additional water in muscle cells, which causes muscle cells to increase in volume. Cell volumization may also help in better retention of nutrients and may aid in muscle protein synthesis.

• By enabling better availability of energy, creatine helps decrease muscle breakdown.

• Creatine is suitable if you want to bulk up your muscles, gain muscle mass and muscle strength.

 

What Is The Need For Supplementing With Creatine?

You just read, Creatine is synthesized in the body, then where comes the need to supplement? Is this what you are thinking? Creatine although is synthesized in the body, it is only synthesized at the rate of 1g/day. Creatine although can be obtained from foods, one needs to consume pounds of meat to get a bare minimum dose of 2.5g to 5g of creatine. As creatine can be obtained only from non-veg sources, it clearly implies vegetarians and vegans can obtain creatine only through supplements. Since consumption of creatine-rich foods to meet the optimal results caused by supplements is exorbitantly large, supplementing with creatine is the most useful and convenient way to get the benefits of powered performance of creatine.

 

What Is a Mass Gainer?

Mass Gainer as the very name suggests is a supplement that helps you gain body mass. Mass gainer supplements comprise of a right amount of blend of proteins, carbohydrates, high-quality fats together with multivitamins and minerals. The ratio of protein to carbohydrate in a mass gainer may vary from 1:3 to 1:5.

You don’t need to confuse a mass gainer supplement with a protein supplement here, while protein supplements provide protein as a single ingredient, the mass gainer supplements include a high measure of carbs as an important energy source to meet the high-calorie goals, and protein to help gain muscles.

 

What Does a Mass Gainer Do? How Do You Benefit From It?

If consuming high calories is the chief requisite for gaining mass, this doesn’t mean the calorie can come from a non-nutritious source. The ratio of macronutrients contributing to these calories is crucial for maximizing muscle mass. The calories that you get from eating junk foods are always termed empty calories. A mass gainer supplement provides you with the right amount and the high-quality macronutrient which typically surpasses the calorie content of a whole meal.

• Mass gainer makes your job of meeting the high-calorie goals simple and convenient (without having to eat a large number of meals).

• A single serving of a mass gainer supplement will provide anywhere between 350 to 1000 calories depending on what other ingredients you mix it with.

• Particularly suitable for ectomorphs, hard gainers, and people with busy schedules who find it difficult to maintain a caloric surplus every day.

• The high amount of carbs in a mass gainer don’t just contribute to calorie gains, carbs can lead to an insulin spike which is an anabolic hormone that helps draw amino acids into muscle cells, initiate protein synthesis, and help build muscle size.

• The carbs also facilitate increasing glycogen stores in muscles. More glycogen will allow for a better job of training at intensity, reduce muscle fatigue, and can help you maximize potential muscle gain.

• Apart from meeting high energy goals, your muscle gains require anabolic and anti-catabolic amino acids to speed up muscle growth and recovery. The protein in mass gainer supports increased protein synthesis and aids in better recovery of muscle tissues.

 

What Is The Need For Supplementing With a Mass Gainer?

In order to gain weight and muscle mass, your calorie intake should be more than what you burn. Meeting this high-calorie goals to gain weight can become intensely challenging for bodybuilders as consuming a large meal before and after their workout sessions is practically not possible on a routine. Consuming a mass gainer shake is the best way of liquid nutrition to meet the high-calorie requirement. Loaded with protein, carbs, and fats, a mass gainer shake allows you to track the macronutrient intake for weight gain.

So, you got clear-cut information on creatine and mass gainer…I’m sure you’ll be looking for few final answers…

 

Can We Combine Both Mass Gainer & Creatine?

Yes, by all means. If you are someone in the pursuit to accomplish strong muscles and body mass, then mixing both creatine and mass gainer supplements will promise to give you the prompt results of muscle mass and body weight gain.

Does Mass Gainer Promote Weight Gain & Muscle Mass If We Consume It Without Doing Workouts?

No, mass gainer alone cannot support weight gain. It’s the overall combination of calorie surplus and resistance training that leads to weight gain and muscle mass gain.

Does Creatine Support Muscle Gains If You Consume It Without Doing Workouts?

Definitely not, creatine is not a magic supplement that adds muscle mass. Creatine’s purported benefit is linked with increasing the muscle stores of the metabolite, which is linked with increased energy to perform repeated bouts of high-intensity performance. Creatine’s benefits come mainly from increasing the potential to exercise more readily. It’s the high-intensity session that hypothetically would translate into muscle mass.

 

While Creatine’s purported benefit comes in increasing strength for greater performance at the gym, mass gainer’s benefit comes in increasing the calorie intake for effective weight gain and muscle mass…

 

 Also read: 5 Ways you can benefit from a mass gainer