Around the web, you’re bound to run into ads for weight gain pills if you search for information on bulking up. They promise to up your appetite, slow your metabolism and somehow magically direct your weight gain right to the places you want it.
Problem solved, eh? The sites selling the pills have some convincing testimonials (though they cite no research or studies). No need to train or diet, just a couple of these pills before a meal and soon you’ll be right where you want to be.
So, do they work?
While they are unlikely to work to the degree their ads claim, they can have a positive impact on your ability to gain weight.
But…
The Big “But” of Weight Gain Pills
Before you rush out and buy them, check your cabinets, you probably already have some. Because if you check the nutritional label, you’re going to find it is nearly identical to that of the average multi-vitamin.
In other words, many products (all the ones I can find) marketed as weight gain pills are really just cheap multi-vitamins with deceptive packaging and unjustified price mark-ups.
Multi-vitamins, whether or not they advertise themselves to be weight gainers, are good supplement choices for those wishing to bulk up. Small vitamin deficiencies can have a major impact on appetite and your abilities to gain lean muscle weight. For some people who find themselves underweight, the addition of a quality vitamin product can have a dramatic effect on their ability to add pounds.
For all people embarking on an intense weight training program where stress to the body will create additional need for micronutrients, a quality multi-vitamin should be the very first supplement considered.
A new name, slick sales copy and a major price increase (weight gain pills cost about 3-5 times that of a quality vitamin) does not make a multi-vitamin more capable of helping you towards your goals (except, perhaps through the placebo effect). It just makes those marketing it more money.
2 Lessons To Be Learned From Weight Gain Pills…
The fact that companies can reasonably get away with calling a basic multi-vitamin a weight gain pill (not ethically, but “technically”) should add to your own awareness of the power of vitamins and minerals.
Too often prospective weight gainers skip vitamins and minerals in favor of spending their bodybuilding budget on the more glamorous muscle building supplements. This is a mistake.
Companies are keenly aware that there is a market for weight gain products and if they can move product by repackaging and slapping the name “weight gain” on it, the less ethical of them won’t hesitate to do so.
You see examples of this not only with these pills but with many other bodybuilding supplements as well as weight loss programs that have simply added calories to their meal plans and called them weight gain programs.
Just because something titles itself a weight gain product doesn’t mean it is going to help you put on weight. Do your research.
Conclusion
Definitely do consider a quality multi-vitamin such as Opti-Men’s Multivitamins to be of great value to your muscle building goals. It won’t work miracles (and neither will the weight gain pills), you’ll have to EAT and TRAIN smart to see substantial healthy weight gain. It will give you a good vitamin and mineral base to work from and this should not be undervalued.
Definitely don’t waste your money on cheap multi-vitamins just because they call themselves weight gain pills.
If you can’t get gains from pills, where can you get them?
You get weight gain from calories – there is no other way to get it. Your ability to gain weight comes down to your ability to consistently eat more calories than your body utilizes for energy.
When you do this, you gain weight. It is as simple as that. For help, check the pages on how to Design and Maintain a Weight Gain Diet.
The difference between weight gain and weight loss products? Calories.
The difference is just that, not some magical ingredients like the product’s marketers want you to believe. For a look at a side-by-side comparison of Slim-Fast and ON’s Serious Mass weight gainer, check the weight gainers page.
Keep your eye on your total calorie intake. That is what will determine whether or not you are successful in your quest to gain weight.
Couple more articles you may like…
Supplementing For Bodybuilding: Specific Vitamins and Minerals
Discover the individual vitamins and minerals (C, B, E and Calcium) that are important to muscle gain and how to supplement with them.
My Sample Weight Gain Diet Plan From A to Z
See how I put my muscle building diet together, from design to implementation, including a sample day of meals.
