I'm a 30 year old female wanting to have a leaner body. i'm willing to do weights.Should I take mass gainers?

Question

30, female. I weigh 47kg, I'm thinking of taking mass gainers then do weights. I'm not very keen to hit the gyms as i'm pretty shy.I'm actually quite skinny and in the petite category. Please advice as i'm only doing crunches now. would mass gainers help me? I don't mind buildings muscles.

Answer 1

No.

Mass Gainers generally fall into two categories, sugar pills, and steroids.
Sugar pills are just sugar pills, albeit with a LOT of sugar...
Steroids, well, I'm sure you read the paper / watch the news so know what this can do.

Change your diet, up your protien and keep your carbs steady, and keep your fats low.

Since you are a self professed introvert...much like myself...join a Women's Only gym, if you're going to go the gym route. Otherwise, talk to a doctor about a referreal to an appropriate person to create a training regime.

Once you've done that, lift small weights to start, and work your way up. Note that it is much safer to do this in a guy, since weight training is safest when done with a spotter.

Now, if you're sure about avoiding a gym, do serious research into home gyms (from what I've personally deen, the Bowflex is best, but others might demur), and once you find the exact model you want, go to a reputable store and buy the exact model you want. If the sales clerk tries to bully you (i.e.: up-sell you on a more expensive model), ask him if (s)he wants the commission or not, because you are about to walk out on him/her.

Now, not that I'm trying to pry or anything, but at 47kg, you're what? 120-130 cm tall?

Answer 2

No, you should stay away from mass gainers. The problem with them is that they're highly condensed calories and very bioready, meaning easily and quickly assimilated by the body, so it's too easy with mass gainers to get too many calories at one time, which is then readily converted to bodyfat.

Stick with normal whole healthy foods, and consider getting a good whey protein powder instead (they are different from mass gainers as they contain little or no sugar). You should aim for eating 5-6 meals per day, every 2-3 hours. This will keep your body in a steady anabolic state. If you skip meals or don't eat enough calories, your body then shuts down muscle production and starts storing bodyfat, sometimes even digging into muscle mass for energy.

A good carb supplement helps, too. Maltodextrin is very popular and a good way of getting enough carbs, and it's good to mix with the protein powder. Just remember that whatever supplement you do get aren't substitutes for real food.

Doing weights is by far the best way to gain muscle. Nearly everyone, even guys, feel intimidated by the gym when they first go in there, but you'll find out pretty quickly there's really nothing to fear. Most commercial gyms these days have all sorts of people at every fitness level.

Just be sure to start slow, work your way up, but don't be shy about going heavy on the weights. It's very difficult for women to get big bulky muscles because of the lack of testosterone, but it's even harder to gain any muscle or tone at all if you're not properly stimulating the muscles. Also, I highly suggest, if you can, getting a personal trainer, or at least someone with experience, to show you how to do the lifts safely and properly to get the most out of them.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You seem pretty well in shape right now. I don't see your logic though. How could beefing up give you a 'leaner' body? lean has very good connotation kinda like slim, it gives the notion of toned and healthy.

I would say no, don't take mass gainers. By mass gainers I assume you mean protein shakes etc? Like the other guy said, it'll be empty Calories, unused protein turns into fat.

If you're too shy to go to the gym, well I don't know what can help you. Try visiting when there aren't as many people to slowly build confidence. You can get a personal trainer to help you figure out what you're doing while there, or study weight training online at a site like www.exrx.net

There are many excersizes you can do at home so you can leave out the gym completely.

Apparently the one legged squat is amaizng, but I don't care for it much. Do two legged squats, lunges, multiple ab workouts, not just the basic crunch (like the bicycle crunch, side crunches, twists, push throughs etc). Push ups and pull ups are also great ways to get into shape.

On general, females lack the testosterone to 'bulk up' so even if you started weight training and drinking protein, then you wouldn't gain much muscle mass anyways.

If you are going to buy a protein shake, do you reasearch on them. Lots of products in the market are low quality, full of fillers that do nothing for your body. Focus more on the Whey and egg white products.

Answer 4

mass gainers will probably add on more fat than you would want. Unless you do really heavy lifting, you'll be wasting your money on empty calories. Either lift heavy weights, or don't bother with weight gainers.

Answer 5

always go natural: yuck on the artificial stuff: do it the Rocky Way! Eat protein!