How To Make Your Own Weight Gain Powder (It’s Easy!)

Weight gain powders have two main ingredients: protein and calories. That’s it. Everything else is just flavor, or preservatives, or vitamins/minerals. But those are all extras. The only thing a gainer powder needs is a lot of calories and a lot of protein.

The problem with a lot of commercial weight gain powders is that they are expensive, they add too many extra ingredients, and their ratio of protein to calories sucks.

The solution is to simply make your own weight gain powder. You can easily obtain the same ingredients that commercial weight gain powders use, and make you own protein to calorie ratio. That way you can customize your gainer powder to fix your specific needs. Also, you avoid added sugars and other ingredients that are common in gainer shakes that you likely do not want in your diet.

The Protein

To make your own weight gain powder, start with a good protein powder. You can choose your favorite protein powder. Personally I like MusclePharm Combat Powder. This powder combines whey protein, egg protein and casein. Combining these proteins is great because each of them is absorbed at a different rate, ensuring that your muscles always have a supply of protein. This protein powder also offers the most protein per dollar according to our protein powder comparison tool. Another really great idea is to use pure whey protein. That way all you are getting is whey protein. No additional flavors, preservatives or additives. Whey is the most popular type of protein and is fast absorbing, meaning that your body absorbs the protein rapidly. This is exactly what you need right after a workout. If you are really serious about making a high quality homemade gainer powder, along with the pure whey you can add pure egg protein and pure casein powder.

Egg protein is absorbed at a medium speed. It’s slower than whey, but faster than casein. And egg protein powder is a lot safer than eating raw eggs.

Casein is slow absorbed protein and is great for when you will not be eating for a while. For example, casein is great before going to bed. It is absorbed through the night so your muscles are able to get the protein they need while you do not eat.

Whatever protein powder you add depends on your goals and when you will be using your weight gain shake. If you plan to drink it right after a workout, focus mostly on adding whey protein. If you’re drinking it before bed, add extra casein. If you want it to be an all around good source of protein add all three types of protein powder.

The Calories

The best choice for adding calories to a weight gain shake is using pure maltodextrin powder.

I know a lot of people will read the word maltodextrin and start running away. It sounds like some crazy, bio-engineered chemical. Maltodextrin is actually a naturally occurring molecule that comes from starchy foods. It usually comes from potatoes, wheat, rice or corn.

Maltodextrin is the perfect ingredient for a weight gain shake.

It is easy for your body to absorb maltodextrin. If you just got done with a hard workout, your body is exhausted and might not have a ton of energy to spare digesting complex foods. Maltodextrin is easy to digest and requires little water to digest. This is also really important after a workout. Some types of foods will lead to dehydration if eaten after a workout because they require extra water to digest. Maltodextrin will not contribute to dehydration.

Because it is so easy to digest, maltodextrin is absorbed rapidly. Again, this is key for a post-workout shake. When you are done working out, your body needs to start recuperating and rebuilding immediately. The fast your body gets calories the faster it can use the energy found in those calories to recover. The faster you recover, the sooner you will be able to get back to the gym.

Consuming maltodextrin right after a workout will give you an energy boost and replenish your blood sugar levels.

Finally, maltodextrin is super cheap. You can get like 7 pounds of maltodextrin powder for about 30 bucks.

Ingredients:

• Protein Powder
• Maltodextrin

Directions:

Mix your protein powder(s) and maltodextrin into whatever ratio you want. If you are looking for a lot of extra calories, but eat enough protein, then add more maltodextrin. If you want a weight gain shake that has more protein than carbohydrates, increase the amount of protein powder in the mix.

It’s easiest to just mix the two up beforehand and have a tub of premixed gainer powder laying around, but you can also keep the protein and the maltodextrin separate and just add them to a blender or shaker bottle when you are ready to drink a gainer shake.

Mix this with water or milk in the same way you would a commercial weight gain shake.

Twists:

• Add some pure cocoa to make the powder taste better.
• Check out our list of best gainer powder ingredients