Do Weight Gaining Pills Such As CB1 Weight Gainer Actually Work?

While most of the world is struggling to lose weight, there are also those who desperately try the opposite: gain weight.  And it’s hard. For me it was one of the hardest things to accomplish. I enjoy a good meal like any other, but my body would just say “stop” too soon. When I started out training and trying to eat more, my progress was nowhere near what I expected. I maybe gained one pound a month, and in some months I even lost one. I just couldn’t reach my goal.

At that time I only had 115 pounds with 5”11’, and I hated it. If I’d be in a game, I’d be one of the first skeleton enemies you bash with your hero at level 1. I didn’t want to be the skeleton anymore… I wanted to be the hero. Well, maybe that’s too much to ask for, but I wanted to get to at least 150 pounds with toned muscles. And like so many others, I wanted to gain weight fast.

Hard task to accomplish when your time is limited by running a business and some hobbies I didn’t want to give up. I had a total of 2 hours’ time for training per week, so I had to get the best out of it and eat a lot in addition.

After 3 months of training and barely gaining anything, I thought I’ll try out some weight gain pills. I did it like my own little science project, dedicating just one month to one weight gain supplement. If it didn’t produce results in that time-frame, I moved to the next one. This article resembles my little journey, and I truly hope to help others who are in the same boat as me.

Additionally, I’ll provide some more tips at the end of the article that helped me gain weight too. So, keep on reading, you won’t regret it!

Month #1: CB-1 Weight Gainer

CB-1 Weight Gainer

The CB-1 Weight gain pills were the one that peaked my interest first, since it seemed to be the most popular I could find. The reviews promised great results, so what could go wrong? Also, they’re the most expensive, and quality usually has its price.

Those weight gain pills are supposed to work by stimulating ones appetite. I took them as were the recommended guidelines, kept my training schedule (2 hours / week) and tried to eat as much as I could spread over 4 times a day. Some recommend 5 times, but I just don’t have the time for that.

After the first week, I really didn’t see any difference in appetite. I still couldn’t eat more than usual, but it might just be that the effect of those pills takes a little longer to establish. However, after three weeks, I became disillusioned. It might just be me, but those pills didn’t make a difference AT ALL.

I still tried over the last week, but then gave up since no change happened. 

No more appetite, no substantial weight gain. In addition, I found out later that the occasional nausea I had since taking it might come from the ridiculous amount of vitamin D present in CB1. They put almost four times the recommended daily value in it. Basically, I paid $50 for harming my body, with no beneficial effects. Nausea also isn’t something that helps with eating more (duh..).

Conclusion: CB-1 Weight Gainer NOT recommended

Month #2: Practin Weight Gain Pills

Practin Weight Gain Formula

Practin Weight Gain Pills use Cyproheptadine as an active ingredient, and I’ve read many reviews and it seemed that they worked for rapid weight gain. Exactly what I needed!

After the first week, I already saw a slight increase in my appetite. Awesome, finally found something that works. The next two weeks after that helped me even more with eating, and I put on 3 pounds of weight in that time.

Fourth week I didn’t have any increase in weight, but I also trained less and was not as consistent with my eating anymore. Somehow, I felt much more tired, almost sedated in comparison to my past. Why? I did some more research and quickly learned that while Practin helps with weight gain, it also has some bad side effects.

Short term side effects include sedation and sleepiness, which was most likely the reason I slipped with training. I just didn’t have the energy to go through. Damn, I finally found a weight gainer that actually increases my hunger, then this. My research also revealed that the weight gained with those pills is lost quickly after stopping them.

That’s just not a good way to start

Conclusion: Practin Weight Gain Pills NOT recommended

Month #3: EatmorMAX Appetite Stimulant - Natural Orxegenic Supplement

EatMOR Max Appetite Stimulant Pills

EatmorMAX Appetite Stimulant has the best reviews of all weight gain supplements I could find on amazon, so I thought I’ll try them next. Considering that all their ingredients are natural too was an added bonus. However, for those weight gain pills I did some more research first, as to not make the same mistake as the last time with Practin. I’ve spent two hours searching for reliable information on the side effects, but didn’t find anything. Great! Let’s give it a try.

As is recommended, I took one pill before breakfast and another one before dinner with some water. The first week didn’t go as well as I thought. My appetite was almost the same as before, just a little bit better. Not quite as much as with the Practin pills, but almost. But no side effects, so at least it didn’t disappoint in that regard.

But then… second to fourth week, I gained 7 pounds. I had significantly more hunger than before, without any tiredness or other side effects.  It worked! As the old saying goes, “Don’t change a running system”, I kept on taking those weight gain pills in addition to my exercise regimen.

Five months after trying them, I reached my weight goal of 150 pounds. In fact, I’ve remained on that weight since the past 3 months without any problems, despite the fact that I stopped taking them since about 1,5 months. I no longer need them, but they certainly were an integral part in reaching my goal.

Conclusion: EatmoreMAX Appetite Stimulant works very well without any side-effects. It’s also not required to keep on taking them forever, like it would be with others. If you’re struggling with increasing your calorie intake, I’d recommend you to give them a try. After all, they’re comparatively inexpensive.

7 Additional Weight Gain Tips

1.)    Strength Training
Strength training means that you should try to incorporate weight training with low repetitions (6-12 reps, 3-4 sets) and much weight.

2.)    Less Cardio
Cardio training, while certainly a good thing, burns a lot of calories and doesn’t build as much muscle as does strength training.

3.)    Creatine + BCAA Supplement
I’m taking the Muscletech Hardgainer Creatine Formula from CellTech. It includes not only all the Creatine + BCAA you need, but also some complex carbs. It helps indirectly gaining weight by providing lots of calories and giving you much more energy for your training, thus being able to lift more. It also helps with postponing fatigue. I could do over 20% more weight with this supplement! If you blend it with frozen fruits and yoghurt, you have one of the tastiest ice creams you’ll ever eat. I sincerely love it, and I’m still taking it daily.

4.)    Less smoking
If you’re a smoker like me, then reducing it can help a lot with increasing appetite even more. Of course, quitting would be even better. I didn’t quit, but instead limit my cigarettes to only two before 4pm, and only if I ate at least one meal before each.

5.)    Eat more fat

Fat has double the calories as protein and carbs, and it takes less energy to digest it.

6.)    Drink one mass gainer shake a day

While I only drink them occasionally, if my time schedule won’t allow the four times eating, they’re still quite handy for those situations. I’m using “Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass, Chocolate” for that.

7.)    Caloric-rich foods

Focus on foods with lots of calories that are loaded with nutrients. Don’t waste your hunger on foods with empty calories, as there is little nutrient value in the calories you’re eating. My recommendation would be foods that are full of slow releasing proteins, fats, carbs, vitamins, fiber and minerals.

How to gain weight fast using science

The whole world looks for new ways to help those who desperately try to lose some pounds, while the opposite end of the spectrum seems to be forgotten. Well, we hardly can blame them, because being skinny is not quite as bad as being overweight. At least that’s what I thought at first, but it turns out that being skinny can potentially be just as unhealthy as being overweight.

Also, while women usually won’t suffer in attractiveness when being skinny, men certainly do. The need for the feeling of being protected is deeply rooted in the female psych, thus usually serves as a strong factor when it comes to choosing the right mate. No matter how you look at it, being skinny and not doing anything about can have dire consequences in the long run. 

However, I’m usually someone who likes to practice something called “Looking on the bright side”. While there are quite some disadvantages associated with being skinny, those will serve as strong sources of motivation. Furthermore, it should be noted that going from skinny to muscular is MUCH easier than reaching the ideal weight when starting out overweight. In fact, one can usually reach the ideal weight within a few months, if you actually follow the science.

Why would science know how to gain weight fast?

Science is defined as:
“The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.”

If something works or not can be found out by experiment. There simply isn’t any better way of knowing than using science, and if there would be, it’d become part of science once it proves itself.

However, I think before we start looking for answers, we must refine our goal. It is simply not enough to look for fast weight gain. It must be healthy; otherwise it simply wouldn’t be worth it. Sure, you could take steroids, start to train hard and gain weight so fast you barely could believe it. But this would harm you in the long run so much that the small edge you gain over healthy methods simply isn’t enough to survive an intelligent cost / benefit analysis.

So, what is the goal of this article?

How to gain weight fast building muscle, maintain it once achieved and do it in a way that is by all known measurements perfectly healthy. While this may sound like a hard goal, especially for those of us who already tried with little to no results, the difference between success and failure is determined by having the right information and acting upon them. The right information will be served in this article; the question is if you’ll act upon it. Will you look back in 3 months in regret, or will you have come so close to your goal that you barely can believe it? Take my advice and invest now into your future self.

There are three major factors that need to be taken into account, and where best guidelines need to be followed. Those are…

1.)    The right supplements to aid in training, hunger and recovery

Forget most newly found supplements promoted by the industry. Avoid anything that came out recently, because it always takes a while before experiments can conclude with certainty that something works or not. Before that, it is simply another fad made to empty your pockets without any results.

But, what supplements are actually supported by scientific evidence?

There are exactly three supplements I’d recommend not only based on the scientific research, but also my personal experience.

Creatine + BCAA mix

Creatine is probably the most effective supplement with the highest amount of scientific research backing it up. The reason is that Creatine serves as source of ATP, which muscles can use to increase your power output and postpone fatigue. Studies show that it can enhance your power output by up to 29%! As a hard gainer, you’ll later on learn that a lot of your muscle gain will come from lifting heavy weights, thus such a dramatic increase in power will help you a lot in gaining muscle much faster.

The BCAA will help you further postpone your fatigue, so you can follow your training schedule without an issue. Although it reduces in effect the more muscle you’ve built already, it is one of the best additions at the start!

The best combination of those two comes in form of Cell Tech Hard Gainer Creatine Formula. It is cheap in comparison, has excellent reviews and provides you with a few more tasty calories in addition.

EatmorMAX Appetite Stimulant

If you’re like me, then going beyond your typical amount of food is extremely hard. Let’s be real, you’ll not only have to eat a lot more, but you’ll also have to eat food that isn’t quite as crave-inducing as mcdonalds. I tested various appetite stimulants, and this was the only one who not only worked consistently, but also had no side effects (like sedation) while keeping the weight when you stop taking them. I had to take them for three months (third month I slowly reduced the amount), and I could keep eating the same amount, thus maintain the ideal body weight I achieved. You can buy EatmorMAX Appetite Stimulant on Amazon.

Whey Protein Powder

Whey protein is of tremendous help to make sure you have enough protein to support your muscle growth. While most proteins are broken down rather quickly, and serve your body only for a short period of time, whey protein is broken down very slowly by the body, thus it can support your body’s growth of muscle over longer periods of time.

While there usually isn’t a big difference between the brands, BulkSupplements CLEAN Whey Protein Powder has a high quality while also being the least expensive option. Good for you, and your wallet!

2.)    The right training and diet

The best supplements aren’t worth anything if you’re not using them in conjunction with proper training and diet. However, listening to the typical buff guy at the gym is rarely enough or helpful, because he most likely wasn’t a hard gainer like you. Genetics can make some difference, but they can be easily overcome if you’re following the right guidelines.

This topic can be filled with books, and I can hardly cover all aspects. However, there’s a guide that I’ve followed to the letter, and it’s one of the main reasons I could achieve my desired goal of 150 pounds. Don’t get me wrong, many might want to go further, but this is ideal for my height considering that I want to compete in MMA.

You can find the guide here, and I highly recommend giving their trial a try (it comes with money back guarantee for 2 months, so there’s really nothing to worry about).