Whenever someone asks me what they should eat to gain weight, build muscle and put on size, my answer is always the same. Use the Blender! If you’re serious about gaining weight and building muscle, you need a go-to protein shake recipe.
This protein shake recipe is one I’ve used for a long time. I used it twice a day when I put on 20 pounds in 2 months a few years back. It’s evolved a bit over the years, but the basic ingredients remain the same as they are perfect for gaining quality weight and muscle mass.
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Benefits of a Solid Protein Shake
There are several reasons why you should be having a protein shake before and/or after your workouts. When it comes to gaining weight and putting on muscle mass, it’s crucial that you get a surplus of calories and protein throughout the day.
You Can’t Beat the Blender for Calories
The fact that you can literally put 1,000 calories in the blender and drink it down in less than 5 minutes makes a protein shake incredibly powerful for gaining size.
To gain weight, you’ll need to shoot for around 500 calories over what you need to maintain your weight. If you’ve been stuck at your current weight for a while, add 500-700 calories per day to what you’re currently consuming.
How Many Calories Do You Need to Gain Weight?
To calculate how many calories you need to gain weight, multiply your weight in pounds times 16. For more aggressive weight gain, you can multiply your weight in pounds times 18-20.
Be Consistent
The real key is consistency. Eating big one day and not the next is not going to yield results. Weight gain and size will come fast when you’re consistent with your daily calories.
Focus on Protein
Studies show that taking in protein throughout the day stimulates protein synthesis (muscle building) most effectively. A protein shake allows you to get a huge amount of protein and calories in just a few minutes.
Getting protein and carbs in before your workout has been shown by research to speed up recovery and boost protein synthesis. For this reason, when trying to build muscle and size, I take a protein shake both before and after my workout to maximize hypertrophy.
Ultimate Protein Shake Recipe
Here’s my go-to protein shake recipe that I’ve been using for years, along with a few other ingredients that are optional. I’ll leave some tips for tweaking the recipe to suit your own weight gain goals.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Oats
- 1 Cup milk or protein almond milk
- 1 Banana
- 1 Cup Frozen Berries (any)
- 1 Scoop Whey Protein
- 1 Scoop Peanut Butter (2 Tbsp or just a big spoonful)
- 1 Cup Acai Puree or Acai Ice Cream (from Costco) *optional
Directions:
Put all the ingredients in the blender, Ninja or whatever you use to make protein shakes/smoothies.
Add a little bit of water and/or Ice as needed.
Blend and consume 1-2 times per day, depending on how aggressive your weight gain goals are.
Nutrition: (approximate)
- Calories: 950-1,000
- Protein: 55 grams
- Carbohydrate: 100-120 grams
- Fat: 20 grams
Why I Love This Protein Shake Recipe
There are 4 reasons this continues to be my go-to protein shake recipe:
- It’s made with whole foods and healthy ingredients
- It’s made up of mostly complex carbs from oats and fruit
- It gives me over 50 grams of high quality protein and around 1,000 calories
- It can be scaled according to your needs.
Read: Bodyweight Exercises That Build Muscle
Scale the Ingredients to Meet Your Weight Gain Needs
You can easily scale the recipe to meet your own needs. If 1,000 calories is too much, use a half cup of oats, half banana and almond milk.
If you’re looking for maximum weight and muscle gain and are just straight up trying to bulk up fast, use 2 cups of whole milk, 2 bananas and extra peanut butter.
It’s easily scaled to meet whatever needs you have at the time. When I want to bulk up, it’s always there for me. When I want to get a little leaner, I simply scale back the carbs.
Add Your Supplements to The Protein Shake
You can also add whatever supplements you take every day to your protein shake to make things even easier on yourself.
You can add 5 grams of creatine to the shake before or after your workout to further enhance strength and muscle gains and boost recovery.
If you’ve never heard of Bulk Supplements, I highly recommend checking them out. You can get your supplements in pure form, in larger quantities, at a cheaper price. Supplement companies are ripping you off!
Conclusion
Gaining weight and building muscle and size requires a consistent intake of surplus calories and protein.
Getting adequate calories and protein in from food can be a serious challenge. Protein shakes are the perfect way to fill that gap and reach your goals faster.
This is my recipe, but feel free to make it your own and add whatever ingredients you want. I’ve tried pineapple, strawberries, and other ingredients and it’s always been good.
Remember, the key is always in consistency. Now go get after it!
If you need some help with the other side of the coin (working out), check out these articles for some muscle building workouts, tips and exercises.
- How to Build Muscle: The Full Guide to Gains
- How to Get Bigger Arms with BFR Bands
- Supastrong Big arms Program
