My goal is to gain weight and muscle. I'm currently 55 kgs, 5"4. My workout routine consists of pushups, triceps dips, curls with a resistance band, and squats.
I am looking at some mass gainer and wondering if it's worth it to buy it. I can't tell if the good reviews are fake. How can I tell if mass gainer would be useful for my training?
Protein requirement is a function of training workload. The literature suggests that optimal recovery and hypertrophy occur with dietary protein intake ranging from between about 1.2–2.0 grams per kilogram of body mass per day (g/kg/d), with serious endurance, strength, and power athletes requiring around 1.6 g/kg/d.
Based upon your description, we would expect the workload that you are performing to be at the lower end of that range, perhaps requiring 1.2–1.4 g/kg/d. For reference, this value is slightly lower than daily protein intake in the average American diet. Thus, the question really boils down to the adequacy and quality of your diet.
If you have a good, varied diet consisting of quality protein sources and a significant proportion of complex carbohydrates, it is probably already optimal for recovery with your current workload. You would not benefit in any way from a supplement, and it would simply contribute to your gaining fat mass. And of course if it is poor, it would be preferable to improve your diet first, for both recovery and general health. However, from a purely utilitarian point of view, if your diet is poor, and if for whatever reason it is impractical to improve it markedly, then yes, you certainly might benefit from taking a supplement.
There is seldom any reliable evidence to support the superiority of one specific supplement over another. Any research that might be conducted will surely be sponsored by the manufacturer, and therefore have questionable conclusions. And whilst there exists some general agreement as to what nutrient profile is ideal, the literature is equivocal. It may be prudent to compare reviews for specific products, but given the wild variation typically found in those, it is probably a matter of personal preference and experience.
I hope that is helpful.
Honestly, the answer whether mass gainer would be a useful addition to your diet is the following.
Assuming you workout a few days a week, whether or not you should be using mass gainer has little to do with the intensity of the workouts. It has everything to do with time investment. Mass gainers are simply there for those who don't always have the time or option to eat an actual meal with real food.
If you're traveling for example, or if you have a job where you can't eat a meal every 2 hours. If you have the time to eat regular food instead of a shake it's always going to be better for your body and give you the same, if not better results than a shake.
I was having mass gainer shakes a few years back when bulking up... the main reason I used them was because I have a fast metabolism and it was a convenient way to pack in a load of extra calories without filling myself up as much as I would have through eating nothing but whole foods.
So if your situation is similar to mine, then go for it. Just compare how many calories are in them (aswell as the cost) compared to the kinds of foods you eat... peoples' reviews don't really matter unless you're wondering what they taste like etc.
Maybe don't go too crazy on the shakes though unless you don't mind spending a lot of time on the toilet.
As a side note though you'd need to do a lot more training than what you've listed above if you were looking to bulk up. So best to look at some routines too.
