The battle has always been fierce in the supplement industry. In the 90s, the battle was about mass gainer powders. It was the “numbers era” in the supplements game, with each brand coming up with numbers in their product name to denote a higher caloric content, enough to make the caloric deficit folks of today cringe. Thus we had Champion Nutrition’s Heavyweight Gainer 900, Weider’s Mass 1000, Cybergenics’ Infiniti 3000 and, at the very top (number-wise, at least), the famous Weider Victory’s Giant Mega Mass 4000.
As a fan of the supplement industry for decades, I have seen the rise and fall of many different products over the years. One particular trend that has remained popular since the 1990s is high calorie protein shakes for mass and muscle gain.
Back in the day, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts were always on the lookout for the next big thing to help them achieve their goals. And when mass gainer protein shakes hit the market, they quickly became a staple for those looking to bulk up and build muscle.
These shakes typically contained a high amount of calories, protein, and carbohydrates, making them an easy way to consume a lot of nutrients in one go.
However, the difference was in how the mass gainer products were named in the 90s. The names were almost followed by numbers. The numbers denote the calorie count per serving.
Some of the most popular mass gainer products that I remember back in the day were as follows:
- Heavyweight Gainer 900 made by Champion Nutrition.
This brand was founded and headed by Michael Zumpano, one of the supplement pioneers and someone I respect. I always liked Michael’s approach to supplement formulation and he was always focused on quality and that’s why Champion Nutrition never played the “numbers game”. They had another product called “Lean Gainer”. To add “Lean” to the name of a gainer product (and have the Late strongman Kurtis Leffler promote it) was a rarity. Only Micheal could have done it. But I digress.
- Nature’s Best Perfect 1100
I don’t know much about this particular product. They were made by the reputable brand Nature’s Best, known for their “Isopure” line of products which were a line of ready-to-drink fruit-flavoured clear protein beverages.
- Infiniti 1700 and Infiniti 3000
These were made by Cybegenics, known for their “steroid replacement system” bodybuilding kits.
Cybergenics played a lot on flavour variety and offered something like 10 different flavours. I remember purchasing a chocolate mint Infiniti 3000 back in 1998 with hard earned money.
Franco Santoriello, their pro bodybuilder spokesperson, had me sold in one of Cybergenics’ early 90s ads.
Weider Victory Mega Mass 2000 and Giant Mega Mass 4000
Well, these were the grand-daddy’s of mass gainer shakes made by the Master Blaster Joe Weider’s company Victory. Not one to be outweighed, Weider played the numbers game really well, coming up with Mega Mass 2000 and Mega Mass 4000 (Weider also had a Mass 1000 shake under the “Weider” brand).
Weider claimed to be able to pack a large number of calories due to a “super-concentration technology”. Love him or hate him (I am a Weider fan), Weider was a true master of marketing.
However, to this day there is no such thing as “super-concentration technology” when it comes to blending a supplement powder using raw materials. A case can be made for a “super concentration technology” when it comes to making some raw materials like carb powders and protein powders, when the powders are spray-dried and the moisture removed during the manufacturing process.
Weider simply blended these raw materials and then recommended a hefty serving size (see more below).
How are these higher calories achieved?
The answer to this is simple:
- Recommend a massive serving size. Serving size went up to 300g. The higher the amount of powder, the higher the calorie count. Simple Maths. Also, as these high calorie shakes, if consumed in one go can stress the digestive system, the brands recommended to split the servings into multiple servings in a day.
- Recommend usage of the powder in milk for more calories. The nutritional tables would often contain the nutritional info when mixed in milk and when mixed in water. The calorie content when mixed in milk is often what goes into the numbers that are on the front label display. So, for instance, from your “Super XXL2000” product, 400 calories may be coming from the milk in your fridge. Clever!
My take on these high calorie shakes
I can’t act too clever today and say that I wasn’t carried away by the “numbers shake”. I was once this kid with dreams. Soon thereater I started to know better, as I quickly began to formulate my own shakes (another story for another day).
As with any trend, there were some downsides to the high calorie approach. For one, not everyone needs to consume such high amounts of calories and protein to achieve their fitness goals, even if the servings are split over the whole day.
In fact, for some people, consuming too many calories can actually lead to unwanted weight gain and fat accumulation. Additionally, some of the early mass gainer protein shakes were not always the healthiest options, as they contained a lot of sugar and artificial ingredients. I remember a lot of people at my gym in Mauritius complained about the amount of stress to the digestive system from consuming Mega Mass as recommended.
However, over the years, the supplement industry has evolved and many mass gainer protein shakes have been reformulated to be healthier and more effective. These days, it’s not uncommon to find shakes that contain a blend of high-quality protein sources, healthy fats, and a sustained-release blend of carbohydrates, all designed to help users build muscle and gain weight in a healthy way.
I will touch more on mass gainer shakes in other articles.
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