GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer Review: Is it Good or Bad?

GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer Review 2022 – Pros, Cons, Pricing, and Alternatives

We’ll cover the most important deciding factors in-depth, but to start, here’s GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer at a glance:

Nutrition profile	Protein content	Flavor	Pricing
[rating stars=”4.0″]	[rating stars=”4.0″]	[rating stars=”3.0″]	[rating stars=”4.5″]

WHAT WE LIKE +	WHAT WE DON’T LIKE –
✅ Slow and Fast-Release Proteins	❌ On the Low-End of “High Calories”
✅ Most Bang For Your Buck	❌ Soy Protein Content
✅ Added MCTs and Arginine	❌ Chalky and Thick

In this GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer review, we will be talking about the good and bad features as well as my experience with using it.

Later on, we will be going into the specifics of this weight gainer. To make it easier, we broke the product down to the most significant features you should know about:

• Macronutrient profile
• Protein content
• Significance of the protein sources
• Benefits of BCAAS, MCTs, and arginine (if any)
• Flavors, their ratings, and the texture
• Pricing

So, make sure to read until the end of this article so you can make a well-informed decision on whether this GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer is the right mass-building supplement for achieving your physique goals.

Product Overview

Before we put the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer under a microscope, I want to give you a quick overview.

Although named  “Weight Gainer”, I think the term “mass gainer” is more appropriate for it. This is because it is formulated not just to help you gain weight with the 116 grams of carbs per serving, it also contains 50 grams of muscle-building protein.

It has BCAAs, MCTs, and arginine to help you while you squat, bench, and deadlift your way to a thicc or muscular body.

With 700 calories, it can surely help you tip the (bathroom) scale in your favor.

I was actually a desperate skinny guy. When I first went to the gym, I wanted to get as huge and jacked as quickly as possible because I felt insecure about how my body looked and performed.

I was lifting weights and eating right consistently. But, alas, my progress stalled. I tried protein powders, and, while they worked, I felt I needed an extra push. So, I decided to use mass gainers to not only supplement my dietary protein but to bump up my caloric intake as well.

This GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer was one of the first few weight gainers I tried, mostly because it was one of the cheapest weight gainers. After a couple of tubs, I knew I was not fooled by the price since I gained some decent weight using it.

Do you feel like you have stalled in the gym and not getting the gains as fast as you did before? Then maybe it’s time to jack up your macros and calories with a high-protein mass gainer.

Who is GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer Best For?

If you are:

• A skinny gym enthusiast that wants to gain decent muscle mass
• Someone who has stalled in the weight gain department
• A frugal and practical meathead

Then you should keep on reading

However, if you are:

• A hard gainer with very high caloric needs
• Picky in terms of supplement flavor and texture

Then the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer might not satisfy your needs. I would recommend getting either the Bodybuilding Signature Series Mass Gainer or the GNC Pro Performance Bulk 1340 for higher calories and better flavor.

GNC Pro Performance Review: Is it Good or Bad?

Nutrition Profile

GNC Pro Performance nutrition facts contain 700 calories in 182g of powder or roughly 4 scoops. The 50g of protein comes from two main sources: milk and soy. This gives the protein a time-released characteristic that is most optimal for muscle-building. But with that macronutrient content, how does Pro Performance Weight Gainer work?

For the carbohydrate content, it delivers 116 grams of this energy source in one shaker. The carbs come in the form of maltodextrin, a high GI carb that can easily spike your blood sugar levels.

So, my advice is to only drink this once a day. Better to drink it post-workout if you can. That way, your body will quickly utilize the glucose from the maltodextrin without causing an insulin crash.

This also has multi-chain triglycerides which is a great source of quick energy. It’s better than other types of fat given its quick absorption; so, it does not “get stored”. However, this product contains a negligible amount of it. 

Its amino acid additives, BCAAs, and arginine support you during a training session. BCAAs prevent muscle breakdown while arginine helps pump more blood to the muscles you use. 

These can help you perform better and get a stronger pump resulting in an awesome gym session. But, according to my experience, there was little to no effect from the arginine.

Verdict

The overall macronutrient ratio of the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer is great. It delivers you more than the enough protein you need and could utilize in one meal time.  Having said those, I think the company could have been more honest with the buzzwords they used like “MCTs”, “arginine”, and the mixed protein as they seem to be more of an attempt to sell the product than them having actual effective doses.

Protein Content

This GNC mass gainer has mixed protein sources. It provides you with a total of 50 grams in one serving.

The proteins are sourced from whey, casein, and soy. This is why I mentioned that the product contains time-released proteins. Whey is fast-digesting, soy digests a bit slower, and, finally, calcium caseinate digests the slowest.

However, it is worth mentioning that most of the protein you get will be quickly absorbed. This is because the product contains mostly whey in its three forms: concentrate, hydrolysate, and isolate.

A word on soy protein, some studies have shown that soy can suppress testosterone secretion and encourage muscle breakdown. But, the scientific literature on this is still unclear. 

Verdict

Overall, I like the high-protein content of the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer and it could easily be a staple in one’s diet. Depending on what studies you read, you may or may not like the presence of soy protein in its ingredients list.

Flavor (and Texture)

GNC Pro Performance flavors are vanilla ice cream, double chocolate, and strawberries and cream. If you ask me, I am ranking the flavors in that same order. Most reviews, including mine, say that the strawberry is the worst tasting among the three.

The vanilla and chocolate GNC Pro Performance flavors are okay. They are not exactly delicious but they are palatable. 

One serving contains 182 grams of powder. So when you mix it with water, I suggest you go well over the 16-ounces they tell you to mix it with. I’ve tried following the instructions on the label before, and the result was closer to a pudding than a drink.

Verdict

The GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer gets a bad rep in the flavor and texture aspects, especially the strawberry-flavored one. But, you can always mix it in with some fruits, grains, honey, and peanut butter if you want. Just remember to add more water to the four scoops when needed.

Pricing

At about $1 per scoop, this is easily one of the cheapest mass gainers out there. You get about 24 scoops per 2.5 lb tub of this GNC weight gainer.

I picked this brand before because of its price and I can say that I was not disappointed with my initial and subsequent purchases. It gives you great value for your money, especially if you are a college kid looking to get buff or simply a frugal meathead.

Verdict

What more is there to say, this mass gainer is priced right and its ingredients deliver. If you’re on a tight budget, balancing your money between gym fees, eggs, meat, milk, and supplements, then this mass gainer would be a great pick.

Check Out My Results From Using GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer

Like any hardcore beginner bodybuilder, I disliked soy protein. “Ronnie Coleman drank whey and not soy, so why would I?”, I said to myself as I looked at my twig arms, pencil neck, and chicken legs in the gym mirror.

But, I had no money to buy 8-time Mr. Olympia’s supplements. So, I walked through the supplement aisle and saw this fairly cheap mass gainer. I glanced at the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer ingredients and saw “soy”. But, since l really wanted to gain mass while on a  small budget, I swallowed my pride and made the purchase.

To my surprise, I did not transform into a beta male nor did I get gynecomastia. Jokes aside, this mass gainer was as good as the similarly priced others I used before. With more than adequate protein and a generous amount of carbs, I gained some muscle mass during my bulks. And the results were seen even better after a cut.

Here are some GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer reviews that verified users have posted on Amazon and the GNC website itself:

• “Overdue review! I like both the vanilla & chocolate flavor, the chocolate is my favorite. They also taste delicious together, half and half or 3:1 (chocolate to vanilla)! I’m using this to maintain my weight as I work out to change my shape, & I haven’t lost any weight but def gained. Went through 4 tubs since Feb 2021, (…) That strawberry cannot be saved!! Yuck.”
• “This is amazing. I gained weight in weeks, especially on my butt and thighs. Ladies get this if you want to gain weight. I did a smoothie with fruits and sometimes ice cream sandwiches. Get this if you want results. But the only bad is I gained a little on my stomach.”

Is the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer good for you?

After covering the pros and cons of the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer in detail, it’s time to focus the attention on YOU.

Like every supplement in the fitness market, GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer will not be the right choice for everyone. Then, let us filter out the people who this mass gainer is for:

For the frugal fitness buff looking to add size:

You don’t want to sell yourself short in making as much progress as you can in the gym and with your physique. If you are on a tight budget, the value for the money you get from GNC’s mass gainer is hard to beat.

It can easily add a meal or two’s worth of nutrients and calories to your daily nutrition requirements at only about $4 per serving. It’ll surely bolster your efforts to gain mass as well as save you some money.

For the unprejudiced meathead looking to get over a weight plateau:

If you’re ready to get over your fear of soy, then give this weight gainer a try. Perhaps you have not been gaining weight after several years of dedicated lifting and eating.

Then, you can try to break that plateau with this time-release mass gainer that feeds your muscles immediately and even way after a gym session. The 116g of carbs will provide you with the calories you need to repair those muscles at rest. This mass gainer’s protein and carb ratio is optimally balanced to create the best environment for muscle protein synthesis.

Alternatives

You may want something higher in calories, maybe even triple that. If so, you can opt to buy the Mass Tech Extreme 2000. This is for real hard-gainers with lightning-fast metabolisms or an off-season bodybuilder looking to go up a weight class. Each serving of this provides you with 2110 calories, 457g of carbohydrates, 60g of protein, and 5g of fat.

Final Thoughts

This mass gainer was not made for significant weight gain in a short period of time. Even better, it is formulated to provide you with enough calories to tip you slightly over your daily caloric needs, which is the best way to gain mass.

With 700 calories, 50g of protein, and 116g of carbs, it enables you to gain more muscle and little fat during your bulking phase. You’ll get thick, not fat; you’ll get buff, not chubby.

Personally, I prefer a clean bulk myself. Why would you want to gain something, in this case – fat, that you would need to work hard to lose anyway? The GNC Pro Performance Mass Gainer, to me, has the perfect macronutrient ratio for gaining lean muscle tissue.

Perhaps now you can make a decision. Is this GNC mass gainer right for you and your physique goals? Will the calories and macros serve you well? It is now up to you to determine the answer.

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FAQs

What are the side effects of GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer?

Like in most protein and mass gainer supplements, GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer side effects could be a bloated or uneasy stomach. There are no specific side effects to using this mass gainer.

How does Pro Performance Weight Gainer work?

It helps you gain body weight and muscle mass by providing you a high number of calories that help you go over your basic caloric needs. The protein in this weight gainer helps you build muscle mass, as opposed to just gaining fat.

How do you use GNC weight gainer?

You mix 4 scoops (182g) of the weight gain powder with 16-fl. oz.  of water or milk. You can use it as a meal replacement for times when you do not have access to real food.

How many calories are in the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer?

The GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer contains 700 calories per serving.

In what flavors is the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer available?

GNC Pro Performance flavors are Vanilla Ice Cream, Double Chocolate, and Strawberries and Cream.

What are the nutrition facts of the GNC Pro Performance Weight Gainer?

A full-serving made up of four scoops contains 700 calories, 50g of protein, 70g of carbohydrates, and 3.5 grams of fat.