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Real Gains Reviews
First off I would like to say that this is my second review on SR. That being said, lets get to it.
Calories: 600-615 (depending on flavor)
Carbs: 86g-88g (depending on flavor)
Protein. 52g-54g (depending on flavor)
-The protein is a blend of whey concentrate, micellar casein. and whey isolate.
-The carbs are maltodextrin.
Taste: Chocolate Milkshake (7/10)
Cookies and Cream (8/10)
The chocolate milkshake is an ok flavor, its sort of like a watery cup of hot cocoa. The cookies and cream tasted really good at first and it does have cookie bits in it. After a while the flavor starts to get a little overwhelming as where the chocolate never did.
This is where this product shines through. I just recently got off a cut and since its bulking season I figured I'd give a go at a mass gainer. So I have been a fan of Universal nutrition for a while and this had a good profile. So I ordered a 10lb bag and gave it a go. My strength surprising shot up, especially on the bench, going from 290 to 320 in a little over a month. When I started this product I was 152lbs and when I ended the first bag I was 162lbs and when I finished the second bag, I was around 167lbs. A little bit of it was fat but not more than maybe 2 or 3 pounds.
I paid about $55 for each 10.6lb bag, which has 31 servings each. If u do the math its really not a bad deal, since a 5lb tub of protein is around $50 and at 2 servings that around 30+ servings. Then you would have to add carbs and healthy fats so as you can see its actually a good deal.
My 2nd mass-gainer protein and I gotta say I was extremely optimistic when I bought my 10.6lb bag. I saw tons of good reviews with the sprinkle of bad ones of course, but every product has negative reviews. Plus it was "Cybro Monday' for bodybuilding.com which meant 20% off. I couldn't pass that deal up.
1 word describes my experience with Real Gains: diarrhea. Sorry to be gross, but I'm trying to be honest. I won't go into detail about it, but I will tell you the side-effects that I had with Real Gains later and how it pertains to my review and overall feeling about it.
*Aesthetics: 10/10* Comes in a big bag with a convenient handle on it, of course it has the Universal flexing dude on it too. First thought when I got it was, "Ok this looks pretty darn legit, let's go. " Boy was I in for a surprise.
*Taste: 8/10* I ordered the cookies and cream flavor and it wasn't the best cookies and cream I've had. Given it is a mass-gainer it's not made to be amazing, but Up Your Mass. cookies and cream kicked this one's butt big time. Good, but not great. If you are someone who is picky with their taste then this product isn't for you. If you like things that taste good and that are drinkable with no problem then this is one of those.
*Ingredient Profile: 9/10* It does have a profile that makes you at least curious to try it. On the bag they say the carbs in it are MOSTLY complex carbs. Total carb count is 86g with 10g of sugar so that's actually looks pretty promising. On top of that you get 54g of protein which is a mix of whey concentrate, isolate and casein. Each serving has over 10 grams of BCAA (on the bag it says per 100g of protein so you gotta divide that in half per serving). Plus Glutamine and a bunch of other non essential AA's. Great profile there too. I was pretty impressed when I picked up the bag and broke all of it down.
*Mixability: 6/10* This is an odd product. I've never had a protein that doesnt mix in a Blender Bottle. I love my Blender Bottle and it's mixed up everything I've ever thrown at it until now. They said on the label to put it in a blender or a shaker cup. I'm guessing the Universal MixBoy would do the trick, but not my blender bottle. I put 16 oz of whole milk in there and all it did was stick to my blender ball. I started drinking it and noticed all I was drinking was thick clumps of Real Gains. Naturally I look inside and I see my blender ball just caked in Real Gains. It didn't mix at all into my milk. What a waste of of a serving.
I'm giving it a 6/10 for the inability to mix in the most popular shaker cup. To get a good consistency you have to put it in the blender. If there was a convenience rating then it would also be a 6/10 for that reason. It's really obnoxious, in my opinion that is, to have to mix it in a blender then clean the blender blah blah blah each time. I love just mixing protein in my Blender Bottle and washing it out with a sponge. Nice and easy. Not with Real Gains.
*Effectiveness 7/10* This product did pack on some mass for me. Not as much as I would've liked, but I can't deny the gains I did make. I had a 4-day split as far as working out goes, and a clean bulking diet of a dozen eggs a day, sweet potatoes, chicken breasts and lite Greek yoghurt. Good diet, and a good routine mixed with Real Gains gave me gains that I was happy with, but not ecstatic. I wish I could give you measurements, but I can't seem that find them right now. Sorry about that I can be a bit of a scatter brain.
The real thing that overshadowed any gains made were the ridiculous side-effects from the product.
After taking Real Gains you notice you start feeling a little sick. Just a little, nothing horrible. yet. It starts off very mild at first with just some gas and burps. No biggy right? It's got whey and casein so of course it'll give a bit of that. Here's the kicker: for around 3-4 hours after that you can't stay off the can. It's back to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes and it's awful. I couldn't function after it. It destroyed my mornings completely because I knew wherever I went I had to make sure I had an "escape route" per se. My goodness. I do have a sensitive stomach to an extent, but this is unlike anything I have ever had. I've even had severe dehydration before to the point of shaking and losing feeling in my extremities and I didn't have to crap this bad.
Bottom line:
If you are someone who has a stomach made of titanium then for the money this isn't a bad gainer. If you're a normal person or have even a slightly sensitive stomach, BEWARE. I would be very cautious because I had a friend who also took this because I told him I was, and he had the same problem. He isn't lactose intolerant or anything yet it destroyed him as well.
I hope this review wasn't too lengthy. It is such a weird protein which is why I had to cover so many facets of it.
I used this product twice, both times using the biggest sizes (they came in bags). I first used the Chocolate flavor, and then the Vanilla flavor. I used both of these to conclude my 6-month long bulk.
Pricing: 7/10
The pricing on this was fair; it was a little expensive, but overall it was worth it, because, unlike most mass gainers. it wasn't super loaded with simple carbs. The calories you get from this product are quality, unlike a product like ON Serious Mass. where you'll pack on weight fast, but it'll be mostly fat.
Taste: 8/10
The chocolate flavor was much better than the vanilla flavor, but I'm more of a chocolate person myself. I tend to think Universal's vanilla flavors aren't very good, yet I've never had a bad chocolate product from them.
Effectiveness: 8/10
I gained a decent amount of weight using this product. I saw noticeable size gains and it worked like most mass gainers, except without any unwanted fat gains.
Mixability: 6/10
Mixing this in my shaker cup was really annoying, because it ALWAYS clumped up and it was ALWAYS gritty at the bottom. Mixing it in a blender was much easier for me, but don't bother putting too much else in, besides the Real Gains and some liquid or it will be too clumpy.
Overall, the product tasted good, worked well, and was priced pretty fair. A quality mass gainer right here.
I was on the last month of my bulk cycle and I wanted to get one more mass gainer that would help me finish out my cycle. I went with Real Gains because I've always had good results with Universal products.
-Taste/Texture: 6
I have always went with chocolate with protein so this time I figured I'd change it up. I went with strawberry and unfortunatly that was a mistake. It didn't mix well, it had little pieces of strawberry in it which didn't do anything for me, and the strawberry taste alone was not that good. If I had to go back I would have gotten chocolate.
-Mixability: 6.5
Like I said, it didn't mix well and had the chunks of strawberry. I couldn't use a normal shaker bottle, I had to use a blender just to get it somewhat smooth.
-Value: 8
I paid $35.95 dollars for 6.85lbs. 20 servings per tub, which is a reasonable price for a weight gainer. I took one a little under one serving a day which lasted me a little over a month so the price really didn't bother me.
-Effectiveness: 9
Like I said I was trying to finish out my cycle strong and that's exactly what I did. I gained 7 pounds in one month with this! My strength gains went up and it just helped so much to add those extra calories.
-Overall: 9
IMO this is a great option for people wanting add a mass gainer to their bulk stack. The weight gain was awesome and the strength gains were even better! At the start of my next cycle I will stick with this as my mass gainer. Like I said, though only bad thing was the strawberry so when I do get it again, I would get the chocolate.