Do I need mass gainer and creatine? A supplement guide for muscle building

December 11, 2025 •

4 min read

According to a 2022 review in Nutrients, creatine supplementation, when combined with resistance training, can significantly increase muscle growth and strength. However, creatine serves a fundamentally different purpose than a mass gainer, which primarily helps achieve a caloric surplus. Understanding their distinct functions is crucial before incorporating either into your fitness routine.

Quick Summary

Mass gainer provides high calories for weight gain and muscle development, while creatine enhances strength, power, and workout performance. The right choice depends on your specific goals and dietary needs, though using both is a common strategy.

Key Points

Mass Gainer for Calories: A mass gainer is a high-calorie supplement primarily used to achieve a caloric surplus for weight and muscle gain.
Creatine for Performance: Creatine is a performance enhancer that boosts strength, power, and exercise intensity, enabling you to train harder.
Combined for Maximum Gains: Taking both supplements together is a synergistic approach that fuels muscle growth with high calories while maximizing training intensity.
Diet First, Supplements Second: No supplement can replace a balanced, whole-food diet; they are intended to complement your nutrition, not replace it.
Choose Based on Goals: Prioritize a mass gainer if you struggle with calorie intake, and creatine if you want to focus on boosting workout performance and strength.
Creatine is Safe: Extensive research supports creatine's safety profile, debunking common myths about adverse effects on kidneys or hair loss.

Understanding the Purpose of Each Supplement

Deciding between mass gainer and creatine requires a clear understanding of what each supplement does. While both are used in the fitness world to aid in muscle building, they accomplish this through entirely different mechanisms. Mass gainers are a caloric tool, whereas creatine is a performance enhancer. Your personal goals, metabolism, and budget will determine whether you need one, the other, or a combination of both.

Mass Gainer: Fuel for Weight Gain

A mass gainer is a calorie-dense supplement designed for individuals who struggle to consume enough calories and protein to gain weight, often referred to as 'hardgainers'. It is essentially concentrated nutrition in powder form, containing a high ratio of carbohydrates and protein, along with some fats. The primary objective of a mass gainer is to help you achieve a caloric surplus, which is necessary for adding body mass.

High-Calorie Intake: Mass gainers deliver a significant number of calories in a single shake, making it easier to meet daily energy requirements for bulking.
Convenience: For people with busy schedules or small appetites, a mass gainer offers a quick and easy way to add hundreds of calories without preparing a full meal.
Muscle Recovery: The protein and carbohydrates support muscle repair and glycogen replenishment after intense workouts.
Potential Drawbacks: Many mass gainers are high in sugar and processed ingredients, which can lead to unwanted fat gain if not used properly. Some people also experience bloating or digestive issues due to the high volume of ingredients.

Creatine: A Catalyst for Performance

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound stored primarily in your muscles that plays a critical role in energy production during high-intensity activities. When taken as a supplement, creatine increases your muscles' phosphocreatine stores, which helps produce more adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body's main energy source for short, explosive movements.

Increased Strength and Power: By providing more available energy, creatine enables you to lift heavier weights and perform more repetitions, which directly contributes to muscle growth over time.
Improved Recovery: Creatine may help reduce muscle damage and inflammation, leading to faster recovery between training sessions.
Muscle Volumization: Creatine draws water into muscle cells, causing them to appear fuller and potentially signaling pathways that aid muscle growth.
Excellent Safety Profile: Creatine is one of the most researched sports supplements, with numerous studies confirming its safety and effectiveness when used correctly, dispelling common myths about kidney damage or hair loss.

Mass Gainer vs. Creatine: Key Differences

The following table outlines the main differences to help you decide which supplement is right for your needs.


Feature	Mass Gainer	Creatine
Primary Goal	Caloric surplus, weight gain, muscle bulking.	Enhanced strength, power, and performance.
Core Function	Provides concentrated calories (carbs, protein, fat).	Replenishes ATP stores for high-intensity energy.
Macronutrient Profile	High in carbohydrates and protein, with added fats.	Contains no calories, carbohydrates, or fats.
Energy Boost	Provides fuel for overall activity and glycogen replenishment.	Boosts immediate muscular energy for lifting heavier.
Effect on Weight	Directly increases body weight through caloric intake and potential water retention.	Primarily causes temporary water weight gain in muscles, then lean muscle mass over time.
Budget	Generally more expensive per serving due to high calorie content.	Relatively inexpensive and effective.

Should You Use Mass Gainer and Creatine Together?

For many lifters, especially those aiming for maximum gains and struggling to eat enough, combining mass gainer and creatine is a highly effective strategy. By using both, you address two different aspects of the muscle-building process simultaneously: fuelling the body and enhancing performance. The mass gainer provides the necessary calories to build new tissue, while creatine enables you to train harder, stimulating more growth. It's a synergistic approach that can accelerate progress.

For the Hardgainer: If you are a naturally skinny individual who struggles to gain weight, a mass gainer can be a game-changer. Adding creatine on top will allow you to maximize the benefits of the caloric surplus by boosting your performance in the gym.
For the Serious Athlete: An athlete who already has a solid diet might use a mass gainer to push through a bulking phase and add creatine to break through strength plateaus.

The Importance of a Whole-Food Diet

It is essential to remember that supplements are not magic pills and do not replace a balanced, whole-food diet. Your foundation should always be nutritious meals consisting of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Both a mass gainer and creatine are designed to complement, not substitute, this nutritional base. Over-relying on mass gainers without consistent training and a proper diet can lead to fat gain rather than muscle mass.

For more information on the safety and mechanisms of creatine, you can consult reliable health sources such as Healthline.

Conclusion: How to Decide for Your Goals

The choice to take a mass gainer, creatine, or both ultimately depends on your specific fitness objectives. If your primary goal is to add overall body mass and you find it challenging to consume enough calories, a mass gainer should be your priority. It provides the essential building blocks for muscle growth. If you are already meeting your caloric needs and want to increase your strength and performance to break through plateaus, creatine is the ideal choice. For those who want the fastest possible results and are struggling with both caloric intake and lifting performance, combining mass gainer and creatine offers a comprehensive and effective solution. Always start with a solid diet and training plan, and use supplements strategically to meet your individual needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it is safe and often recommended to combine creatine and a mass gainer. The mass gainer provides the calories for growth, while creatine enhances your workout performance to maximize those gains.

Creatine is more effective for directly improving strength and explosive power during your workouts. Mass gainers support overall weight and muscle gain but do not directly increase immediate strength and performance in the way creatine does.

A mass gainer provides a high number of calories. If you consume more calories than your body needs, especially without consistent, intense training, you will gain fat. The key is to match your caloric intake from the gainer with your training volume.

Yes, creatine can cause some initial water retention by drawing more water into your muscle cells. This is typically temporary and contributes to a fuller, more muscular appearance, not general bloat.

Individuals who are underweight or have a fast metabolism and struggle to consume enough calories through food alone should prioritize a mass gainer to provide the foundational fuel for muscle growth.

If you are already meeting your daily caloric needs through diet but want to improve your workout performance and break through strength plateaus, starting with creatine is the better option.

No. If you can easily meet your caloric surplus needs with whole foods, a mass gainer is not necessary. It serves as a convenient tool for those who cannot consume enough calories otherwise.