Whey Protein or Meal Replacement/Mass Gainer for Bulking?

[thecatinaction]

I’ve been training since February 2017. I weighed in at 230 when I first started, and I’ve dropped to 172, and added quite a bit of muscle mass. I’ve never really focused on bulking before, because I always had a little more cutting left to do, until recently. I’m finally at a point where I feel I need to start focusing on putting on some serious size, before another cut season.

Cutting is fairly easy in theory, but bulking takes a little more planning and preparation. The main question I’m trying to answer, is would I be looking to use regular Whey Protein to fill gaps in my calories, and after workouts to build muscle, or should I look at a mass gainer to use as a meal replacement to really hit my calories hard?

I feel like I can probably hit my calories normally without a mass gainer, but there are SOME days that a meal replacement would come in handy. I don’t want to sup my regular meals or protein for mass gainer if I don’t really need to, though. I feel like I would end up having to adjust my normal meals more to account for the calories in the mass gainer, which I would have little to no control over changing.

Any advice is helpful!

[faipdeooiad]

Food.

Use whey if you’re struggling to hit your protein macros.

[thecatinaction]

Food.

Use whey if you’re struggling to hit your protein macros.

I’ll almost definitely need a little help to hit goal, at least without dirty bulking. That’s the thing. I’ll be working retail management, so there will definitely be some times I can’t fit in a full meal that I need to, so that’s a concern as well.

[koweanguy]

I’ll almost definitely need a little help to hit goal, at least without dirty bulking. That’s the thing. I’ll be working retail management, so there will definitely be some times I can’t fit in a full meal that I need to, so that’s a concern as well.

Then either one is fine.
You can always buy both and use them when needed to fill your protein or calorie needs.
Whey would be budget friendly whereas the mass gainer is for sheer convenience