A Gallon of Milk a Day (The Reality of Mark Rippetoe's GOMAD) | Quick Wits

GOMAD, or "Gallon of Milk a Day," was a protocol popularized by strength coach Mark Rippetoe (of Starting Strength), to ensure rapid weight gain and muscle growth. The idea is to bulk up quickly. You just chug a gallon of milk a day. Easy right?

But before you start doing that, I want you to tune in to today's Quick Wits for my take on this sometimes controversial protocol and why it might not be the best approach for everyone, especially if you're not a skinny 20-something-year-old male.

GOMAD was originally intended for a very specific demographic - skinny, underweight guys in their late teens and early 20s who struggle to put on any weight at all. For these folks, the massive calorie boost from a gallon of milk a day can kickstart muscle gain and help them get out of the "hardgainer" zone.

But if you're not in that category, then GOMAD might not be the best fit. If you're older, or if you're not significantly underweight, drinking that much milk every day is more likely to lead to excessive fat gain than lean muscle growth. Not to mention, it can be pretty tough on your digestive system, especially if you're not used to processing that much lactose.

But I'm not against using milk as a calorie-dense, macro-balanced tool as part of your nutrition plan. Tune in to hear my thoughts on this.

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Episode Transcript

Philip Pape (00:00):
Have you heard of the GoMad diet GoMad gallon of
milk a day popularized by MarkRipito of Starting Strength.
The idea is to bulk up quickly.
You just chug a gallon of milka day.
But before you start doing that, I want you to tune in to
today's QuickWits for my take onthis sometimes controversial
protocol and why it might not bethe best approach for everyone,

(00:21):
especially if you're not askinny 20-something-year-old
male.
Welcome to the Wits and Weightspodcast.
I'm your host, philip Pape, andthis twice-a-week podcast is
dedicated to helping you achievephysical self-mastery by
getting stronger, optimizingyour nutrition and upgrading
your body composition.
We'll uncover science-backedstrategies for movement,

(00:43):
metabolism, muscle and mindset,with a skeptical eye on the
fitness industry, so you canlook and feel your absolute best
.
Let's dive right in.
Welcome to another QuickWits,your source for no BS, real talk
, insights on building strength,optimizing nutrition, unlocking
your best physique.

(01:03):
And today we're diving into afun topic and that is the GoMad
diet.
Gomad stands for gallon of milka day, and this is a protocol
popularized in Starting Strengthby Mark Repito, and it's had so
much controversy andmisunderstanding over the years.
But the goal is it promisesrapid weight gain and muscle

(01:27):
growth because you're drinking agallon of milk every single day
.
Now, on its face, that actuallymakes a lot of sense.
A gallon of milk has a ton ofcalories, and they're very
balanced calories, includinglots of protein, with also some
other growth factors in therethat are claimed to be
potentially beneficial whenyou're trying to have an
anabolic growth phase, a musclebuilding phase and I'm going to

(01:47):
give Ripito credit where it'sdue, because he knows what he's
talking about when it comes togetting people strong.
His starting strength programhas helped lots of lifters, many
of whom I continue to associatewith.
I know some fantastic coacheswho came through that program.
I got a lot stronger.
I wish I had kept going andgotten even stronger, running
starting strength the first timeback in the 2020 timeframe to

(02:11):
build that really solidfoundation.
Um, but when it comes to go mad,I think it's important to read
the fine print right Before youstart guzzling it down, because
when I, when I gained a bunch ofweight back in 2020, I kind of
took it to heart.
I didn't drink a whole gallon,but I did drink, you know, as
much as a half gallon.
On some days, maybe at least aquart.
I was drinking a lot of milkand it definitely does its job.

(02:32):
It's very calorie dense, it'seasy to put down and you know,
there you go.
And it's also fairlyinexpensive when it comes down
to it.
And GoMad was originallyintended for a very specific
demographic skinny, underweightdudes in their late teens and
early twenties who struggled toput on any weight so hard
gainers, whatever you want tocall them and honestly, they

(02:53):
were just refusing to eat enough.
That's really what it comesdown to.
And so for them, this massivecalorie boost from a gallon of
milk a day.
It's easy Again, you can drinkit quickly and easily.
It's not that expensive.
It's balanced.
You don't have to track.
It's like kind of gives youeverything you need.
It can kickstart that you knowgaining phase and get you into
the surplus and get them out ofthat hard gainer zone, hopefully

(03:16):
with other aspects of your morebalanced diet and nutrients and
things like that.
But if you're not in thatcategory and let's be real, most
of us aren't, and if you'relistening to this, you probably
almost definitely aren't andGoBad is definitely not the best
fit for you.
It's not even something youshould consider, if I'm to be
honest.
Because if you're, you know, ifyou're older and we'll say like

(03:36):
in your 30s, 40s or above,you're not significantly
underweight.
If you drink that much milkevery day, you're going to
that's just a lot of calories.
If you track it, you're goingto find that one gallon of milk
being several thousand calories.
You're going to get excessivefat gain.
I mean, unless that's the onlything you're consuming and
you're not consuming anythingelse.

(03:57):
But then you're going to bemissing out on some things we
really want to gain at just theright optimal rate of gain to
gain that muscle.
Not to mention it can be alittle bit tough on your
digestive system, especially ifyou're not used to processing
that much lactose, let alone ifyou have any intolerance to
dairy, which is a wholedifferent thing.
But even if you don't, that's alot.

(04:18):
It's a lot of milk.
So even if you are a young,skinny guy and you're looking to
bulk up, I would still argue ifyou do it the way we talk about
it, if you're tracking it andyou have your macros dialed in,
you can eat real food and stilleat a lot of calorie dense food
and get the most of yourcalories that way.
But I'm not against having adecent amount of dairy in there
to get to that goal as well.

(04:39):
As long as you have thatprotein, you have the carbs, you
have the fats in there fromwhole food sources, getting a
wide variety of nutrients,building sustainable eating
habits for the long haul, right.
But I'm not anti-milk, I'm not.
If you enjoy it, if youtolerate it, well, it can
definitely be part of a healthybulking plan.
So I want to give you thatoption, and so this was kind of
tongue in cheek.
But also, hey, you know, milkis still out there as a really

(05:03):
nice, easy to consume, caloriedense option for those who can
tolerate dairy and do consumedairy.
But I would say start with amoderate amount, right, a glass
or two a day, see how your bodyresponds.
Do not jump to a full gallon aday At the end of the day.
A successful gaining phase,right To build muscle.
It's just having a consistentapproach where you know what

(05:25):
your surplus is, you track thatagainst your metabolism, against
your expenditure, so that younever fall into that plateau,
that hard gaining phase, and ifthings start to get flattened
out, you know that you need toconsume more, based on what the
data is telling you.
And while you're doing that,having a good balance of
nutrients and, of course,training really hard right and

(05:46):
using progressive overload andall of that.
So before you jump on the GoMadbandwagon or criticize it, let's
just take a step back andconsider what it's designed for,
you know, and the principlebehind it.
And then, if you decide to upyour milk intake, do it
gradually as part of your youknow nutrition, your overall
nutrition plan.
So I just wanted to share mythoughts on GoMad in case you

(06:07):
were curious.
I'm a big fan of it for, youknow, young hard gainers, and
I'm also a fan of milk itself asa potential source of, you know
, decent amount of calorie,dense calories and pretty well
balanced macros as well.
And hey, I love Fairlife brand.
I love the uh, using the skimmilk or the not the skim milk,
the one or 2% for, like theNinja Creamy if you want to make

(06:30):
an ice cream or as a base forsomething like a protein shake.
And I also like the FairlifeChocolate, just about for
anything.
And here's a little hack In thewinter, all you have to do is
microwave that sucker and you'vegot instant, rich, delicious
hot cocoa, all right.
So if you're hungry, you'rethirsty.
Now you cocoa, all right.

(06:53):
So if you're hungry, you'rethirsty.
Now you know why you can blameme.
Have at it, and we'll talk toyou next time.
Cheers.
Thank you for tuning in toanother episode of wits and
weights.
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Until then, stay strong.