Even if you're interested in getting lean and cut and not "big", you might still want to put on mass to reach your potential. Taylor Lautner is a great example of this, putting on a lot of mass yet still managing to look lean and muscular and not "huge".

The question then becomes not why you want to put on mass but how. This is especially pertinent to "hard-gainers", who find that no matter how much they eat, they're just not able to put on mass, even just to go from skinny to lean. That's where GOMAD, or a gallon of milk a day diet, comes in.

Understanding GOMAD

The GOMAD diet is in many circles considered the answer to the hard-gainer problem. GOMAD, or gallon of milk a day, has largely become popular due to Mehdi at Strong Lifts, who recommends it.

The idea is simple. By supplementing whatever you eat with a gallon of milk a day, you're adding a lot of protein and 2600 calories per day to your diet. With your normal meals, that can add up to 5,000 calories. Essentially, even the hard-gainers will have no problem putting on weight.

Furthermore, proponents of GOMAD claim that drinking huge amounts of milk is not problematic to your health. After all, don't babies just drink milk? And even if it is a problem, you're only supposed to be on the diet for a month or two, until you reach your goals. Thus they claim that you don't have to worry about harmful effects, and can quickly reach your weight-gaining goals.

So is GOMAD Really Safe? - I Asked a Doctor

I wasn't really certain about the claims that GOMAD was absolutely safe. Sure, babies only drink milk, but they drink their mothers milk that is specially talored for them. Not cow's milk.

Furthermore, a lot of people are lactose intolerant, or somewhat lactose intolerant, and might not even be aware of it until trying to drink a full gallon of milk a day. Lastly, it's hard for me to believe that drinking a gallon of anything can be good for you.

That's why I consulted a gastroenterologist, who told me that she believes the main issue is looking out for lactose intolerance, and that while one study did link drinking more milk with prostate cancer, she wasn't sure that one or two months would have an effect one way or another. The end statement? There's not a lot of literature on the subject and she didn't really know.

In general, when a doctor tells me they don't know something, unless I feel extremely confident about it, I tend to shy away from it (or find another doctor). That's why as far as safety goes, while I don't see any obvious issues with it, I can't honestly recommend the GOMAD diet. It may be a great concept for hard-gainers, but it's just too extreme without a lot of information or studies available about it.

Alternatives to the GOMAD Diet

If you're really desperate in trying to put on muscle mass, there are other alternatives to the GOMAD diet. For one, if you're okay with not being 100% healthy in your eating, you can supplement your meals with a serious smoothie.

Put in a quarter to half a liter of milk, some strawberries, half a banana or a full one and a couple of cups of icecream and optionally some protein powder and watch the pounds start building up.

If you're happy with gaining one pound per week and what you're eating now is maintaining your weight, you can even just add one big sandwich or two medium ones to get the extra 500 calories a day and to hit your goals.

Once you pay attention to how many calories you're taking in, and realize that you need 500 calories more to gain a pound a week, even for hard-gainers it becomes attainable.

The main thing? Make sure to eat at LEAST 3 meals a day, if not more. Skipping meals is a sure fire way not to put on weight.

Summary - For Those Who Skimmed

• The gallon of milk a day (GOMAD) diet is meant for putting on a lot of muscle mass.
• In theory it makes sense, since milk has a lot of nutrients including protein and calories.
• There's not enough studies about drinking copious amounts of milk a day to be able to declare it safe.
• There are better alternatives to gaining weight than drinking a gallon of milk a day.

If you liked this article, subscribe for free to the Passionate Fitness RSS Feed.

Rafi Bar-Lev is a former combat medic and the founder of Passionate Fitness.

Follow him on twitter.

And join our brand new facebook group!