Home » Expert Guides » Supplements BCAA Supplements Guide: Powders, Benefits & Best Products 1. The Three BCAAs 3. BCAAs And Performance 4. Effects On Hormones 5. BCAAs And Fat Loss 6. BCAAs As Signaling Molecules This Guide Teaches You: What BCAAs are, and how they impact performance and muscle building.Why leucine, isoleucine, and valine are essential and must be obtained through diet.How studies back the effectiveness of BCAAs upon improving performance.How BCAAs positively impact testosterone levels when taken pre-workout.The benefits of supplementing with BCAAs during fat loss.The recommended daily BCAAs dosage. Amino acids are the essential building blocks of protein. Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are amino acids that have a special branched structure, hence the name branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). BCAAs are not just hype! BCAAs are important because they're metabolized in the muscles instead of the liver like other amino acids. As a result, they can then be used as energy or to make new proteins.
BCAAs make up about a third of the skeletal muscle in the body. BCAAs are three of the eight essential amino acids (EAAs). Essential means that your body can't synthesize these aminos, so you must get them from food. Red meat and dairy are particularly good sources of BCAAs, but you can also get them in chicken and turkey. Whey protein is a rich BCAA source. Free-form BCAAs are great because they're almost instantaneously digested and sent into your bloodstream. Taking a BCAA supplement before, during, and after you train is important because BCAAs can help prevent muscle breakdown. If you plan on doing hardcore endurance training, experts recommend using BCAAs to help you maintain energy and minimize protein breakdown. Replacing lost BCAAs-usually 10 grams pre- and post-workout-also helps keep your body anabolic, which is important whether you're slimming or bulking. If you're in the habit of taking a whey protein shake before and after you train, you can forego the BCAA cocktail, or take them during your workout.
If you're on a calorie-deficit program however, protein turnover increases; BCAAs are an (almost) calorie-free way to regulate your protein synthesis, so help yourself to multiple servings throughout the day. While we're on the subject of BCAAs, I have to do a special promotion for leucine. Leucine is one of the key igniters of protein synthesis; it may also help stimulate insulin production, and modulate blood sugar. Make sure you check the label of your BCAA supp for high leucine content. BCAAs are one of those supplement categories which lives up to the hype. No matter what, you still need to train hard and eat smart to achieve great results, but BCAAs can give you that final added edge.By Kurtis Frank and Sol OrwellThe four part breakdown to this protein guide:Part 1: General info and protein sourcesPart 2: Protein PowdersPart 3: Protein, and suiting it to your goalsPart 4: Protein and Amino Acid TimingTaking a supplement isLook at the label and follow the instructions.
Alas, protein is notThere are many things to potentially consider when taking protein, Taking your protein before and/or after a workout session. Taking a fast protein, or a slow protein, depending on the time of day. Taking specific amino acids. So for those who want to optimize their diet- what’s the best way to take your protein? recommendation is to take protein right after your workout. Some people are so obsessive that they literally run to get their “post-workout shake” once their Too bad it’s a waste of This post workout ‘window’ definitely does apply for the purpose of glycogen replenishment (carbs), but does not apply to muscle protein synthesis. The majority of the research on post workout shakes was conducted in fasted training, not fed training (and as will soon be explained, even if you do train ‘fasted’ there is a better option than a post workout shake). There have actually been
direct investigations into whether supplementation of protein surrounding a workout in fed states is better at promoting muscle growth than taking the same protein at times away from the workout. Subjects were divided into one Two servings of quickly absorbed protein, immediately before and immediately after a workout. The exact same servings of protein taken upon waking and before sleep. significant differences found [1] [2]. The primary factor was having protein intake high (as we’ve recommended in the previous parts). Timing was found to be irrelevant. As long as you get enough protein and are training after having eaten in the day, protein timing The one exception to protein timing is if you go to the gym in a fasted state [3] (popularized by Martin Berkhan). Even then, post-workout did not mean “consume immediately,” as taking protein 1 to 3 hours after the workout is not significantly different [4] [5].
There may be a reduction in soreness (DOMS) if you take protein [6] or BCAAs [7] before a workout (but not after). fasted, then taking protein soon after you workout can have benefits. There are more benefits if you take protein before than after your workout (which ironically means you are not training fasted). loves to obsess over fast and slow protein, so much so that people commonly associate whey as “fast” and casein as “slow.” differences in absorption rates, and the general fast-to-slowest order is: casein >= Hydrolyzed whey > Whey Isolate >= Whey concentrate > Other protein sources > Casein hydrolyzed are the fastest, then the whey variants, then other protein sources, and then finally casein protein. But does it matter? It’s a mess of research, but the general points are: Muscle protein synthesis seems to be correlated with how fast protein enters your blood. However, these are short-term
If we actually look at muscle mass (which is what we really care about), there is some evidence that slower proteins build more muscle. Thus, slower proteins may be better as they get absorbed more efficiently. proteins increase muscle protein synthesis more than slower proteins, slower proteins may actually yield more muscle mass. Still, worrying about protein absorption is not important for the average person. There are a lot of sports supplements that are just extractions of amino acids found in protein, and some of the major ones are: All three BCAAs (Leucine, HMB and Leucic acid (both These amino acids are great and all, but you don’t need to supplement them if you ingest enoughThis is because the protein you are taking will give you more than enough glutamine and BCAAs, and leucine will convert into its metabolites in Still, there are some other amino acids to consider: Some amino acids, like
l-carnitine and taurine, are not highly present in protein and so supplementation could still be considered despite high dietary protein HMB for the specific purpose of anti-catabolism is apparently 20-fold more potent than leucine, so a 3g dosage of HMB is as anti-catabolic as 60g leucine. HMB can be a very useful supplement when cutting. earlier can be useful as supplements if your diet has gone down the supplements (in reference to glutamine and BCAAs mostly) are not required if protein intake is high, but could be useful in specific situations. few amino acids that may be worthwhile supplementing. Summing up Part 4 If you are working out and are not fasting, your total protein consumption matters, not your timing. fasted, then timing can matter. However, pre-workout protein is more Worrying about the speed of absorption is a waste of time. Glutamine is useless if you eat BCAAs are useless if you eat