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MyFitnessPal Community

BCAAs

CherryChan81

Hi!

Anyone taking BCAAs supplements?
I am female with around 40lbs to lose (not much muscle in my body .... :'( )
I am doing low carb dieting and resistance training regularly since 2 months ago.

Will BCAAs help me?

Thanks all!

Replies

ryanwood935

Unless you are training in the morning/early afternoon without eating anything since the night before you can skip the BCAAs. They are found naturally in the protein you are eating, so keep hitting your protein macros and save your money.

CherryChan81

ryanwood935 wrote: »

Unless you are training in the morning/early afternoon without eating anything since the night before you can skip the BCAAs. They are found naturally in the protein you are eating, so keep hitting your protein macros and save your money.

Thanks for that!

esjones12

I take BCAAs before and after really hard workouts and my Spartan/OCR races. May be placebo, but I think it helps reduce soreness. And an extra kick of BCAA's and protein after 2-4 hours of running up mountains, crawling through mud, and climbing over walls never hurts.

But I agree with Ryan, they are probably unnecessary. They certainly won't help you lose weight. Just make sure you are taking in enough protein and you should be good!

Leadfoot_Lewis

I used to take them daily but switched to only taking them after a hard cardio workout. I haven't noticed any difference in soreness, recovery, etc. by taking them less frequently.

feisty_bucket

I went through a bottle of them, taken pre-lifting, and didn't notice any difference.

jacksonpt

I take them when I train fasted. I doubt they have a measurable impact, but it's easy insurance, IMO. Much the same reason I typically have a post workout shake or take a multivitamin... do they do anything? I dunno, but it's easy to do so it's silly not to.

But you'll have to decide if the cost is worth it.

Understand what they do, then you can decide if they'll help you. They aren't a diet/weight loss aid.

Sam_I_Am77

It really depends. If you're low-carb then there's likely a lot of protein in your diet already so if you're hitting your protein targets then it's probably not necessary. If you train fasted in the morning then you might consider taking BCAA's to help prevent Amino Acids from being broken down during training. They won't hurt you, they might help but you'll have to judge for yourself through some trial and error.

CherryChan81

thanks all... i wanted a faster recovery after my training... my trainer just banned me from coming to the gym today and he de-load my sets by half yesterday... it's kinda depressing seeing that i am getting weaker instead of stronger... :'(

GaleHawkins

CherryChan81 wrote: »

thanks all... i wanted a faster recovery after my training... my trainer just banned me from coming to the gym today and he de-load my sets by half yesterday... it's kinda depressing seeing that i am getting weaker instead of stronger... :'(

I bet you are undereating. I have to poke face to get in all my fats and protein into my body. I can get the fat from coconut oil OK but just three weeks ago I picked up some whey protein. Muscle (had very little to start) is starting to show up. Because I seldom am hungry after killing the sugar a couple months ago for the first time in my 63 years I have to remember to eat.

EAT, EAT and EAT a good ratio of Fats/Proteins. Forget weight loss because it will come when you get strong enough to make it worth your time to train. I have tried to gain weight eating no carbs (<50 grams daily) and I can not do it after two months being total off sugar. I have not lost much but my strength is 20x of four months ago and real muscle is starting to form.

You have to get healthy before you can shed weight.

philwrightfitness

Bcaas have been shown to enhance performance in some studies... Primarily in they stall cns exhaustion although being present in skeletal muscle does help energy creation. I would suggest that relying on your dietary protein is not necessarily an effective strategy because this will depend on the bio availability in the source and the timing of the consumption. If you are on low carb the lack of performance could be low electrolytes keep an eye on your sodium potassium and magnesium levels especially sodium

MagnumBurrito

I take them. They're supposed to preserve muscle loss when cutting weight. They also give me more energy when I lift.

CherryChan81

philwrightfitness wrote: »

Bcaas have been shown to enhance performance in some studies... Primarily in they stall cns exhaustion although being present in skeletal muscle does help energy creation. I would suggest that relying on your dietary protein is not necessarily an effective strategy because this will depend on the bio availability in the source and the timing of the consumption. If you are on low carb the lack of performance could be low electrolytes keep an eye on your sodium potassium and magnesium levels especially sodium

Do you mean I need more sodium on low carb?

CherryChan81

Thanks all for the reply. They really help!

CherryChan81

PS: my trainer just banned me for another 2 days of going to the gym... so saturday and sunday rest... i am feeling that i am soooo damn weak and fat!!! :'(

PikaKnight

CherryChan81 wrote: »

thanks all... i wanted a faster recovery after my training... my trainer just banned me from coming to the gym today and he de-load my sets by half yesterday... it's kinda depressing seeing that i am getting weaker instead of stronger... :'(

Do you understand what deloads are/what their purpose is? Or do you mean you are just "feeling" weaker because you aren't pushing it this week?

CherryChan81

PikaKnight wrote: »

CherryChan81 wrote: »

thanks all... i wanted a faster recovery after my training... my trainer just banned me from coming to the gym today and he de-load my sets by half yesterday... it's kinda depressing seeing that i am getting weaker instead of stronger... :'(

Do you understand what deloads are/what their purpose is? Or do you mean you are just "feeling" weaker because you aren't pushing it this week?

Well, deload / rest days are supposed to give your muscle time for recovery so that it will be stronger...

I am just psychologically feeling that i am not getting stronger... i need to get over it...

GaleHawkins

CherryChan81 wrote: »

PS: my trainer just banned me for another 2 days of going to the gym... so saturday and sunday rest... i am feeling that i am soooo damn weak and fat!!! :'(

How long have you been eating low carb? How do you measure to know if you have converted over to running mainly on ketones vs glucose?

It can take 3-18 months to get over to and keto adapted based on different factors. By the way any protein powder be it whey or casein that I have purchased has BCAA's naturally in it.

I am not a trainer but common sense would seem to indicate you are going to have to eat enough of some kind of FOOD to start working out so you do not keep going backwards health wise. Gaining weight for most people is just a symptom of the real problem(s). We must learn and address the 'real' problem that lead to our weight gain with we are going to lose and keep it off long term. Any thyroid problem is a SERIOUS problem when it comes to weight gain or loss. Best of luck.

philwrightfitness

GaleHawkins wrote: »

CherryChan81 wrote: »

PS: my trainer just banned me for another 2 days of going to the gym... so saturday and sunday rest... i am feeling that i am soooo damn weak and fat!!! :'(

How long have you been eating low carb? How do you measure to know if you have converted over to running mainly on ketones vs glucose?

It can take 3-18 months to get over to and keto adapted based on different factors. By the way any protein powder be it whey or casein that I have purchased has BCAA's naturally in it.

I am not a trainer but common sense would seem to indicate you are going to have to eat enough of some kind of FOOD to start working out so you do not keep going backwards health wise. Gaining weight for most people is just a symptom of the real problem(s). We must learn and address the 'real' problem that lead to our weight gain with we are going to lose and keep it off long term. Any thyroid problem is a SERIOUS problem when it comes to weight gain or loss. Best of luck.

3-18 months ? Where did you read that? Most people 3-4 weeks although some struggle to get into keto at all, although some can do it in less than a week.

philwrightfitness

CherryChan81 wrote: »

philwrightfitness wrote: »

Bcaas have been shown to enhance performance in some studies... Primarily in they stall cns exhaustion although being present in skeletal muscle does help energy creation. I would suggest that relying on your dietary protein is not necessarily an effective strategy because this will depend on the bio availability in the source and the timing of the consumption. If you are on low carb the lack of performance could be low electrolytes keep an eye on your sodium potassium and magnesium levels especially sodium

Do you mean I need more sodium on low carb?

Yes sodium is a problem as keto increases urinary excretion, you want to aim for daily:
Sodium 3-5g
Potassium 2.0 -2.5 g
Magnesium 300 milligrams
Obviously if you have an existing health problem consult a doctor but these levels should help

47Jacqueline

What's a BCAA?

Wheelhouse15

47Jacqueline wrote: »

What's a BCAA?

Branch Chain Amino Acids; they are 3 of the essential proteins.

GaleHawkins

philwrightfitness wrote: »

GaleHawkins wrote: »

CherryChan81 wrote: »

PS: my trainer just banned me for another 2 days of going to the gym... so saturday and sunday rest... i am feeling that i am soooo damn weak and fat!!! :'(

How long have you been eating low carb? How do you measure to know if you have converted over to running mainly on ketones vs glucose?

It can take 3-18 months to get over to and keto adapted based on different factors. By the way any protein powder be it whey or casein that I have purchased has BCAA's naturally in it.

I am not a trainer but common sense would seem to indicate you are going to have to eat enough of some kind of FOOD to start working out so you do not keep going backwards health wise. Gaining weight for most people is just a symptom of the real problem(s). We must learn and address the 'real' problem that lead to our weight gain with we are going to lose and keep it off long term. Any thyroid problem is a SERIOUS problem when it comes to weight gain or loss. Best of luck.

3-18 months ? Where did you read that? Most people 3-4 weeks although some struggle to get into keto at all, although some can do it in less than a week.

That was from internet sources.

Dr. Peter Attia I think in a video said it took him 18 months for his distance running times to get better than on carbs.

Now one may get into keto 10 days just fine but for the muscles, brain and everything to change over from burning mainly glucose can take months I have read. I would say I was a couple month adapting but walking is my main exercise. Before the rains came I was corn with my truck helping my brother and running the backhoe a lot.

The huge difference for me was not getting hungry and going long hours and staying mentally sharper than I had for years running on carbs and fighting sugar crashes.

I was in really bad shape health wise so my experience may not be typical.

I just found this and read it. Seems to be solid info.

ketotic.org/2012/05/keto-adaptation-what-it-is-and-how-to.html#6

I just read this one by Dr. Ede that talked about her running energy was lower on ketones but in the comments reported that recovered in month FOUR. I think one should allow six months of eval time to see the full effect of being keto adapted to be on the safe side. In the comments there is a link to Dr. Attia's web site.

diagnosisdiet.com/ketogenic-diet-months-2-and-3/