BCAA help ??

Partyf0ul

I see a lot of people using BCAAs during their workout

What are they exactly, what do they do?
Should I use them while also taking pre workout, protein and fat burners?
I use c4 for pre workout
Fitmis for my protein
And I take CLA fat burners from GNC

Any help is appreciated thank you and good luck on your journeys !

usmcmp

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

CLA is only effective in doses far larger than will be in your bottle. There are studies coming out now saying that long term use of CLA may be a negative thing.

Fat burners are a waste of money.

tillerstouch

usmcmp wrote: »

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

This is very well said. I personally take bcaas but I am in the middle of a cut so both my protien and over all calorie intake is low. I drink mine in the middle of a workout. If you have a well balanced diet you probably don't need them. But at the same time it wouldn't hurt to give them a try.

I would recommend bpi best bcaas. My favorite flavor is blue raspberry. The cheapest you can find it is at Walmart for 15 bucks (only flavor there is fruit punch) and it's usually sold out lol but that's the cheapest.

besee_2000

I take BCAA during/after workout in the morning because I don't eat until after lunch. It helps curb appetite as well as prevent potential muscle breakdown from intermittent fasting.

fivethreeone

If you're going to take them, you should know what you're actually getting.

https://labdoor.com/rankings/bcaa

Stoshew71

Branched Chain Amino Acids.

So basically if you eat a complete protein, this will include the branched chained variety.

So when you eat a protein, your body digests that protein down into the individual amino acids.
Just like when you eat a carb (a complex carb like a starch for example), your body digests it down into simple sugars. Proteins break down into amino acids.

There are like 32 different types of amino acids that your body needs in order to function. Some of these amino acids are essential which means your body cannot manufacture them and must be consumed. There are 9 such essential amino acid types. A complete protein has all 9 essential amino acids.

A branched chain amino acid is one of 3 such essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, and valine. They get their name because of the chemical structure of these AA's is a long branch.

These 3 particular AA's are credited for being the main drivers for initial recovery. So consuming them as soon as you get done working out will boost the initial recovery process.

So why take BCAA's when you can get the same AA's plus more from a good protein source?
Because the speed of absorption. You eat them and they go into your blood stream sooner as opposing the time it takes to digest them from a protein source.

Also, there are studies that say that taking BCAA's in a fasted state just before you perform an intense training session has the capability to preserve your muscle mass. So if you like to workout fasted and have a concern for that, then BCAAs are very helpful. Otherwise, there is no benefit.

EDITED to correct speeling errors.
One more EDIT: There are 20 essential AA's, not 32 like I stated above.

Sam_I_Am77

usmcmp wrote: »

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

CLA is only effective in doses far larger than will be in your bottle. There are studies coming out now saying that long term use of CLA may be a negative thing.

Fat burners are a waste of money.

Have you seen any studies that actually show CLA works as stated on humans? I've seen studies that it works great if you'r an obese rat. I did catch one study with obese adults but the experimental group was also on a structured diet, so yeah... of course they're losing weight. Just curious. @usmcmp

Stoshew71

So a preworkout is basically the same thing as downing 5 cups of coffee before a workout. if you are feeling sluggush, the preworkout will basically give you an "energy boost". Well, it basically wakes you up and speeds your heart rate just like caffein would. Doesn't really give you energy.

Get 8 hours of sleep every night, and make sure you get enough rest in between workouts, and the preworkout won't really be needed. If the preworkout helps you, it is probabaly more psycological or you have low amounts of muscle glycogen. To correct this, eat enough carbs as soon as you are done working out in order to replentish muscle glycogen.

Fat burners kind of do the same thing. They speed your heart rate. This is an unhealthy way to "speed your metabolism".

glassjaw_239

BCAA = Branch Chain Amino Acids.

There are 20 Amino Acids that the body utilises to support various functions. 9 of these are considered ESSENTIAL due to the body not being able to synthesise these on its own and needs to get these from food.
In BCAA's are the Amino Acids Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine which are three of the 9 Amino Acids that are considered essential due to the reason above.
As all protein are made up of various Amino Acids, essentially, Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and the three in BCAA's make up approximately 1/3 of muscle protein.
We take these as ones diet may or may not give us as enough of these Amino Acids as is necessary for optimal muscle repair, recovery and the loss of other Amino Acids from the muscles during exercise. BCAA's are rapidly lost during exercise so taking the supplement just before or better yet, during exercise will help replenish these 'on the go'.
I'd recommend myproteins BCAA'S 4:1:1. Tests have shown that they are very clean and thus, should do the job.
There's so much more to protein, the male up of muscle, how the body absorbs, transports and utilises protein etc and how Amino Acids are involved but it'd take me hours to explain it all. To summarise, BCAA's, in my opinion, are a good thing. Science proves we need these 9 essential Amino Acids and three of the main ones for muscle protein are included in BCAA's and may be difficult to get adequate amounts of through diet alone so taking a supplement for them is a no brainer.
As stated above though, fat burners are a massive waste of money. Swap the fat burners for BCAA's and a clean diet. If fat burners really worked that effectively, they'd be selling for thousands and not freely cheaply available as fat loss is one hell of big money maker.

usmcmp

Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

CLA is only effective in doses far larger than will be in your bottle. There are studies coming out now saying that long term use of CLA may be a negative thing.

Fat burners are a waste of money.

Have you seen any studies that actually show CLA works as stated on humans? I've seen studies that it works great if you'r an obese rat. I did catch one study with obese adults but the experimental group was also on a structured diet, so yeah... of course they're losing weight. Just curious. @usmcmp

@Sam_I_Am77 I have seen the one on the structured diet and one with no results. The reason I say the doses would have to be huge in humans is because those rat studies were done with them feeding the rats doses that were several times their body weight.

Sam_I_Am77

glassjaw_239 wrote: »

If fat burners really worked that effectively, they'd be selling for thousands and not freely cheaply available as fat loss is one hell of big money maker.

That's not a bad way to look at it actually. If you look at what "works" from the stand-point of peer-reviewed research there are fewer supplements that have significant references suggesting they work; Creatine and caffeine are perhaps that two supplements that research can largely suggest works and it's pretty common that your average person knows what they do or has even heard of them at least. With that said even those supplements have out-liers and non-responders in the data.

Stoshew71

usmcmp wrote: »

Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

CLA is only effective in doses far larger than will be in your bottle. There are studies coming out now saying that long term use of CLA may be a negative thing.

Fat burners are a waste of money.

Have you seen any studies that actually show CLA works as stated on humans? I've seen studies that it works great if you'r an obese rat. I did catch one study with obese adults but the experimental group was also on a structured diet, so yeah... of course they're losing weight. Just curious. @usmcmp

@Sam_I_Am77 I have seen the one on the structured diet and one with no results. The reason I say the doses would have to be huge in humans is because those rat studies were done with them feeding the rats doses that were several times their body weight.

Reminds me of the sugar substitutes cause cancer based upon studies of rats eating in them in large quantities (like several times their body weight).

Sam_I_Am77

usmcmp wrote: »

Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

CLA is only effective in doses far larger than will be in your bottle. There are studies coming out now saying that long term use of CLA may be a negative thing.

Fat burners are a waste of money.

Have you seen any studies that actually show CLA works as stated on humans? I've seen studies that it works great if you'r an obese rat. I did catch one study with obese adults but the experimental group was also on a structured diet, so yeah... of course they're losing weight. Just curious. @usmcmp

@Sam_I_Am77 I have seen the one on the structured diet and one with no results. The reason I say the doses would have to be huge in humans is because those rat studies were done with them feeding the rats doses that were several times their body weight.

That makes sense. It's similar to studies I've seen on Cinnamon and its affect on blood sugar. The tablets people buy are usually in small dosages like 250mg's or 500mg's but the actual intervention was not at 3grams in the one I saw a while back. The supplement industry is dirtier than a used car salesman.

Sam_I_Am77

Stoshew71 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

BCAA's are amino acids. You can get them through eating meat. The only studies showing a benefit from using BCAA's were people who were eating very low protein. People with adequate protein intake had no added benefits. Some people swear they help them recover. You can use them with any other supplement.

CLA is only effective in doses far larger than will be in your bottle. There are studies coming out now saying that long term use of CLA may be a negative thing.

Fat burners are a waste of money.

Have you seen any studies that actually show CLA works as stated on humans? I've seen studies that it works great if you'r an obese rat. I did catch one study with obese adults but the experimental group was also on a structured diet, so yeah... of course they're losing weight. Just curious. @usmcmp

@Sam_I_Am77 I have seen the one on the structured diet and one with no results. The reason I say the doses would have to be huge in humans is because those rat studies were done with them feeding the rats doses that were several times their body weight.

Reminds me of the sugar substitutes cause cancer based upon studies of rats eating in them in large quantities (like several times their body weight).

Exactly. I love the people that worry about sucrose so much yet drink alcohol regularly. Avoiding one negates the ohter? LOL

FabianRodriguez94

A lot of BCAA's are advertised as being good for muscle growth, but most people I know use them more often during a cutting phase because they supposedly help preserve lean muscle during weight loss and help fulfill protein needs they probably cannot attain on a low calorie diet.

rainbowbow

I take BCAAs throughout the day and during my workouts. I agree with pretty much all thats been said.

I should mention, however, I am vegetarian and have been for life. So.. yeah. They seem to help me quite a bit, especially with soreness and recovery.

yungbrah

Personally, I have noticed no significant differences between using and not using BCAAs. I believe that if you're consuming a solid amount of good proteins (chicken, red meat, fish, etc.) then you probably don't need BCAAs. If you're diet is crappy, well that's another story. I mean I guess they're cool if you want a fruity drink to sip on during your workout...