Anyone taking BCAA's to help build muscle?

shaney13
shaney13 Posts: 22 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I take them when I remember but not consistently enough. I am about to run out and wondered if anyone felt they were helping them build muscle.

thanks

Replies

  • MikeBenWilliams
    MikeBenWilliams Posts: 53
    Yes, I've been taking them for a little over a year and I love them. Not only do they help with muscle building, they also go to the brain and help shut off hunger and cravings. They can also be readily made into blood sugar so you don't have to eat carbohydrates. The formula I use is 5g for the first 100lbs of bodyweight. Then another 5g for each additional 50lbs of bodyweight. Then another 5 to 10g. pre and post workout especially and that will give you a ton of anabolic potential. Right now I'm using Universal Atomic 7 and it's pretty awesome. Let me know If I could be of anymore help.
  • shaney13
    shaney13 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks! I'll have to check out that brand!
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    It's just a supplement. Usually used for fasted training. They are kind o a waste if you take them with food.
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    I use them when I train fasted. 5g before and 5g during. Does it prevent muscle catabolism? I couldn't tell you but taking BCAA's does give me a piece of mind.
  • Iknewyouweretrouble
    Iknewyouweretrouble Posts: 561 Member
    It's just a supplement. Usually used for fasted training. They are kind o a waste if you take them with food.
    Can u explain why or point me in the right direction?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,287 Member
    It's just a supplement. Usually used for fasted training. They are kind o a waste if you take them with food.
    Can u explain why or point me in the right direction?
    Are they necessary, well the individual AA's that specifically make up BCCA's certainly are, especially leucine which through a molecular receptor called mTOR can really crank up protein synthesis and directly effects skeletal muscle and of course it's easy to see why that might be a good thing around training.

    The problem I had while researching this wasn't that I could find studies that might mitigate using BCAA's, because all the studies supported the fact that leucine did in fact increase protein synthesis, it was the fact that the studies where comparing participants that either consumed no protein PWO or very little protein....

    If a person consumes a diet that is higher in protein than the RDI or is purposely trying to build muscle, then that diet will have all the BCAA's you could ever want, and supplying excess AA's for a specific purpose doesn't mean the body is going to use those extra AA's....in excess their going to be oxidized. The other problem is that all AA's need to be consumed, not just BCAA's before skeletal muscle is built, so at least you should be taking BCAA's in conjunction with say, a whey powder. Then of course there is the fact that without enough stimulation from weight resistance nothing of consequence is going to happen anyway......heavy weights trump all supplements. Basically unless your adding huge amounts and trying to build muscle as in body building (eating in excess of calories) then the average person is getting more than enough BCAA's in their diet. imo

    Just to add: If you are dieting then a higher protein diet is protective of lean muscle, is more satiating and controls blood sugar better. Also the extra protein will help in glucose production by the liver for energy and ensure there's enough for skeletal muscle repair. the protein in dairy for example is full of leucine and would be something I would consider. Also one AA that gets used alot by the body for glucose production is alanine and is produced by the metabolism of glutamine, which might suggest increasing glutamine while a person is dieting, just to help the production of alanine so they don't get scavenged from muscle, impeding growth.

    Here's Lyle's take on it.
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/supplements-part-2.html

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