BCAA amino acids are a must-have food supplement in a bodybuilder’s diet, along with creatine and whey protein!
The amino acids BCAA are leucine, isoleucine and valine. They are classified as a special group due to their atypical branched structure. As you probably know, our body synthesizes many amino acids on its own, while others belong to the class of essential ones. This means that we have nowhere to get them except from food. BCAAs are just such essential amino acids. Another thing is that there are plenty of BCAAs in everyday foods. What to worry about? However, BCAA amino acids appeared on the nutritional supplement market several years ago… and defied expectations. Additional intake of BCAAs did not provide any significant increase in mass and strength.
There was renewed interest in branched chain amino acids when serious science finally arrived in bodybuilding. In search of safe muscle growth stimulants, she first turned to BCAAs. Scientists cannot be denied logic. The need for leucine in an adult is only 31 mg per kilogram of body weight, but in a growing baby it is 425 mg! Moreover, if there is a deficiency of BCAAs in the diet, children’s growth stops completely. It is clear to the uninitiated that these amino acids are a secret regulator of protein synthesis. But why don’t bodybuilders grow from BCAAs?
As a result, science has given the answer: you need to take BCAAs in mega doses! A single serving should reach 15 g! In this case, BCAAs behave like nutraceuticals or parapharmaceuticals. In other words, like medicine. They interfere with the functioning of cells, following the example of targeted pharmaceutical drugs. In particular, leucine penetrates into the cell nucleus and, according to scientists, activates the genes responsible for protein growth. It is for this reason that a baby grows incredibly quickly, receiving nothing but liquid mother’s milk.
In an adult bodybuilder, BCAA amino acids trample helplessly in front of the closed doors of muscle cells. They are allowed inside to a minimum, protecting genes. The situation changes fundamentally when you start doing physical exercises.
During the process of strength training, a variety of biochemical substances necessary for it scurry inside the cell every now and then. To facilitate their penetration, the outer cell membrane weakens its protection for a short time. As a result, uninvited “guests”, in particular, BCAA amino acids, can easily penetrate into the cell. This is why it is so important to take BCAAs immediately after finishing your workout. They will flood into the muscle cells and trigger your anabolic genes, which, after adolescence, fell into deep hibernation.
However, recent scientific research has discovered many other beneficial properties of amino acids. Do you want to know which ones? Then turn the page!
1. More hormones!
The harder the strength training, the more effective it is. No one will argue here. However, heavy loads also have an unpleasant downside. After all, they are stress, and any prolonged stress sooner or later leads to a decrease in testosterone secretion and increases the production of catabolic hormones. It is for this reason that training becomes stagnant over time. Experts advise training in short cycles so as not to bring the hormonal system into crisis. As scientists have established, you need to take BCAAs at the same time. It turns out that regular support of the body with leucine, isoleucine and valine reverses the sad process: testosterone in the blood increases, and the secretion of catabolic hormones decreases. We are talking about megadoses, and the most important thing is to take BCAAs immediately after finishing the workout.
2. More energy!
Our body is not able to store all types of energy fuel for future use, like glycogen. In particular, the main intracellular fuel, ATP, is formed in muscle cells directly during exercise. Moreover, ATP combustion occurs ahead of transport intracellular processes. The supply of “raw materials” for the formation of new energy phosphates is delayed, and therefore sooner or later muscle fatigue takes over, and we cut off the workout. Having received an emergency signal about a catastrophic drop in overall energy levels , the adrenal glands secrete catabolic hormones that tear apart muscle protein molecules and send the liberated amino acids to the metabolic furnace, where they are burned, giving the brain and body life-saving energy. To prevent muscle damage, scientists recommend taking BCAAs before training. The presence of these amino acids in the blood will make the production of catabolic hormones unnecessary.
3. Less fat, more muscle!
As you already know, the body is able to use BCAAs as muscle fuel. If so, then BCAA amino acids will help bodybuilders maintain muscle during a strict diet, when they are struggling to lose subcutaneous fat. To test this claim, scientists gave BCAAs to athletes on a low-calorie diet. Loss of muscle tissue has indeed decreased, but fat burning has also accelerated. Researchers have found that in conditions of energy deficiency, leucine helps convert fat into intracellular energy. It turns out that leucine is also a powerful fat burner .
4. Analgesic
Muscle pain after intense training, according to scientists, is caused by microtraumas of individual muscle fibers. The thickness of the fibers is not uniform. Unable to withstand the tension, the thinnest fibers tear, and at the site of the rupture, point inflammation occurs, causing pain. There is no point in fighting it with medications. Muscle pain is harmless and goes away on its own after a couple of days. Meanwhile, all analgesics are toxic, and ibuprofen completely blocks muscle growth. It is much more beneficial to take BCAA amino acids. They are not able to relieve pain, but they significantly reduce it, and the pain goes away faster.
5. Recovery
There are a lot of BCAAs in our muscles – up to 20% of the total volume. Studies have shown that BCAAs are actively consumed during strength training. So recovery comes down not only to replenishing glycogen reserves in the liver, but also to reproducing the original level of BCAAs in the athlete’s muscles. If so, recovery can be significantly accelerated by forcefully pumping BCAAs into the muscles using nutritional supplements. Moreover, as the level of BCAAs increases, the athletic potential of the muscles also increases. The subsequent workout is more intense. Be sure to take BCAAs on your recovery day!
Don’t make a mistake!
Science has established that the most powerful “anabolic” among BCAA amino acids is leucine. It is this substance that penetrates into the cell nucleus, excites anabolic genes and thereby triggers the process of protein synthesis in the muscle cell. With a leucine deficiency, muscles do not grow, even if the athlete has sky-high levels of testosterone in the blood. However, all this does not mean that BCAA can be replaced with leucine alone! The body resists the “unnecessary” growth of muscle protein and “dissolves” it with the help of special enzymes. Experiments have shown that the protein that is “grown” by leucine inevitably “melts” if isoleucine and valine are not taken along with it. (For an explosive mixture of three amino acids to work, there must be at least 60% leucine in it.)
50% is the indicator of a drop in the level of cortisol in the blood of strength athletes after a month of additional intake of BCAAs.
CHECK!
Whey protein is exceptionally high in BCAAs and is the best pre- and post-workout source. True, provided that a single serving of whey contains at least 7-12 g of leucine.
ATTENTION!
Many manufacturers are disingenuous, offering you milk protein pressed into solid caplets instead of BCAA , or pouring soy protein powder into gelatin capsules under the guise of BCAA. You need BCAA amino acids in free form!
