BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acids) amino acid supplements consist of 3 essential amino acids: L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine. They form over 40% of lean muscle tissue and are therefore the most important nutrients for physical recovery processes and for triggering and stimulating muscle building.
Possessing unique peculiarities, branched chain amino acids are indicated to support athletic performance during periods of training and diet aimed at increasing or defining muscles.
Thanks to the continuous innovations in the development of increasingly effective and assimilable sports supplements, they are now available on the market tablet products e dust highly bioavailable and rapidly usable by the body.
The timing of Bcaa assimilation is essential to stop catabolism and trigger protein synthesis in the most delicate phases of the tissue regeneration process which leads to an increase in muscle volume.
The integration from exogenous sources such as these is therefore complementary to the amino acid intake deriving from the diet; it is the absorption times that change.
Animal foods containing proteins of high biological value are digested much more slowly than a normal dietary supplement of branched chain amino acids, which boasts assimilation times and blood availability not exceeding 30 minutes from ingestion.
This is why these supplements must be taken close to the session and immediately after training, perhaps together with nutrients capable of maximizing their transport and acting as anabolic enhancers such as taurine and Mass gainers.
BCAA amino acids: anti-catabolic and anabolic function of the branched
Among the most important effects of BCAA supplements, there are:
- Maintenance of muscle structure by reducing catabolism;
- Source of energy supply of the body as an alternative to carbohydrates, in the absence of hepatic and / or muscle glycogen (gluconeogenesis);
- sending of anabolic reports of cell proliferation (mTor and mTorc1), responsible for muscle building in terms of hypertrophy and hyperplasia;
- support for the synthesis of the endogenous hormone testosterone;
- involvement in protein synthesis and therefore in anabolism.
Branches are transported to the muscles to supply them with nitrogen, which in turn is important for producing additional amino acids (alanine and glutamine). This implies that, with an adequate use of BCAAs, the onset of the much feared catabolism is avoided, i.e. the process in which the muscles shrink by reducing their volume.
Another important effect of the ramifications is the opposition of the entry of free tryptophan into the brain; therefore, as the concentration of bcaa decreases, there is an increase in the sensation of fatigue, the enemy of good performance. By decreasing the stimulus given by tryptophan, the muscles will have less fatigue also thanks to the function of nitrogen in terms of sustenance of protein synthesis and the replenishment of glutamine, in turn used to neutralize hyperammonemia (excess ammonia). We do not want to dwell here on the effects of ammonia, but suffice it to say that, in addition to being a very toxic substance for tissues, it prevents protein synthesis.
Constituting approximately 45% of all the amino acids present in the muscles, a correct supply of BCAAs is therefore essential to avoid poor performance and muscle catabolism.
Furthermore, as mentioned, BCAAs form alanine during their oxidation. You may not know it, but alanine is the most important precursor of gluconeogenesis which, as the word suggests, is the process in which a non-carbohydrate compound is converted into glucose (therefore energy).
In summary: less feeling of fatigue, less muscle catabolism, more energy and stimulation of protein production. Not bad, right?
Indications of use of branched amino acids
As it is easy to deduce from the effects, these nutrients are more suitable for those who want to maintain muscle mass.
Due to their peculiarity of curbing protein catabolism, they are also very suitable for those who follow low-calorie diets and do not want the muscles to be "attacked" and depleted of structural amino acids to be used in energy production processes. Clearly, constituting an important support in intense workouts for the tryptophan barrier, they are also important in those who are not so interested in building new muscle mass but in simple post-loosening recovery.
Taking Bcaa Amino Acid Supplements: Before, During and After
Depending on the physical effort to be sustained, therefore if short and intense as that which characterizes the weightlifter / bodybuilder, or prolonged over time, it is advisable to take these products in different ways.
In the first case, that is, when many weights are lifted in a limited period of time, we will activate the anaerobic alactacid metabolism. Doing so will make it very important to take the larger dose immediately after your workout. Considering the standard dosage of 1g of active ingredient every 10Kg of body weight, an 80Kg sportsman will take the product as follows:
- 3 grams close to the workout to positively influence the anabolic hormones insulin, testosterone and somatropin (GH), also favoring energy performance and the procrastination of muscle failure; condition in which the ability to contract and subject the muscle fibers to effort is partially or totally lost.
- 5 grams within half an hour of the end of the weight training session, in order to cancel muscle catabolism caused by tissue damage induced by intense anaerobic effort and activate anabolism. We remind you that in this precise phase the combinations with the whey protein, high glycemic index carbohydrates and natural testosterone stimulators (testoboosters), the latter very important for optimizing hormone secretion in the most "crucial" moments of psychophysical recovery.
For those in need of increased endurance during endurance sports, on the other hand, it is advisable to emphasize the intake of branched chain amino acids bcaa during physical exertion. In this circumstance we will consume the supplement in three separate doses: 2,5g before, 3 grams during and 3 grams.
