TweetAs a serious athlete you know how just how much intense weight training can break down muscle tissue. This is evidenced through the muscle soreness which is felt in the days following your grueling workouts. So if heavy training is what’s needed to stimulate the muscle growth yet at the same time causes muscle breakdown and catabolism, what’s the secret in an elite athletes’ ability to maintain positive nitrogen status through their intense workouts? It’s really no secret at scientists have known of the powerful anabolic effects of Branch Chain Amino Acids for many years. Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s) actually have the capability to independently stimulate protein syntheses within the muscles and create an anabolic environment during intense training. They also can tremendously reduce the level of soreness in the days following your workouts therefore dramatically speeding your recovery, which of course is of the utmost importance to the drug-free athlete.

So how do BCAA’s work? During intense weight training the body is normally in a highly catabolic condition. At this time glycogen stores are being rapidly depleted and the liver in turn must synthesize glucose by a conversion of L-Alanine. Alanine along with Glutamine make up over half of the amino acid content released from muscles during exercise. Glutamine is released from the muscles not only from free form amino acid stores but also through deamination of the Branch Chain Amino Acids within the muscles themselves. The release of Glutamine is generally recognized as the signal to the body to stop protein syntheses in the muscles, especially during times of stress. Providing Glutamine and the Branch Chain Amino Acids, especially during those times of stress may profoundly affect this signal and allow protein synthesis to continue onward. Following intense weight training the proper recovery process requires an abundance of the specific amino acids which are affected the most by training, ie: the Glutamine and Branch Chain Amino Acids.

TweetAn FYI-a good quality whey concentrate will carry a boatload of BCAA's in it and they are readily absorbed in your system. They are built in to the proteins found in whey so no need to pay extra for the added aminos in some brands, unless you feel inclined.