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i started a while ago using a flavoured bcaa/glutamine  drink pre workout and pre bed and have found it very benifical.being older i found a protein with high doses of eaa and bcaa and glutamine along with an injection of bcaa has def helped my recovery and energy.

Ive never took BCAA however ive been taking glutamine on my current cut and found it beneficial so i'm considering trying BCAA next however i was thinking before that it would not be needed whilst on a bulk which i'm doing shortly but going on what lyle says they could still be helpful. so yeah basically i dont have a clue lol.

I've been using them on and off for a few months now. I started using glutamine in powder form last week, its tastes horrid and doesnt mix that well either, but i'm going to stick with it for a while and see if it helps with recovery at all

standing wrote:

I've been using them on and off for a few months now. I started using glutamine in powder form last week, its tastes horrid and doesnt mix that well either, but i'm going to stick with it for a while and see if it helps with recovery at all

I use reflex glutamine and i just throw it into my protein shake so i can't taste it to be honest. Its helped with my recovery and i feel slightly more pumped on it its also good for the imune system aswell

Thats how i've been doing it, I find it makes things taste a bit more bitter!

time for a good debate on this one then Adam! BCAA's seem to be ignored a lot but based upon what i've researched could hold the keys to unlock some awesome gains in mass and loss of bodyfat. I've seen a few pople run logs over a 4week period where they used xtend for around 6 servings per day (pre/post workout and inbetween meals and bed) and gained around 7lbs in weight while losing 3lbs in bodyfat which are incredible results with the only change in diet being swapping 50g of protein from whole foods to the bcaa.

Leucine in particular is the most important at fuelling the muscle and stimulating muscle protein synthesis but needs the other 2 amino acids to be preseent to work effectively. Most commonly tte ratio is 2:1:1 which is the most researched but its anywhree from 4:1:1 to even 8:1:1 nowadays. Leucine also helps to boost insulin and GH levels and reduce cortisol throughout and beyond your workout as well as supposedly keeping testosterone levels constant after the workout (i'll try dig out some studies for this). Dosage seems to be variable with around 4g leucine needing to be miminum to make it worthwhile and so that'll be alongside 2g of isoleucine and valine. It also appears to be best if BCAA are pulsed, in that you have them in one sitting and spaced apart throughout the day rather than providing a steady source and sipping on them throughout the day.

There then comes the possibility that bcaa supplementation can work synergisitcally alongside creatine - as the creatine increases the ATP stores within the body this in turn will activate mTOR  to a much higher level, which being one of the main regualators of protein synthesis within the body will then absorb bcaa to an even greater extent. Theory sounds good but not to sure on the practice?? Citruline malate is already inculded in several BCAA supplements like xtend due to its abitity to increase ATP levels by around 34% so creatine could enhance this yet further.

Adam (or others) do you think its best to substitute protein shakes/snacks for a bcaa drink or would you have your say 10g bcaa then have your normal foods shortly after? opinion seems to be split over whether they work best digested on an entirely empty stomach or if taken before a high protein shake will enhance the effects and protein synthesis of the following meals?

Interesting topic, I have heard before about not using whey/casein shakes at all and just having a BCAA / EAA drink a few times a day as well as meals.

Personally I only have a protein shake first thing in the morning before breakfast, so would some BCAAs just be as effective? Plus how much should I take?

Great reply matt87. A lot of that links in the post i made about what Dr.Layne Norton said about protein intake and leucine

Alpha Male wrote:

Personally I only have a protein shake first thing in the morning before breakfast, so would some BCAAs just be as effective? Plus how much should I take?

It seems the best times for BCAA (optimal results and money dependent) are pre and post workout and first thing in the morning to recover from the fasted state. I think several studies where done with around 100mg per kg of bodyweight which proved an effective dose - with the split being 2:1:1.So at 80kg you'd take in 8grams in the 4:2:2 format. The key is to make sure you get between 3-4g of leucine in that serving of BCAA. Around this figure you should see a rise of between 50-70% in maximum protein synthesis. It can be hard to find suitable studies as there is a lot of crossover between IV and oral amongst them

I posted something up a while back about replacing protein with bcaa/eaa's.

There was positive results from A typical day of: 5 EAA meals - 1 pre and post, and 3 throughout the day. Along with 1 meal at dinner  (About 50g of protein and a good serving of carbs and fats)

Typical EAA meal - 10g EAA, oatmeal, almonds.

Guess its just having the balls to try something from the norm.

I use an intra workout drink with BCAAs plus Afterglow post workout, so having them at workout time.

So instead of a 40g-50g protein shake in the morning, I could just have 8-10g BCAAs instead.

If bodyactive want a test subject to see the the effects of using bcca/eaa instead of pro shakes, and what levels work best.  I'm willing to test it if they want to give me the bcca/eaa )))) lol

That should work Alpha, nice try Standing lol work on Mike

Alpha Male wrote:

So instead of a 40g-50g protein shake in the morning, I could just have 8-10g BCAAs instead.

Would save a lot on calories as well (bonus on cut) with 40-50g protein powder most likely around 250 calories where under FDA guidelines BCAA's dont contain any calories, with them saying its not a complete protein so doesnt have to be included on the labels. Again lot of debate around this but at maximum you'll only then take in 40 calories and saving yourself around 200.

I believe ALRI released a product called HumaPro (basically a bcaa supplement) which me and Steve discussed briefly where they make these sort of claims with it being absorbed something like 90% better with 10% of the calories - trouble is people dont listen to ALRI anymore lol

standing wrote:

If bodyactive want a test subject to see the the effects of using bcca/eaa instead of pro shakes, and what levels work best.  I'm willing to test it if they want to give me the bcca/eaa smile)))) lol

i'm actually going to be running a mini experiment based upon this which will be included in my log shortly.- high dose BCAA of around 4weeks (till my money runs out) and see how it goes. Sadly not funded by bodyactive but tryign to get them to create their own branded BCAA like xtend or recoup and then we can try and haggle for testers!

i'm going with, if you don't ask you don't get!! haha

Cheers for the info, I'm aware of Humapro, actually was first supplement I thought of when I first read this topic as know the claims it makes. As you say good for cutting as consuming 200 less calories each time you use instead of a shake.

As said above ALRI doesn't have the best of feedback, but then again I've seen good reviews on Humapro also.

Might give this a try for a month myself, a 5lb tub of whey is similar cost to 90 servings of Xtend (or similar), which would probably last same amount of time.

I'm with you on this one matt87, if they make their own one, one of us to use it on a bulk and the other on a cut.
I'm currently using lg bcaa/eaa in the am mixing it with a half scoop of whole gain, as i havent got much left. I picked up some own brand L-Glutamine the other day which i take 3 times a day at 5gms per go. I'm now using boditronic recover ex as my post shake, its got a great profile with 22.5grams pro/ 48.9 carb/ and then 840mg isoleucine/7410mg leucine/4000mg glutamine and 760mg of valine. The taste is no where near as good as afterglow, but its drinkable

Bodyactive Nation already have their own brand of BCAA do they not or is that just a real basic one?