Branch it out!!

Drew Cavner

Supplementing has almost become a necessity for people that workout or stay active through various sports and exercises. Whether it be supplementing with creatines, proteins, amino acids, pro-hormones, vitamins, minerals, it is still considered supplementing. Obviously it can become quite cumbersome to supplement from every side of the spectrum, so lets start with trying one of the very very basics. Branched chain amino acids. Most people assume that amino acids are just amino acids. Obviously amino acids are amino acids, but when supplementing with them it is very important that you are choosing the correct ones for recovery or performance enhancing properties. The way I try and explain the importance of amino acids is as follwed.

Imagine your body as a motorcycle. You have a main gas tank (your body's amino acid stores) then you have the 2 gallon reserve tank (your body's muscle). When you are working out or participating in an intense activity / long duration, your body runs out of the gas in the main tank (amino acid stores). Once your body runs out of gas it begins to tap into the reserve (muscle). This is obviously the worst situation for you and your body. Now, picture this. While partaking in an activity, instead of just drinking plain water, put two scoops of amino acid powder in your drink. This will enable your body to never run out of gas (amino stores) and it will prevent your body from ever tapping into it's reserve (muscle). This is obviously good because you will be able to build muscle instead of burn it.

L-glutamine is probably the most popular (well known ) amino acid in the supplement industry today. What most people do not realize is that although Glutamine is the most abumndant amino acid found in the skeletal muscle, it might not be the most effective amino acid for recovery. In actuality, your branched chain amino acids are called upon more for recovery than glutamine itself. Your three branched chain amino acids are ; Luecine, Isoluecine and Valine. It is also very important to know that there must be a 2:1:1 ratio of Luecine, Isoluecine and Valine for it to be readily absorbed and untilized properly. For instance, if you purchase a branched chain amino acid supplement the label should read something like this ;

Luecine : 3.6 Isoluecine : 1.8 Valine : 1.8
Luecine : 5.0 Isoluecine : 2.5 Valine : 2.5

Obviously these are just examples. If you see a company within a tenth or two of the 1 to 2 ratio it's no biggy. Also, these days it is waay more cost effective to purchase a branched chain supplement with glutamine already in it. It does not make sense to buy a glutamine supplement if you can purchase the same amount of glutamine with your branched chains and other goodies as well. Another great ingredient that you should look for in an amino acid supplement is Beta Alanine. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on Beta Alanine.