BCAA

Why buy BCAA?

• Increase protein synthesis from foods
• Improve recovery
• Offer muscle anti-catabolism

It's odd that we just don't talk about Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA's) much. That's too bad, because BCAA's are something that every lifter should be taking, if not daily, then at least during very specific training cycles.
For those of you who have forgotten, the branched chain amino acids are named leucine, isoleucine, and valine. What sets them apart from other amino acids is that they have some very specific, very special properties:

• BCAAs promote protein synthesis in muscle.• BCAAs taken during training have been shown to increase both growth hormone and insulin, thus increasing anabolism and anti-catabolism. • BCAAs, unlike other amino acids, are used to provide energy.• A 1992 Italian study showed that BCAAs taken prior to a workout not only prevented a decrease in post-workout Testosterone levels, but caused it to increase.• BCAAs have been shown to decrease post-workout soreness.• BCAAs, according to a 1997 Italian study published in Medicina Dello Sport, when taken 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after a workout, were shown to increase lean body mass and improve strength in the bench press and squat.• BCAAs have been shown to increase exercise endurance, especially exercise conducted in high temperatures.• As little as 4 grams of BCAA can kick start the body from a catabolic state to an anabolic state. These BCAA are pure and they're high-quality, but I don't think you'd expect anything less from Biotest. After looking at this area of science for a long time, we've come up with a recommended dosage, which, on non-training days, is 4 - 6 tablets taken 3 times per day, between meals. On training days, we recommend a total of 12 -18 tablets taken before, during, and immediately after your workout. In other words, during a training session, you might take 6 before your workout; 6 during your workout when you visit the drinking fountain; and 6 right after your workout. However, to be frank, no one knows for sure exactly how much BCAA to use. The recommendations in the literature and among our coaches vary. The bench press/squat study I cited above used 18 grams of BCAA immediately before training and another 18 grams of BCAA immediately after training (based on a 200-pound athlete). That's quite a large amount, but most of our coaches have had phenomenal success using slightly smaller or even significantly smaller dosages. However, I think it's absolutely clear that BCAA are a valuable and indispensable tool for building muscle, improving athletic performance, or maintaining muscle while losing body fat.