When it comes to the world of supplements, BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) are nothing new. In fact, they have been around well over a decade and to this day they still sell extremely well. Why is that? It’s because BCAAs help enhance not only your recovery but also your overall performance and ability to add quality lean muscle mass to your physique.
When looking at amino acids, there are nine essential amino acids, three of those being what we group into what is known as BCAAs. The three BCAAs we are going to focus on in this article are leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
Benefits of supplementing with BCAAs
- Accelerates recovery
- Reduces muscular fatigue
- Decreases muscle soreness
- Enhances endurance
- Boosts energy levels
- Increases protein synthesis
- Supports muscle tissue growth
What are the best ways to take in BCAAs?
BCAAs can be found in many of the foods we consume on a daily basis. Consuming foods high in amino acids can be extremely helpful, however, if you are looking for a quick absorbing source of BCAAs, real food may not be the best option for you.
So, what foods contain a good amount of BCAAs?
Foods such as milk, fish, eggs, beef, chicken, lentils, brown rice, almonds, whole wheat, lima beans, among many others. Consuming these various whole food items would be extremely helpful to give your body and muscles a constant supply of BCAAs from real food sources. That being said, a whole food choice will take longer to break down, be absorbed, and ultimately shuttled out to the working muscles to enhance recovery. It’s for that reason that so many individuals who are into health and fitness look for a high-quality BCAA supplement. Each of the three BCAAs serves a very specific function and when found in the ideal 2:1:1 ratio, they can yield the most benefits.
What can each of the BCAAs do for you?
In this section, let's take a closer look into what exactly each of the BCAAs are and what they can do for you.
Leucine
When it comes to building quality muscle, you need to improve protein synthesis. Leucine has the ability to do just that while also helping preserve lean muscle mass and aid in the rebuilding process. Out of the three amino acids, you can consider leucine the powerhouse of the bunch. Some individuals even supplement with strictly leucine due to the benefits that can be had by this particular BCAA.
Isoleucine
Rebuilding torn down muscle fibers is important and one of the helpful roles of isoleucine, but also, isoleucine provides a boost in muscular endurance which when used intra-workout can help you push a little harder whether it be more reps, more sets, or even adding on a little more weight to your lifts.
Valine
Your workouts should be intense and in order to help push yourself even further in the gym, valine can help by providing glucose (fuel) for the muscles. Another responsibility of valine is to help rebuild torn down muscle fibers and allow them to grow bigger and stronger.
Beneficial times to use BCAAs
The beauty of BCAAs is that you can truly use them any time of day – morning, afternoon, and evening. Utilizing BCAAs throughout the day will help provide your muscles with quality amino acids to help keep your body in an anabolic state while feeding your muscles the nutrients needed to properly recovery between training sessions.
There are, however, some ideal times where you should utilize BCAAs. The first one is intra-workout. Simply mix BCAAs in a shaker bottle and take it with you to the gym. Sip on the BCAA mixture throughout your workout to help enhance recovery between sets and allow you the ability to annihilate your workout.
The second best time to utilize BCAAs would be post-workout. The power of the three BCAAs helps increase protein synthesis and allow to you refuel and rebuild torn down muscles from your grueling workouts and support you with your muscle-building efforts.
If you’re looking to take your training and recovery to the next level, consider picking up some BeautyRecover and adding it to your supplement regimen. BeautyRecover is scientifically formulated to ensure muscle building and strengthening by accelerating the recovery process and comes in more than a handful of delicious and refreshing flavors to satisfy your taste buds.
