Should You Drink Bcaas During Your Workout?

No doubt you’ve come across these four letters and been curious – especially if you’re getting serious about elevating your weightlifting game to the next level. But what are BCAAs, and are these essential amino acids essential to your sporting performance?

What are BCAAs?

BCAAs are essential amino acids. To be specific they are leucine, isoleucine and valine, which make up more than one-third of your body’s muscle protein. They’re essential in a very literal way as you need to get them from your food because your body doesn’t make them on its own. When it comes to working out and gains, BCAAs can help to preserve your muscle glycogen stores, which play a big role in fighting protein breakdown, which occurs when you exercise. In doing so, BCAAs can help you work out harder for longer.

How do BCAAs work?

BCAAs provide your skeletal muscles with fuel when you work out. You can get BCAAs from dietary sources, but utilizing BCAA supplements will contribute to keeping your glycogen stores intact. Glycogen is kind of like the petrol that your muscles run on when you’re hard at work lifting weights or performing cardio training.

Thinking of it in terms of fuel, stocking up on BCAAs is a way of knowing you have a solid source of energy as you push yourself harder. When you don’t have these stores, your body will break down your muscle protein for fuel instead. So in that sense BCAAs are as much about protecting and maintaining your muscles as it is about providing you the endurance to build bigger ones.

BCAA supplements work effectively mid-training session because they are quickly absorbed by your body, meaning that they readily increase the levels of BCAA in your blood and are taken into your muscles when you need them.

For BCAA supplements to be most effective, you should take them alongside whey protein. The BCAA recommended dosage for men is 15-20 grams per day when performing strenuous exercise. This would come under several servings of 5 grams. For women with a serious workout schedule, take up to 12 grams a day, splitting your servings into 4-5 serves in a day.