Amino Acids

[Coondog Hog]

Question for you guys that have been working out for a while.

Are they benificial?

Do they make a noticable difference in burning fat?

Which one's best compliment a workout program consisting mainly of cardio work?

[H&D]

Question for you guys that have been working out for a while.

Are they benificial?

Only benefit I have noticed over the years is they seem to help with recovery.  I put them in my pre and post workout shakes, and for me there is a noticeable difference in soreness if I stop the BCAA's for any period of time.

[Tai_Mai_Shu]

Only benefit I have noticed over the years is they seem to help with recovery.  I put them in my pre and post workout shakes, and for me there is a noticeable difference in soreness if I stop the BCAA's for any period of time.

This. It really helps with the recovery process.

[Coondog Hog]

Only benefit I have noticed over the years is they seem to help with recovery.  I put them in my pre and post workout shakes, and for me there is a noticeable difference in soreness if I stop the BCAA's for any period of time.

Which ones do you take?  I have noticed using L-Argnine my legs don't get sore like they used to.

[H&D]

Which ones do you take?  I have noticed using L-Argnine my legs don't get sore like they used to.

L-Leucine
L-Valine
L-Isoleucine

Plus was ever BCAA's are in my Protein Powder, I threw the packaging away though.

[Hogsmo Kramer]

L-Leucine
L-Valine
L-Isoleucine

Plus was ever BCAA's are in my Protein Powder, I threw the packaging away though.

Not to bust your balls H&D but if I'm not mistaken the ones you listed are the only amino acids that are "branch chained" as far as their specific chemical structure and as such act slightly different from other amino acids that aren't "branched chain".

Anyway I also use BCAA's in my peri-workout nutrition and agree that it seems to help with recovery. From some of the recent studies it seems that leucine is the most important of the three but science changes from time to time so who knows what they'll say in a year or so.

Also supposedly they're supposed to help as a preventative measure during exercise to keep your body from tapping it's own skeletal muscle for energy during high intensity exercise by providing a supply in the bloodstream for use instead of breakdown of existing muscle but again the only anecdotal evidence I've actually "felt" myself is less recovery time and less soreness.

As far as how it would help specifically with aerobic exercise I'm not sure there would be that great of a benefit in actual performance during exercise since most aerobic exercise like jogging isn't as high in intensity as say weightlifting or sprinting so the demand probably isn't as great. Although I admittedly do take BCAA's as well if I'm doing cardio on an empty stomach to hopefully preserve muscle but it's not really for performance per se but more to ease my paranoia of muscle loss than anything.

Edit: So just did a little reading and it appears I may be wrong on that last part about BCAA's and lower intensity cardio. There evidently are studies showing that BCAA's actually decrease serotonin release which helps to decrease RPE (rate of perceived exertion) or fatigue during exercise and therefore can help someone workout harder and longer during high intensity and moderate intensity exercise in addition to it's "muscle saving properties".

[Tai_Mai_Shu]

I took some after playing some pickup basketball games and when I woke up I could tell I wasn't as sore as I expected so it's worked for me personally.

[Buff]

Try Silk Amino Acids sometime.  I used to drink BPI's Blox during workouts and it helped me push way past what I thought my limits were.  And it tastes like liquid candy.