amino acids

[OpethDrums]

anybody have any experience with taking liquid amino acids? i have and i've had good results. right now im drinking some shit that says anabolic liquid and mass on the front. i'll find out the real name later. it's liquid amino acids with something to increase nitrogen retention and crystaline fructose and B vitamins.. it's also supposed to increase anabolic output (or whatever) if taken before/during workouts. i mix it with 2 small scoops (the reccomended) of creatine all in some orange juice or something. then i drink it as i lift, smoke weed, and eat (usually nachos). occasionally i have a protein shake afterwards with ice cream and milk. this is my new daily routine. i reccomend this little stack

discuss

just kidding i don't smoke at all.

 

[Rjkd12]

Amino acid drinks come by a more popular name, protein drinks. I have never bought the amino acid drinks because they are too expensive, just get a protein shake. Same with AA pills with one possible exception, glutamine. I have read a few things that say BCAA pills do nothing.

 

[Judo-kid]

All in one (check bulknutrition.com)

 

[Madmick]

Amino acid drinks come by a more popular name, protein drinks. I have never bought the amino acid drinks because they are too expensive, just get a protein shake. Same with AA pills with one possible exception, glutamine. I have read a few things that say BCAA pills do nothing.

Yeah, the jury's still out on BCAA's, but there's been promising studies showing very mild improvements in performance (ranging from 3-6%) although no physiological explanation is given; apparently, the athletes in these studies just said they "felt" more "focused" and "concentrated."

I won't buy BCAA's, but they come in my Accelerade, which I use during working out, cardio, anytime I'm sweating, which is the only time they're useful if those studies are right.

Accelerade > Gatorade

 

[Rjkd12]

The thing with drinking gatoraide or any sports drink is they take an hour or more to get digested so you can utilize the glucose and other ingrediants. Unless you are working out longer than that, they don't do anything for energy and for hydration you might as well drink water. I know, I know, they have sodium and potassium, but I doubt if you are working out any less than an hour you'll have any electrolyte imbalances. I say this because there are plenty of people who drink them while doing a regular bodybuilding routine or a 20 min tredmill run.

Also, if you are working out a while and fat loss is your goal, you are better off drinking water and getting your energy from your stores rather than what you just drank.

I only drink gatoraid if I am either working out a long time (grappling plus working out, or rollerblading for a few hours) or if I'm hungover. It works best as hangover prevention the night before though. Prehab not rehab I always say.

 

[Madmick]

The thing with drinking gatoraide or any sports drink is they take an hour or more to get digested so you can utilize the glucose and other ingrediants. Unless you are working out longer than that, they don't do anything for energy and for hydration you might as well drink water. I know, I know, they have sodium and potassium, but I doubt if you are working out any less than an hour you'll have any electrolyte imbalances. I say this because there are plenty of people who drink them while doing a regular bodybuilding routine or a 20 min tredmill run.

Also, if you are working out a while and fat loss is your goal, you are better off drinking water and getting your energy from your stores rather than what you just drank.

I only drink gatoraid if I am either working out a long time (grappling plus working out, or rollerblading for a few hours) or if I'm hungover. It works best as hangover prevention the night before though. Prehab not rehab I always say.

Good to know. I thought the absorption process was quicker than this: 20-30 minutes.

 

[Sinister]

I use the Amino Vital BCAA + Electrolyte (I think the one I have has the Electrolytes ) + Vitamin C + Glutamine and Arginine first thing in the morning before my workouts (since I now train very early in the morning usually on an empty stomach) and it's done pretty good for me. My endurance is up and so is my focus during workouts (you can tell on what days your mind wanders more). I've read that the BCAA's greatest property is aiding in normal protein synthesis and preventing muscle breakdown. But that they're best taken on an empty stomach because they WILL compete with protein for absorption. I do notice I'm not getting sore as much as I was before and this is with increased intensity in my workouts (so you can't argue that I'm just getting stronger naturally and it's placebo-effect, if the intensity and difficulty of my workouts are increasing it should stand that my muscles would be tested just the same). Plus the Amino Vital is pretty cheap.

 

[Duncon76]

protein shake afterwards with ice cream Don't use these, use Coconut Milk instead. Much better for you overall.

 

[Sinister]

What?

 

[Rjkd12]

I've read that the BCAA's greatest property is aiding in normal protein synthesis and preventing muscle breakdown. But that they're best taken on an empty stomach because they WILL compete with protein for absorption.

I don't understand this part. BCAA's are protein, just specific amino acids. How can they compete with protein when they are protein.

 

[Sinister]

BCAA's are isolated aminos, NOT a complete Protein. They're no more protein then glutamine or Arginine is, no more protein than Creatine for that matter. Like when you take Arginine, Ornithine, and Creatine, they're not a complete protein.

But the nature of the Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine being found in Protein (though not usually the amount contained in BCAA liquid supplements) could cause the body to reject the BCAA supplement and only assimilate that found in the complete protein. And it's my experience that the BCAA's are not the only aminos this happens with. Taking Tyrosine for instance is also recommended on an empty stomach for maximum absorbancy.

 

[Rjkd12]

BCAA's are isolated aminos, NOT a complete Protein. They're no more protein then glutamine or Arginine is, no more protein than Creatine for that matter. Like when you take Arginine, Ornithine, and Creatine, they're not a complete protein.

But the nature of the Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine being found in Protein (though not usually the amount contained in BCAA liquid supplements) could cause the body to reject the BCAA supplement and only assimilate that found in the complete protein. And it's my experience that the BCAA's are not the only aminos this happens with. Taking Tyrosine for instance is also recommended on an empty stomach for maximum absorbancy.

To be honest, I still don't really get it. It may be some semantics though.

Protein is amino acids. A protein is just a string of amino acids tied together and when you digest a steak your body breaks down the protein into subsequent amino acids. Hence why taking actual human growth hormone (a protein) orally, your body just breaks it down into its amino acids and you get no change in GH levels.

By reject, I would assume you mean that it wouldn't absorb as much and you would excrete it. If that is the case, i would understand a bit because your body may not absorb all of it. I think the fact that BCAA's are found in the diet has a bit with why most studies don't find that they help performance on the level of an athlete taking megadoses of them. Also, since BCAA's are the essential amino acids I would assume the body would absorb them the most since they are needed more.

 

[Sinister]

Saying BCAA's are protein is like saying water is humans. Because the human body is mostly water, water therefore, is humans. Not really. Components thereof, even put together two or three at a time, do not comprise the whole. A complete protein has way more aminos in it than just BCAA's, Hell that's the whole problem with Vegetrianism and Veganism. To get a complete protein they have to combine a caseinate, with soy, and legumes in their diet to equal what they could get from a single meat source.

Plus, when isolated, certain aminos do not do the same things at the same rates that they do when the body needs to break them down and put them to use from a complete protein. I mentioned Tyrosine, taken alone with a fat burner it can actually assist in the thermogenic properties of the fat-burner, does eating meat with your fat burner accomplish the same result? No. Why? Because yes Tyrosine may be IN the meat, but certain properties of individual aminos get lost along the way in synthesizing entire proteins.