When Depending on Pre-Workout Supplement

When taking supplements during your workout, you can find many of the ingredients in pre-workout supplements the ones that research has shown to improve performance, like caffeine or nitric oxide in real foods, too. Plus, with those real foods, you also get other good nutrients for you.  Dieticians recommend a 'food first' approach for both recreational and extreme athletes who are looking to fuel their workouts. Real foods, rather than powders or supplements, are ideal because they offer the best variety of macro and micronutrients, tend to be easiest to digest, and are more palatable. Also, they recommend that keeping it simple with a snack one to two hours before a workout, making sure endurance athletes get a heavy serving of carbohydrates and weightlifters get a combo of carbs and protein. Watch the fiber and fat, as you'll digest those more slowly, which could lead to digestive discomfort. To make it clear, protein and a fast-digesting sugar to spike insulin should be on your list. Additionally, there are a few other ergogenic supplements you should consider.

Typical needs for using a pre-workout supplement:

Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)

Whey is the protein that's separated from the curd in the production of cheese. The best forms of WPI have limited fat and lactose; production processes like cross-flow microfiltration have helped in its purification. WPI is absorbed quickly and provides a steady stream of amino acids which enter the blood quickly. This has been shown to promote gains in lean mass and strength, reductions in body fat, and increased growth hormone release.

Creatine

From meat sources, creatine has been shown to increase protein synthesis by pushing water into muscle cells. It's also been shown to increase phosphocreatine stores in muscle tissue, which is used to make more energy for longer and more intense workouts. Research also indicates that creatine elevates insulin-like growth factor, an anabolic hormone.

Glutamine

Glutamine is important for protein synthesis and is often depleted during heavy exercise. Research has shown that supplementation increases muscular growth by boosting muscle cell volume and growth hormone release, while also reducing catabolism.

Caffeine

A stimulant that helps mobilize fat cells into the bloodstream, caffeine has been shown to increase muscle strength and intensity when taken pre-workout. Besides boosting metabolism, caffeine has also been shown to reduce post-workout muscle soreness by 50 percent.

Sugar

Fast-digesting carbs like sugar, dextrose, and maltodextrin quickly spike insulin levels, helping drive all the other ingredients in your post-workout shake into glycogen-depleted muscle tissue. Of note, since fructose must be broken down by the liver, it's not as fast as these other sugars.

If you're a recreational exerciser, you probably don't need a pre-workout supplement. Beet juice, whole-food protein sources, and natural caffeine sources like tea or coffee can likely provide the benefits you're looking to achieve when taking a pre-workout supplement but without the risk. A great pre-workout supplement should do all of the above, but it should do so without the addition of unnecessary artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners that are often used to mask the inherently bitter or sour taste of many of the ingredients

Roles of Amino Acid Supplements

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) refers to three amino acids: Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. If taken as a powder, they are thought to play a role in muscle synthesis. BCAAs are an essential part of the human diet, and since you cannot produce them yourself, you must get them from food. Branched chain amino acids are actually present in all protein-containing foods. Red meat and dairy foods are particularly high in branched chain amino acids, but so are things like chicken, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts and soy protein. Even if you're a vegetarian or a vegan, you are probably getting them from beans and rice or a grilled cheese sandwich. If you have a balanced diet and are consuming enough protein, you're likely consuming enough branch chain amino acid supplements. Of the three BCAAs, leucine is unique in that it initiates protein synthesis. During exercise, protein synthesis decreases as a result of the increased protein degradation and BCAA oxidation. Leucine has been found to stimulate muscle protein synthesis post-exercise. Combined with the aforementioned benefits of all the BCAAs, leucine can help an athlete increase their lean muscle mass. Based on this research, athletes that are trying to cut weight while preserving muscle mass can benefit from supplementation as well those who are trying to increase their lean mass and strength. Branch chain amino acid supplements compose 38 percent of the essential amino acids in muscle proteins and 45 percent of the preformed amino acids required by mammals. While BCAAs and their byproducts can reach toxic levels in the human body in rare cases such as certain metabolic disorders, it’s very difficult to achieve a toxic level in a normal, healthy person. In fact, branch chain amino acid supplements have been used in the treatment of burn victims as well as liver diseases.

One reason BCAAs are different from other amino acids is that they aren't degraded by the liver which every other amino acid is processed by the gut and the liver before being circulated throughout the body. Branch chain amino acid supplements head directly into the bloodstream. Typically, leucine and isoleucine are important for athletes since they're closely tied to muscle growth and energy production. Studies have connected BCAAs with reduced fatigue, increased post-exercise muscle growth and reduced levels of post-exercise muscle damage. However, many of these studies center around participants who either aren't eating enough protein or are fairly new to training. As for reports of reduced fatigue, there may be a very mild effect in highly trained individuals. It is likely that the anti-fatigue effects of branched chain amino acids only really apply to untrained or lightly trained people. In anti-fatigue effects, it is highly plausible that this will only apply to untrained or lightly trained persons doing prolonged exercise. There does appear to be a difference between trained and untrained persons and this is due to less tolerance to exercise-induced sedation.

The Promising Branch Chain Amino Acid Supplements

The latest research shows that taking a branch chain amino acid supplement before training can have a profound effect on your hormones. It was shown that when people were given BCAAs prior to training, post-workout testosterone levels remained elevated for several hours, whereas the control group noticed a significant drop in testosterone once training ceased. The same study also showed that the group consuming BCAAs had higher insulin levels as well. Insulin is an extremely anabolic hormone that also prevents muscle tissue from being broken down and used as energy. Even the most serious of bodybuilders are left wondering why they need to take additional amino acids when they are already getting so many amino acids in all the protein they are consuming. The truth is that individual amino acids can influence muscle growth through a variety of different pathways, and of all the amino acids none have been shown to be more important than the branched chain amino acids. Branched chain amino acid supplement or (BCAAs) have been around longer than others such as creatine and beta-alanine, but few realized the full range of their capabilities regarding muscle growth and performance. The branch chain amino acid supplement has jumped to the forefront of research in recent years and the results have well-known within the bodybuilding world. Everybody knows that BCAAs go far beyond simply being building blocks for muscle tissue and can affect muscle growth through pathways few thought possible.

These are the top things you should look for when choosing your branch chain amino acid supplement:

Ingredients

Proprietary blends are a way for companies to hide exactly what they are giving you. Look for a BCAA that have specific doses of: leucine, valine, and isoleucine.

Value

The most expensive product does not mean you are getting the best value. Depending on the brand and reviews, this will be a great bang-for-your-buck supplement.

Brand Reputation

If you currently have a brand that you have and like another supplement, check it out and see if they have a BCAA. Finding a well-known and trusted company that uses quality ingredients isn’t hard to find if you do your due diligence.

Convenience

Get one that makes it easy for you to take.

Another way that Branch amino acid supplement can enhance performance is through their ability to spare glycogen during training. Found as stored carbohydrates within muscle tissue and the liver, glycogen is the favored fuel source for working muscles engaged in high intensity exercise. This makes glycogen availability and preservation vitally important if you wish to continue to train hard for longer periods of time. Studies have shown that by ingesting Branch chain amino acid supplement before and during training glycogen levels can be spared by 20-25 percent. It is thought that the ingestion of Branch chain amino acid supplement boosts blood alanine levels which gets converted to glucose in the liver and then sent back to working muscle to be used as fuel. This glycogen sparing effect of Branch chain amino acid supplement will not only allow for longer more intense training sessions but also allows for faster recovery leading to a better workout tomorrow.

The Essence of Post Workout

Skipping your warm-up is a definite unacceptable even if your post workout is only 10 minutes long. "The warm-up” is meant to give your body the opportunity to raise your body temperature, increase range of motion, and prepare yourself for what you’re about to do. It also helps decrease your chance of injury when you ease into your workout, rather than jumping straight from a resting state to the hard work. Increasing your range of motion can help you make the most of your workout, because you'll be able to recruit more muscles during an exercise for example, getting deeper into a spot means putting more muscles to work. This is done through a dynamic warm-up, which essentially means moving through stretches that aren't held in place. The most imperative thing in any fitness program starts the minute you go to sleep that’s where all the magic happens. Being well-rested not only energizes you through every burpee or sprint, but it also keeps your hunger hormones in check, so you're not undoing your efforts in the gym by overeating the rest of the day. You already know that drinking your water is crucial to overall health, but it plays an especially important role in a fitness routine when you're sweating it out, you need to make sure your body is properly hydrated since you're losing fluids. Additionally, being hydrated will make sure your energy levels are where they need to be. Although exact water needs vary from person to person, he recommends aiming for half of your body weight in ounces per day. If your urine is dark, it probably means you're not hydrated enough. A cool-down brings your body back to a resting position the way you walked into the gym is the way you want to leave. To increase your range of motion, decrease soreness and helps your recovery process, you need to implement isometric stretching." This is the opposite of the stretches you do in a warm-up. After a workout, you should hold your stretches for at least 15 seconds each pre-workout snack is more optional than a post-workout one giving your body the fuel it needs to recover after a tough sweat is essential. There's something called post workout or the anabolic window, which lasts about 30 to 40 minutes after the workout. During this time, your body looks for carbohydrates and protein to help replenish glycogen stores and rebuild muscle, respectively, so getting your body the nutrition it needs to recover in a timely manner is important.

If you follow the latest fad about supplements, I’m sure that your stocks at home are lined with pre-workouts and protein powders. What you’re most likely missing is a complete and powerful post workout recovery supplement. It’s not enough to just prepare yourself for the onslaught in the weight room, you need to make sure you properly heal yourself after winning the battle. The only way to do that is through proper supplementation with scientifically proven ingredients. Energy and focus are a huge advantage during any training session. Great workouts are energy fueled and to the point. You are focused on the task at hand.