BCAA's??

[Chris H Laing]

Anybody know how many mg's of BCAA are effective in a pwo shake?

And can anyone recommend a good brand of BCAA's because this will be my first time trying them and I have no idea what I'm doing

[Jay Cohen]

I ordered the following, 500 gram bottle, will give it 60 days, see how I feel.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sf/bcaa.html

[Allen Yeh]

If you guys just ordered BCAA powder without any flavorings be prepared. It's....interesting to say the least. After using it a few times plain I had to cave and throw it into shake of protein and gatorade powder to mask the flavor/taste. Mine does not mix well by itself and it was just hard to get down. Next time I get BCAA's I'm definitely going to try to go a little more expensive and get the easily mixable stuff or pills. It was a birthday gift though so I can't complain too much.

[Garrett Smith]

The taste of BCAA combo powders was one major reason I'm interested in leucine by itself...I don't know how true the T-Nation marketers are, but they said their leucine (by itself) doesn't change the flavor of things it is added to much if at all...

Nothing is good for you if you can't manage to get it past your taste buds...

[Chris H Laing]

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

Nothing is good for you if you can't manage to get it past your taste buds...

Regular protein powder is disgusting also. So is green drink. And apparently BCAA's. I'm just gunna throw it all in a blender it choke it down after workouts, and hopefully it'll help

[Mike ODonnell]

to answer the original question I believe it is usually about 10grams recommended (5 grams minimal).....although BCAAs preworkout may be more effective.

[Chris H Laing]

Originally Posted by Mike ODonnell

to answer the original question I believe it is usually about 10grams recommended (5 grams minimal).....although BCAAs preworkout may be more effective.

Thanks for the answer, but why might they be more effective pre workout? I thought BCAA's were just broken down proteins...but I know very little about BCAA's other than that other people use them and they work.

[Arien Malec]

Originally Posted by Chris H Laing

Thanks for the answer, but why might they be more effective pre workout? I thought BCAA's were just broken down proteins...but I know very little about BCAA's other than that other people use them and they work.

BCAAs are the amino acids found most often in skeletal muscle

Two schools of thought:

1) take them pre-workout, and they spare muscle
2) take them post-workout, and they facilitate repair

(I guess there's the third school which says take 'em both pre- and post, and the fourth school, which says eat adequate protein from whole sources, and it doesn't really matter when).

[Derek Weaver]

Right. I think that the 4th school would be the Lean Gains approach noting that most of them end up as glucose in the blood (if I remember correctly).

I think he's more of an EAA guy than BCAA guy (again, if I remember correctly).

I'd rather eat whole protein sources, a lot of them, and spend the money on sleep supplementation... but my sleep patterns are more sporadic than a new born's.

[Gant Grimes]

Originally Posted by Chris H Laing

Regular protein powder is disgusting also. So is green drink. And apparently BCAA's. I'm just gunna throw it all in a blender it choke it down after workouts, and hopefully it'll help

You have no idea how good you have it. Protein powders taste way better now than when I was your age. And BCAAs? Everyone should have the experience of choking down the horse pill AAs from the 80s and 90s.

For those that hate the taste, buy your own gel caps and stuff them with your own formula.
http://store.vitaminlifeusa.com/gel-caps-00014668.html

As for BCAAs, it depends on your program and your diet. If you're Zoning, you might want to add them, regardless of program. If you're doing CF, you would probably benefit from them but don't need them. If you're doing anything else that involves daily weights, then thrown em down.