Unique Amino Acid Requirements in Endurance Athletes

Leucine is commonly regarded as being the most important amino acid in the BCAA supplement combination. For this reason, some BCAA supplements contain an 8:1:1 or even 10:1:1 ratio of leucine to other amino acids. However, it is important to note that a higher leucine content does not necessarily boost muscle growth better than supplements with a low-leucine-to-other-amino-acid ratio. In fact, one study shows that the BCAA capsules that were most effective were the ones with a mere 2:1:1

Athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts often use BCAAs or branched-chain amino acids to supply their body with the necessary nutrients it needs to help boost their physical performance. Thus making the ProSupps Hydro BCAA a popular supplement for active individuals. Whatever sports or fitness routine you are into, your body requires sufficient amounts of BCAAs to prevent the breakdown of your muscles, especially when it is constantly exposed to regular physical activities.

From the beginning of history, professional and amateur athletes have tempted to use legal or illegal drugs to enhance their performance (1). Athletes have used pharmacological agents, called Performance-enhancing drugs(PEDs), to enhance performance or to become leaner or more muscular (2). In sports, administration of drugs that are forbidden by international world anti-doping agency (WADA) is referred as doping (3). Anabolic androgenic agents (AASs) are the most popular agents that are abused by the athletes, especially bodybuilding athletes. Besides these agents, other classes of drugs such as stimulants and peptide hormones (growth hormone and insulin) are new PEDs that are abused by a lot of athletes in the different sports (1). Other than these compounds, athletes often use dietary supplements like creatine, protein, and vitamins to enhance strength and increase body mass (4-6).

The biological value in whey protein enhances the body’s ability to absorb essential amino acids after resistance training decreasing the athlete’s recovery time. When athletes combine whey protein and creatine monohydrate they expect “a greater increase in lean tissue mass and muscular strength than supplementations with whey protein alone” (Burke, Chilibeck, Davison, Candow, Farthing, & Smith-Palmer 2001, p 350). Exogenous Cr supplementation increases the body’s Cr levels until saturation occurs. This saturation of Cr increases the PCK shuttle continuum allowing training intensity, volume, and duration of the exercise the athlete is performing to continue at a maximum rate. Any excess Cr in the blood is cleared through sweat, urination or renal filtration. Measurements in strength and peak torques of athletes supplementing with whey protein and creatine monohydrate (WC), whey protein (W), and a placebo (P) were taken. According to Burke et al, (2001) “repeated measure analysis of variance was used to assess changes in body composition, strength, and peak torque for the three groups (WC vs. W vs. P) across time” (p. 354). A twelve week strength training program was constructed and consisted of a “4-day split routine involving whole body musculature” (Burke et al, 2001. p 352). Subjects used detailed training logs to compare progress over the 12 week experiment. The end result from this experiment shows that subjects who “supplemented with both creatine and whey

They measured muscular strength and anaerobic performance in trained athletes. 17 physically, active young men were selected for the study and the creatine group had 8 people and the placebo group had 9 people with average age of 23 and 26, respectively. The creatine group took 20 grams a day over the course of 4 servings and the placebo group received a carbohydrate mixture and both groups took it before meals. They trained on day 1 and 4, which included exercises that the whole body. They measured anaerobic power on a 30 second Wingate test, max bench press and squat, took blood and urine samples, and measured height, weight, and body fat. Using an ANOVA with repeated measures across time, the results demonstrated that there was an increase in anaerobic force (12%) and back squat quality (11%) when contrasted with the placebo group. With more creatine in the body than with the control group and the creatine group had lower body fat but more body weight because of increased muscle mass. Proper training and creatine led to power and force increases for these athletes, which is helpful to a running back in improving power, speed, and game

From a very early age sports are introduced upon both young boys and girls. Although it begins with sportsmanship and teamwork, it begins to evolve into new objectives when these young athletes enter high school. In fact, high school sports are vastly different. Your mind is trained to obliterate the opponent and win at all costs. This mentality can often lead many young athletes to turn to supplements to assist in muscle building. The most common supplement in use currently is Creatine. While athletic departments and sports nutrition stores claim that it is harmless, why do so many high school athletes end up with severe muscular and pulmonary damage? The answer has yet to be clearly

The evidence I will provide is strictly scientific, the information comes from the Journal of Sports Nutrition. The article is written by Richard B. Kreider, Exercise & Sport Nutrition Laboratory Department of Human Movement Sciences and Education The University of Memphis. The author has many credentials, such as his testing of finding the effects of six weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation in male and female track athletes, which can be found in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning. All of his research is peer reviewed.

Supplements are used by people who are looking to get additional nutrients that they may not be getting through their normal eating habits. Supplements are also used to help people lose weight, build muscle, minimize the effects of an illness or disability, and to recover from a heavy workout. One supplement that is popular with the bodybuilding and fitness community are branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and there are plenty of studies that show BCAAs are beneficial for building muscle.

Making rigid or severe workout is not just doing it alone especially if you want to make it part of your routine regularly. You need to make sure that you get the right nutrition from the food or supplements to get the best results from your planned workouts. When you need to do extensive workouts which are going to wear out your muscles, then you need to take the BCAAs or the Branched Chain Amino Acids. BCAAs are the essential amino acids that are going to help you out getting the energy you need after you had your workout.

Creatine is the primary metabolic fuel for high intensity, short duration movements such as sprinting, lifting heavy weights, and jumping to maximal heights (Smith-Ryan & Antonio, 2013), and a significant body of research (it is the most extensively studied ergogenic aid) reports supplementation during training can optimize muscle creatine stores, increased high-intensity intermittent work output, and promote greater gains in strength and muscle mass, plus Cr has been demonstrated to provide some therapeutic benefits in clinical populations (Kreider, 2008, p. 430). Cr is also known as methylguanidinoacetic acid, which is an amino acid derived compound chemically classified as a non-protein nitrogen (Smith-Ryan & Antonio, 2013). Cr can be

In researching this ergogenic aid I have learned a great deal about both amino acids, and as well as branched chain amino acids. I believe that this ergogenic aid may be very helpful to some individuals that are serious athletes. If an athletes diet is poor in foods containing amino acids, then I would fully recommend them using a BCAA supplement. In my own opinion, I would not use a BCAA supplement myself. I came to this conclusion primarily because as of right now I am not a serious athlete. It would also be much easier for myself to obtain amino acids through food sources, and possibly obtain them through a protein shake. I am very pleased with my research on this ergogenic aid. This topic turned out to be very interesting to

Branched Chain Amino Acids, also known as BCAAs, is a group of 3 specific amino acids. BCAAs can promote the production of muscle protein, help increase muscle mass, minimize muscle loss, and prevent fatigue, allowing you to have a much harder workout.

As an athlete myself, I am always looking for an edge over the competition. With the advantages made for Athletes in nutrition, there are many options to get that “edge”. Protein supplements, creatine, androstenedione, anabolic steroids; many athletes, including myself, turn to one or more of these products for that little extra to beat the competition. If an athlete is using these products, is it really the athlete performing, or is it the supplement? Through this paper, I will research the effects (positive and negative) of using these products, as well as determining whether or not each product should be allowed in organized competition.

Oxidation of these amino acids occurs in skeletal muscles. Though BCAAs are not used as a source of energy in the body under normal conditions, they do contribute to energy generation during heavy and strenuous exercise. The subsequent breakdown of these amino acids for energy generation during heavy exercise leads to muscle damage and tear. Therefore, restoring them with the help of protein supplements is extremely necessary to make up for the loss of proteins.

The scene is set. It is 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and the final heat of the Olympics is about to commence. The sprinters have been training their entire lives for the opportunity at hand, and the outcome of the most important event of their lives is going to come down to mere milliseconds. With a gold medal on the line, these athletes will be looking for any advantage they can get, whether big or small. One direction these athletes turn for an advantage is supplements. Supplements have emerged as a way for athletes to increase their performance, yet their use is very controversial. Supplements, varying from simple multivitamins to complex chemical supplements, are used by almost every athlete, whether recreational or professional,