Amino Acids - Before, During and/or After Workouts? Thoughts?

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What is the consensus on taking amino acids around and during workouts? I have a general understanding of what they are but trying to gather opinions/clinical study references/experiences with using them either before, during or after workouts. Or all three?
 

TODAY

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Eat a balanced diet and u shouldnt need to waste $$$ on Aminos
This.

Unless you're doing 2+ hour high-intensity workouts, amino supplements are a waste of money.

Eat whole proteins.
 
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My understanding is that yes, like they said, you get them naturally from foods you eat, and they do help with recovery taken any time.

They have them in most protein powder too. The only time I take extra aminos is if I accidentally overtrain and I'm in a lot of doms pain, and then I'll supplement some extra glutamine. I keep a small container of glutamine on hand for this purpose.

I think it helps a little, could be placebo effect though.
 

Sicwun88

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Eat a balanced diet and u shouldnt need to waste $$$ on Aminos

They say you get all the aminos needed from food and protein drink?
But I do drink 10-15 g of Aminos while I train, which is Blueberry/ Lemonade,
I drink it for the taste, because I only drink water & some coffee in the morning!
 

Big Mikey

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The only amino acids I supplement is BCAAs. I noticed an obvious difference with maintaining strength in my legs after doing cardio all weekend on a low carb diet then switching to carbs during the week to lift. So far as timing them, it doesn't make any difference when you take them so long as there's enough of them available in your system to have the desired effect. What that amount is depends on your lean body mass.
What you do time is Caffeine, Guarana & other amphetamine typically found in pre workout. These are drugs with a fast onset & short half life. Obviously, they have to be timed.
The only other supplement I take is straight up Creatine monohydrate. Creatine is cheap, effective & doesn't need anything else mixed in it to work. I don't consider protein powder a supplement per say because it has calories in it, so to me, it's food.
The supplement industry isn't regulated by the FDA. They can make any claim they want about their products with no real scientific evidence to back them up. So a good rule of thumb is, if you take a supplement for awhile & don't notice any positive change towards your goals, that supplement's a placebo.
 

ken Sass

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my pre workout has them. i don't take them separate, i have and did not think they did anything
 

bvs

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I drink them intra workout with carbs and electrolytes. Do they work? Who knows... but they taste good
 

Flyingdragon

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Nothing wrong with that, but I would rather eat a nice steak full of aminos than some drink with aminos.....

They say you get all the aminos needed from food and protein drink?
But I do drink 10-15 g of Aminos while I train, which is Blueberry/ Lemonade,
I drink it for the taste, because I only drink water & some coffee in the morning!
 

brock8282

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Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Meat, fish, eggs, dairy all contain all 9 essential amino acids. Eat enough protein from quality food sources then you don’t need them.
 

brock8282

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They say you get all the aminos needed from food and protein drink?
But I do drink 10-15 g of Aminos while I train, which is Blueberry/ Lemonade,
I drink it for the taste, because I only drink water & some coffee in the morning!

sounds like a pretty expensive flavoring for water, could save some good money with mio or something similar.....
 

DOOM

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I would never take just bcaa’s. But nothing wrong with a good complete pre or intra loaded with EAA’s and plenty of other goodies. IMO nutrabio makes some of the best products on the market.
 

CJ

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Like others have stated, as long as you're eating good protein sources spread out fairly evenly throughout your day, you'll always have amino acids available in your body at all times. No need to supplement.

If you do want to supplement, just get a good protein powder. For example, whey has ALL the BCAAs in it, all the EAAs in it, all the aminos....period. And it's cheaper than BCAAs or EAAs.

I've also heard knowledgeable people talk about studies showing that over consuming the BCAAs is not helpful, because the aminos compete for utilization. So too much Leucine or other could hinder the uptake of the other aminos, thus being counterproductive and causing a deficiency in the other aminos. If I recall though, you needed an excessive amount of BCAAs to do this.

And to further clarify, all protein is made up of amino acids. Good quality proteins like meat, eggs, dairy, and fish contain ALL the amino acids. Vegetarian whole food sources of protein either miss 1 or more of the essential aminos, or are very low in one or more essential amino, so they combine foods to fill the gaps. Rice and beans for example.
 

Sicwun88

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sounds like a pretty expensive flavoring for water, could save some good money with mio or something similar.....

$30 for 30 servings, $1 a drink!
So I'm ok w it & still eat the nice steak too! Str8 bcaa's not the pre workout drink!
 

joeyirish777

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BCAA's only work by somewhat protecting against muscle degradation for a short period of time. in starved rats, older males, and cancer patients. did not build muscle.

the only reason BCAA's have so much attention is because the fitness industry wanted another selling point.. so they skewed and advertised the fk out of studies.
 

brock8282

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$30 for 30 servings, $1 a drink!
So I'm ok w it & still eat the nice steak too! Str8 bcaa's not the pre workout drink!

thats not bad, ive seen guys who sip on them all day having like 8 scoops a day which seems wasteful plus there IS an insulin response to drinking eaa's and we dont really want insulin spiked all day.

I do think eaas can be useful when in a pretty severe calorie deficit and that is the only time i have used them. In that scenario, intraworkout or immediately post workout is the most beneficial way to use them. Preferably with a carb powder like cyclic dextrin or karbolyn or similar. Dont understand why anyone would take eaas pre workout unless you are working out fasted. You should have had a meal an hour or two before so those aminos will be digesting.
 

BrotherIron

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Proteins have many more functions than just building muscle. They're enzymes, provide support, transport, defense, regulation, and aid in motion. So don't skimp on eating protein.
And quit buying into the marketing hype of taking additional BCAA's. If you're consuming complete proteins in all your meals, you're getting plenty of BCAA's since they're the building blocks of your polypeptides that form your protein.
Instead of buying that expensive supplement, buy more animal protein.
 

DOOM

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I have not eaten animals flesh in almost 10 years. So supplementing and I knowing what foods are complete and incomplete proteins is a serious matter.

There are very few complete Vegan proteins. A few that come to mind are Soy, quinoa , buckwheat.

Now there are not many more additional complete vegetarian Proteins either. I mean we are talking dairy and eggs.

Then you have the world of incomplete proteins that when combined they become complete proteins. Beans or lentils and rice. Nut butters and whole grains.

Anyway I guess my point is there is no one Size fits all. Adding a supplement with a pretty complete vitamin profile, EAA’s, electrolytes, creatine, caffeine and other goodies will do more good then harm. If you have the extra money to spend then you should just buy and use what ever makes your workouts better.
 
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dragon1952

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Unless money isn't an issue I think you need to prioritize your supplements and BCAA/EAA's would be at the bottom of my list. I don't really have to worry about it so I take them pre and intra workout. The BCAA's have other good stuff in them though like electrolytes, caffeine, taurine, glutamine, citrulline and I'll throw some eea's in there too. Whey and micellar casein protein powders and a good carb powder would be at the top of my list but then I just can't eat like some of you monsters.
 

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