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Bodybuilding
Program Basics
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Nutritional
Supplements
Know
Your Bodybuilding Supplement - BCAA's
by Rick Mitchell
BCAA stands for branched chain amino acids and is increasingly
being recognized as an important supplement in the field
of sports nutrition. In short the term refers to three
essential amino acids - leucine, isoleucine and valine.
Amino acids are widely known as the building blocks
of protein. When protein food is eaten it gets digested
into individual amino acids and short chains of amino
acids that are sufficiently small to be absorbed into
the bloodstream. They are then used by the body to build
and repair tissues amongst other things.
Amino acids are split between those classed as essential
and those labelled non-essential. This simply means
that essential amino acids cannot be made by the body,
whereas non-essential amino acids can. There are nine
essential amino acids and each must be obtained from
the diet. The nine essential amino acids are histidine,
isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine,
threonine, tryptophan and valine.
Non-essential amino acids are just as important as
the essential variety and the term simply means they
can be made by the body from vitamins and other amino
acids. The non-essential amino acids are alanine, arginine,
asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic
acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine and tyrosine.
The BCAA's are especially important to athletes because
they are metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver.
This means that they can be used either to build new
proteins or be burned as fuel to create energy. Supplementing
with BCAA's has been shown to result in measurable gains
in both muscle strength and size. Taken before a workout
BCAA's can improve performance and delay the onset of
fatigue. They also operate as anabolic agents allowing
the body to burn fat and not muscle.
As a supplement that has no reported side effects,
branched chain amino acids offer many benefits to the
serious bodybuilder.
About the Author
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com
website that provides guidance and information to athletes
at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding
Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this
article.
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