Welcome to Grappling Lane #10!
In this week’s issue, we looked at 3 studies to find out more about BCAA supplements.
I touch on:
What are BCAA supplements
Research key findings and how age, diet and training status alter the effects
Why the research about BCAA has its limitations
Let’s go 👊
Before we jump in…
Some key definitions that will make your life easier:
Definition: DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness)
The pain you feel in your muscles after an intense exercise session. It varies from slight tenderness and stiffness to holy-sh*t I need to hold onto the sink to sit down on the toilet. It usually peaks between 24-48 hours after exercise and is gone within 7 days.
Why are BCAA’s a thing
Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, are critical for various metabolic processes in the body. Out of the 20 amino acids, 9 are considered to be essential, meaning they cannot be synthesized in the body and must come from the diet.
Of these essential amino acids (EAAs), 3 of them are known as branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). The BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) are a special group of essential amino acids due to their ability to bypass metabolism in the liver after ingestion and be oxidized directly within skeletal muscle.
After a hard training session, the muscle fibres are damaged. This leads to muscle stiffness, reduced power output and general discomfort.
For individuals that frequently engage in intense exercise sessions, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) have been considered a dietary intervention to speed up recovery time.
Research findings
It seems like the effects of BCAA’s are mostly present in the 24-48 hour range of exercise.
Although the effect of BCAA supplementation on DOMS did not vary significantly from day to day, the magnitude of the effect appeared largest 48 hours following exercise. BCAA supplementation reduced DOMS consistently across 100% of the effects analyzed in the current study.
The benefits are related only to recovery, and not to performance-related benefits during the actual exercise. (it can make you recover faster, not lift heavier) However, an argument can be made that enhanced recovery = you can push yourself more in the gym if you don’t feel as broken. However, this is more of a subjective feeling rather than a study.
Previous research indicated that BCAA supplementation prior to, and during exercise had little impact on heart rate, core temperature, blood lactate concentration, or exercise performance during prolonged cycling. It did not appear to impact cognitive performance, mood, perceived exercise, comfort, or exercise performance.
The people that had the best results were minimally trained people.
The results of the current study are not without limitation. It stands to reason that BCAA supplementation would be most effective in suppressing DOMS and enhancing recovery in untrained or minimally trained individuals. This is likely due to the fact that muscle performance is enhanced in highly trained participants, which reduces pain-inflicting damage to muscle tissue while also speeding the rate of recovery.
This study found out that, when compared to a diet consisting of approx 1.2g/kg/day of protein, the effects were likely negligible.
BCAAs are important to ingest on a daily basis, but many protein sources, such as meat and eggs, already provide sufficient BCAAs. Consequently, supplementation does not enhance gains in muscle strength or hypertrophy when adequate protein is consumed.
Therefore, when consumed with a diet consisting of 1.2 g/kg/day protein and presumably higher daily protein intakes, it appears BCAA effects on muscle recovery are negligible.
BCAA supplementation appears to be most effective only in terms of recovery between exercise sessions and the preservation of both muscle mass and muscle performance under a calorie deficit. (source)
Study limitations
A lot of the studies reviewed in the meta-analysis had a majority younger population at their core. Although the paper mentions that “the evidence suggests that BCAA supplementation improves muscle protein synthesis in older adults”, more research is needed.
The results compared BCAA supplementation to placebo and did not include the supplementation of whole proteins or other dietary supplements. With BCAA being a dietary supplement, the other factors around it have a critical input on its effectiveness.
The results are limited to recovery following a single session of strenuous exercise, and should not be extended to imply that the same improvements will be experienced by someone with a structured, consistent exercise programme.
The magnitude of effects varies by time of ingestion, the amount ingested, the ratio of specific amino acids in the formula, intensity of exercise and many other factors. The relatively small body of literature makes it hard to generalise a rule-set, however, the results suggest that some benefits will be seen in untrained individuals regardless of the factors above.
While fitness “gurus” with differing philosophies may always be debating over the necessity of different sport supplements, the research has the potential to paint a clearer, more objective picture.
In the case of BCAAs, however, the research is incredibly mixed. Differences in resistance and endurance exercise protocols, whether dietary control was utilized, the training status of the study participants, whether supplementation was acute or chronic, the dosing of BCAAs, and the specific performance variables under investigation all have an impact on the mixed findings found in the literature, making direct comparisons across individual studies difficult as well.
TLDR
Diet is still king. With proper protein levels, BCAA’s are not required.
The research seems to suggest that untrained people and people who do not get enough protein might see some benefits in recovery.
If you recover properly, taking a BCAA supplement does not enhance gains in muscle strength or hypertrophy when adequate protein is consumed.
Most of the research was done on young males. While some research mention elderly populations and increased recovery, it has not been done at a scale large enough to generalise any findings.
Conclusion
In terms of muscle protein synthesis and subsequent muscular hypertrophy the literature does not support the claims many supplement manufacturers make about their BCAA products.
It does not appear that BCAAs offer a significant benefit to increase muscle mass or size in college-aged, trained males when taken before, during, or after exercise.
Whether hypocaloric or consuming sufficient calories, BCAAs do not increase muscle mass in conjunction with 8 weeks of resistance training. The value of BCAA supplementation in this population, however, is more likely to be its potential to preserve muscle mass over time in states of hypocalorism.
Supplementation with BCAAs is not necessary under a diet with adequate protein.
What a super helpful and non-bias article! I learned a lot