Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalia
I take Xtend. Never tried pills. One thing I don't like about taking it before training is it's highly diuretic, at least for me.  |
Yeah, but that's not the BCAA's doing this - if you just take them preworkout in the 2:1:1 ratio (Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine), you shouldn't notice this effect. I like the Optimum Nutirion BCAA caps... 20 caps preworkout will deliver 10 grams of the three BCAAs... and that's all that's in there - nothing fancy - and it works!
XTend has 10 milligrams of B6 for each 11.5-gram serving. Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) is a natural diuretic...
The studies that support the beneficial effects BCAA's have on combating central fatigue and increasing protein synthesis often use a 10-gram dose, but I imagine women can typically do well with a sub-10 grams, due to less lean body mass and subsquent strain put on the body during training, as compared to men (more muscle means heavier loads are being placed on the recovery processes, organs and joints - things that don't "hypertrophy" from repeated exercise... your mind, liver, kidneys, skeletal system will always be the same)... these three essential aminos comprise a third of the human body’s skeletal muscle and almost a quarter of the protein broken down from muscle during training. Taking them preworkout does provide a performance edge... especially for the athlete that is glycogen depleted. With that, I'd still suggest staying above five grams preworkout.... 5-10 grams Pre-WO would be a good rule.
Honestly, I'd just use a standard BCAA 2:1:1 mix with a scoop of whey and glutamine PWO when carb depleting - otherwise whey and carbohydrate. Just my .02...