Do I need to take BCAAs daily?

[Heatrae]

Originally I went to a trainer for a program a year ago, she recommended BCAAs in pill form (2 prior to wo and 2 after).

I am no longer on her program but wanted to know if I'm not a fitness competitor, do I really need to be taking these things while on NROL and TNT?

Don't wanna waste the money if it's not necessary. I am a female trying to lose this layer of body fat and increase sexy muscles (yay!)

Thanks!

[Heatrae]

BTW, I currently take a pre/post natal multi (I am trying to strengthen my hair it breaks really easily and won't grow past a certain length); fish oil, my thyroid med (Armour); and then glutamine after each work out (chew tablets)

Thanks!

[CharDar]

I'd like to know more about BCAA's too.

[Shale]

I think they helped me w/ recovery a bit but other than that...I think you are better off spending your money on a good protein powder. If you think you should keep them, you can buy PP with BCAA's.

[Lost Dog]

No. You don't need them if you get enough protein from other sources. And, if you don't, eat more protein and skip the BCAAs.

Here are a couple of threads where it was discussed.

Do I need BCAA?

BCAA question

[Frank.S]

you need BCAAs..

but you dont need them in some capsule form. Whey, eggs, etc all have tons of BCAAs.

4 caps is only a couple grams of bcaas anyway.. nothing.

[Barrett]

Yes I totally agree with Frank and Lost Dog. If you were to supplement anything I would use whey protein, b/c they have BCAAs in them.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

you need BCAAs..

but you dont need them in some capsule form. Whey, eggs, etc all have tons of BCAAs.

4 caps is only a couple grams of bcaas anyway.. nothing.

right

from one of those other threads...

Originally Posted by Mr Alan Aragon

What I would personally take away from those results is this -- 5g BCAA is about the equivalent cost of 1 scoop of whey, which contains 15g more protein, all the rest of the EAAs, and a scoop of whey also contains...(drum roll)... about 5g BCAA.

Let me also reiterate that there are other beneficial cofactors and antiox benefit in whey, versus just BCAA. And if the extra 60 calories near the training bout bothers you, then perhaps you should re-think your calorie placement strategy. I look at whey as "BCAA-Plus". It's got BCAA plus a whole lot more, for the same price on a per-gram-of-BCAA basis.

20g P worth of whey has 5g BCAAs, plus more good stuff.

[coach hale]

Great read
BCAA roundtable featuring various nutrition consultants
BCAA Supplementation Roundtable | Mind and Muscle

Key points from: 4th Amino Acid Workshop Interrelationship between Physical Activity and Branched-Chain Amino Acids - Michael Gleeson
The Practical Scientist 5 | Mind and Muscle

thanks
coach hale
www.maxcondition.com