Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


 

 

Informative Articles

Crate Training A Puppy Or Adult Dog
Many people, who unfortunately misunderstand the concept of good crate training, believe that crating a dog for any length of time is cruel and they refuse to even consider it. In fact, a crate really is a wonderful tool when used correctly. Crate...

Finding A Cheap Paintball Gun
Paintball has become a popular sport since its introduction in the early 1980s. Thanks to new technologies, today a beginner paintball player has thousands of options to consider when buying the equipment that suits his skill level and style of...

Highland Falls Golf Club Las Vegas
Highland Falls Golf Club Las Vegas - Highland Falls is one of the sportiest layouts in the Valley. The par-72, 6,512-yard course lies at an elevation of 3,053 feet, which means it offers stunning panoramic views of the Las Vegas Valley. The...

Safe Weight Loss Part 2.
Keeping it off Our first weight loss article on this subject dealt with losing one pound per week, which is achievable for everybody. This article deals with keeping weight off after you lose it, or controlling weight. There is little point...

The Last Chase for Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace
NASCAR veterans Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace are approaching the final days of their stock car racing careers. They had both previously announced that 2005 would be their concluding year as competitive drivers seeking the ultimate crown of NASCAR...

 
Know your bodybuilding supplement - BCAA's

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:

Richard 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.