I use BCAA’s w/glutamine and Free form AA’s.
I use the Serrano ones and I love them. I think SST makes them or something like that. Anyway, Tate and Infinity sell them.
They are great during cal/carb restricted diets for keeping strength/muscle. During a ‘making’ weight situation they are very useful.
For bulking bodybuilders who are carb/cal high I don’t know if they are of much use.
Just worth mentioning that the BCAA’s that CP uses/sells are of a different ratio to any mentioned above.
4:1:1 L-leucine:L-isoleucine:L-valine
It’s a much higher leucine content, which seems to be the theme of the day as the new surge formulation contains no added BCAA’s as such, only 4 gms of L-Leucine (as well as other tinkering with protein/carb ratios)
Anyone tried CT’s protocol? It would be fairly expensive with the dosage he recommends but if the gains were in the range he claimed (2-4lbs per week I believe) it would be well worth it.
I have for one workout (I use powdered BCAA’s in the 4:1:1 ratio for workouts) and although I’m dieting, I did what was for me, quite a brutal workout.
Nearly no DOMS despite being on 1900cals daily. It’s convinced me that it’s the way to go as soon as I’ve finished cutting.
I’m becoming a big believer of BCAAs around workout time. I put 30 grams of powder in a pre/during workout shake and consume it while I’m warming up and continue sipping till the end. Post workout shake afterwards and my recovery is much improved since implementing this. Only thing different that I know of is the BCAAs.
So I bought a bottle of Body Fortress premium amino 3000, from a friend for $5, he wasn’t using them and I felt like messing around with them. They say they have BCAAs in them. The nutrition label is long and boring so I am not posting it. Anyone else seen these? I bet I bought garbage, anyone know anything?
While I would say the body fortress aminos arent garbage, there is not too much BCAA in them. They have a small amount of a lot of amino acids, but not a large amount of Branched Chain Amino Acids.
There whey protein can be found at wal-mart and for the price 23g of protein, 4g of BCAA included aint bad. You aren’t going to get much BCAA for $5 though I would say aminos are still good to take for overall health.
[quote]Peeott wrote:
Anyone tried CT’s protocol? It would be fairly expensive with the dosage he recommends but if the gains were in the range he claimed (2-4lbs per week I believe) it would be well worth it.[/quote]
What is CT’s BCAA protocol?
[quote]olinerules87 wrote:
Peeott wrote:
Anyone tried CT’s protocol? It would be fairly expensive with the dosage he recommends but if the gains were in the range he claimed (2-4lbs per week I believe) it would be well worth it.
What is CT’s BCAA protocol?[/quote]
nvm. found it. for anyone else who wants it:
Christian Thibaudeau’s BCAA Protocols
Christian Thibaudeau is on the high end of the scale, but the results speak for themselves:
“Over the past year, I’ve had several clients gain up to 8 pounds of lean mass in 2 weeks using my protocol. While most of my clients don’t gain 8 pounds in two weeks, most will gain an average of 1-2 pounds per week over the first 8 weeks of use.”
Here’s what Christian recommends:
5 servings of 5-10 grams per day (i.e. about 4 to 8 Biotest BCAA tablets):
Upon waking up (especially if you engage in pre-breakfast cardio).
Between breakfast and lunch.
Between lunch and supper.
Mid-evening.
Before going to bed.
“Each serving would ideally be 10 grams; that will give you the best gains by far. The results are very close to being drug-like, and I’m not one to say this lightly. I put my reputation on the line.”
Chad Waterbury’s BCAA Protocols
Chad Waterbury has devised several BCAA protocols for his clients, some as high as 20 grams per serving and some as low as 3 grams per serving.
One of his favorites, though, is his “Mid-Sleep BCAA Protocol for Cutting or Bulking.”
“I’ve long stressed the importance of night-time feedings for growth and recovery. Problem is, most people don’t want to get up in the middle of the night and have a protein shake. But with a good BCAA supplement, all they need to do is have the pills sitting next to their alarm clock with a glass of water. They wake up briefly, take the pills, and they’re back asleep.”
Chad’s nighttime protocol calls for 1.5 grams of BCAA per 25 pounds of lean body mass. In other words, a 200-pound man would take roughly 8 Biotest BCAA tablets upon awakening.
Chad is also big on using BCAA for cutting, for which he prescribes 0.75 grams of BCAA per 25 pounds of LBM four times a day, between meals. (That equals about 4 Biotest BCAA tablets 4 times a day, for the prototypical 200-pound man.)
John Berardi’s BCAA Protocols
While Christian and Chad probably represent two ends of the BCAA dose spectrum, nutritionist John Berardi’s preferences lie somewhere in the middle.
For muscle gain or athletic performance, John recommends:
Non-Training Days: 4 Biotest BCAA tablets (roughly 5 grams), 2 or 3 times a day, split evenly throughout the day.
Training days: 4 Biotest BCAA tablets upon waking, 4 tablets during training, and 4 tablets after training, the two latter doses being in addition to a serving of Biotest’s Surge.
However, John also has a pretty interesting protocol that he uses on himself every couple of years to get super ripped. Get this, John Berardi, Mr. “Massive Eating” himself, will occasionally go on a stint where he eats 3 meals a day, totaling about 2,000 calories, interspersed with three 10-gram “feedings” of BCAA.
The large amounts of BCAA offset any potential muscle loss from the fairly severe bout of calorie restriction.