Amino Acids

J

Joe.Muscle

Active Member
Hey guys a personal trainer at the gym who has helped my wife get into phenomal shape (janet jackson 6 pack) really believes and talks about amino acids a lot.

He says this supplement makes a huge difference and highly recommends them.

Now believe it or not with my 12 years of training I have learned and done a lot of creatine, hmb, zma , protein etc...but I don't know Jack Sh-it about amino acids!

Should I???

Is this something that could make a big difference?

Thanks for anyone educated imput!!!
 
Amino acids are what make up protein...

I'm no scientist or expert, but from what I know there's little to no benefit in taking individual amino acids. If you eat plenty of meat and whey, you'll get more than enough of all the amino acids.

From what I remember there are 20 standard amino acids, and 10 of those are "essential", they can't be manufactured by the body and need to be gotten from food.

Meat (and I think whey too) contains complete proteins, which means it has all the essential aminos, so as long as you eat a lot of meat there shouldn't be a lot of benefit to taking suplements.

Get more info from your wife's trainer though.
 
Well, it really depends(doesn`t everything?). If you have your protein in order, they shouldn`t add much. Having EAAs(essential amino acids) post workout seems to help, but nothing earth-shattering.

Vince Gironda had some idea that keeping a constant flow of amino-acids by taking at least 5 5-10 g servings(or more, don`t remember exactly) in-between meals would maintain an anabolic environment, but Gironda was kindof a quack:)

Also, in dosages that would actually matter, they should be fairly cost-prohibitive/inefficient. The only place where amino-acid supplementation would be useful as far as I can see is a Vegan diet based around inferior protein sources(some of the protein containing veggies have a poor amino-acid profile), which may result in some individual aminos lacking.
 
If you'd like a little example of what the guys are saying, check the amino acid profile of your whey powder or liquid aminos...then look up the profile of an egg white.
You'll get a little surprise!
 
Not true. 99% of trainers should stick to exercise instruction and not give advice on diet/supplementation, since most of them don't know what they are talking about. From what I understand, most of them aren't even legally allowed to give diet advice.
 
Also while I am asking dumb questions...since I have a abs definition problems.

Woud back hyper-extension make a difference.

Just wondering if this would pull the love hangles or loose skin in the lower back tighter?
 
Joe, you know the answers to your question. As others said, amino acids make up protein, and your standard protein powder will be fortified with all of them. Meat is a complete protein. The underlying point of all this is to make sure you consume a lot of protein regardless of cutting or bulking.
 
Ya know how many eggs the BB'ers of old used to eat each day? Of course, Whey is more compact and easier. So far as I know, your protein requirements stay the same for bulking or cutting. You'd just adjust the C&F ratios.
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Mar. 07 2007,18:44)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Joe, you know the answers to your question.  As others said, amino acids make up protein, and your standard protein powder will be fortified with all of them.  Meat is a complete protein.  The underlying point of all this is to make sure you consume a lot of protein regardless of cutting or bulking.</div>
You're right Colby!
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Mar. 07 2007,19:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Ya know how many eggs the BB'ers of old used to eat each day? Of course, Whey is more compact and easier. So far as I know, your protein requirements stay the same for bulking or cutting. You'd just adjust the C&amp;F ratios.</div>
I`d add that if you cut carbs hard, you should up the protein intake a bit.

And the trainer is right, but not why he thinks he is...it`s simply that protein is protein sparing:get about a metric fuckton of aminos in your system and it`ll spare muscular protein whilst on a cut. It`ll also cut your wallet down pretty fast to the single digits. And that also assumes that you don`t get protein from other sources, because beyond a certain point(about 1.5g/lb), more protein isn`t necessarily better.

My experience mirrors Totentanz`s when it comes to trainer diet knowledge:you might as well read some muscle-rag, because probably he read that crap idea in one of them as well.
 
I remember reading that pre-workout amino acid supps have had a positive effect -- don't remember if it is an effect on hypertrophy or what...

Byut whey has a pretty good amino acid profile, so pre-workout whey should do about as much for you as any additional AA supplement.
 
I rate BCAA's as the best supplement you can take when cutting. I sip on 10g-15g of BCAA's when training, they're very anti-catabolic and get into your system very quickly as they don't need to be digested in the stomach. This also has the benefit of not forcing the body draw blood away from the working muscles to digest something you've just ingested.

BCAA's are 50% Leucine which is the most anabolic amino-acid and it also increases protein synthesis.

I also take 5g as soon as I wake up, helps get my body out of a catabolic state ASAP.
 
We are still repeating what has already been said and known. &quot;As others said, amino acids make up protein, and your standard protein powder will be fortified with all of them. Meat is a complete protein. The underlying point of all this is to make sure you consume a lot of protein regardless of cutting or bulking.&quot;

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">You're right Colby! </div>

I know Joe, thanks!
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Morgoth is right about the carbs thing though. Carbs are the quickest source of eneregy, and once that is depleted, your body will need to get energy from some where. Most people (pre, during, and post no-carb phase) assume that fat is the next in line, but that's not a direct case. Now imagine you are working out (not doing cardio) and your body is in a very catabolic state. Oops, there goes a little bit more muscle.

Simple, but true. Just simplify your diet and win, eat the right amount of calories for your goals, and get ample amount of protein.

*and I never see reasons to cut carbs unless your a bodybuilder/model crashing your glycerin stores for an upcoming event, but that's less than 1% of the population.*
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Don`t remind me...UD2 starts monday, 14 weeks for contest-prep
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At least I`m having some crap now, in preparation for the total cut-off.

About BCAAs, Bison, have you tried using something like, dunno, whey protein isolate, instead of BCAAs to see if it changes anything in terms of the results you achieve?

From all I know and have experienced(which is not everything, mind you, so this is not gospel, just my opinion), BCAAs are pretty much useless until you get to Poliquin like dosages. And then they become financially unwieldy, and not quite worth it.
 
Whey Isolate is more like Whey Concentrate than BCAA's. It still needs to be digested, so not as good during a workout. Also Isolate contains 10% Leucine compared to BCAA's 50%.

As for cost, I get BCAA's for £36 per kg, and I also buy Leucine @ £23 per kilo. I mix them together to change the ratio to 4:1:1 for Leucine. This is the amino acid I think makes the difference.

As I said, when cutting I find them invaluable for helping me hold onto my hard earned muscle and help keep my energy and strength levels up. I certainly don't find them useless and I don't use silly amounts either.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Mar. 07 2007,17:34)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">If you'd like a little example of what the guys are saying, check the amino acid profile of your whey powder or liquid aminos...then look up the profile of an egg white.
You'll get a little surprise!</div>
What am I looking for? I don't get it. Is this good or bad?
 
This will give you an idea of what a standard dose of whey consists of. Amino acid profiles are on the middle of the page under protein. Your cannister of protein powder should have the individual servings of amino acids on it. If not, look at a similar competitor's servings.
 
I looked again and maybe I'm not seeing it. But what I did see is that per 100g of eggs there is a little more of the amino acids vs whey. Whey did win on a couple of things, but it wasn't dramatic, but still egg won.

So do I have that right?
 
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