Is it beneficial for an athlete to take an amino acid supplement? As a competitive athlete, your muscular system needs to be at its best. Amino acids help you be stronger, recover faster, perform even better and many more.  Read below to learn the top 10 benefits of Amino Acids for Athletes.

1. Enhance Protein Synthesis – Lean Muscle Growth

• They are well known for triggering protein synthesis (the making of muscle).
• The combination of Amino Acids (AA’s) with resistance training results in maximal protein synthesis, thus giving you better results.
• Another cool benefit is muscle preservation during off times from training due to injury/surgery, a need for a break from training or lack of time.
• BCAA’s trigger lean muscle growth even in the absence of exercise assuming you’re taking the right blend and dosage.
• The preservation of lean muscle tissue can keep metabolism up and help prevent fat gain when inactive as well.

2. Amino Acids Help the Over 35 Population

• Sadly, the activation of protein synthesis is impaired, dropping off after age 35.
• This combined with declines in dietary intake of protein contributes to muscle loss and sarcopenia (muscle cell shrinkage).
• AA’s aid in muscle preservation related to aging.

3. Increase Fat Burning and Support Fat Loss

• Research shows people with higher AA comsumption have less body fat, more muscle and better body compositions.
• Leucine is considered the magic bullet for leanness. However, it must be consumed in balance with isoleucine and valine for effectiveness.
• Isoleucine improves glucose intolerance (aids in balancing sugar levels in the blood) while leucine increases energy expenditure and fat oxidation.

4. Support Hormone Balance

• Research shows in men that 6g of AA’s consumed daily for just 3 weeks compared to a placebo group had higher testosterone and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. In addition, they also had lower biomarkers of inflammation.
• Another study showed people support with AA’s had faster recovery times and had lower fatigue scores after 120 minutes post-workout.

5. May Improve Strength Development with Training

• Research shows AA supplementation in conjunction with protein supplementation leads to greater strength development with strength training.
• Evidence suggests a diet rich in AAs from multiple sources including meat, eggs, protein powders and AA supplements for maximizing strength results from training.

6. Enhance Endurance Performance & Decrease Fatigue

• Reducing fatigue and improving endurance performance is the clinical trial where AA’s perform most impressively.
• First, AA’s can be burned as energy to maintain ATP (body’s fuel) energy levels during glycogen-depleting exercise. AA’s may also enhance the body’s ability to burn fat, increasing the accessible energy pool.
• Second, AA’s prevent central fatigue of the nervous system by inhibiting tryptophan uptake. Tryptophan gets its claim to fame from turkey – the “turkey” coma. Studies showed that participants consuming only 300mg of AA’s for 3 days compared to the placebo competed in an exhaustive exercise trail had 17.2% greater resistance to fatigue.

7. Decrease Muscle Soreness and Improve Recovery

• Research has shown reductions in muscle soreness and recovery times in both trained and untrained populations. The fact that it reduces soreness and recovery times in the untrained population is especially noteworthy as this population tends to have more severe soreness when starting a workout regimen.
• AA’s are considered a gem of workout supplements because they help preserve muscle integrity while reducing post-workout soreness. You can train at a higher intensity more frequently.

8. Prevent Muscle Loss During Endurance/Long Duration Exercise

• In addition to improving endurance performance, AA’s prevent muscle loss during ultra-endurance exercise.
• Supplementing with AA’s helps to prevent catabolism by improving the overall energy-burning pool so amino acids aren’t released from muscle tissue.

9. Improve Insulin Health and May Reduce Diabetes Risk

• Isoleucine improves glucose tolerance on its own.
• Leucine, isoleucine and valine together can support insulin sensitivity and metabolic rate for improved body composition.
• If you are a diabetic, you should NOT be supplementing with AA’s due to dysfunctional AA metabolism. Consult with your physician.

10. Correlate with Longevity and Are Therapeutic

• Used in medicine to treat liver disease, prevent muscle loss with aging and reduce mortality risk with cancer.
• Anti-aging effect because they increase the formation of new mitochondria (the “power house” of the cell).
• They’ve also been found to improve cognition because the effect they have on neurotransmitters, improving synthesis of glutamate and GABA and inhibiting serotonin.

Amino Acid Complex

• Fast Absorption – Complete Absorption – Take ½ the Dose of Protein and Get Double the Result
• Supports Muscle Recovery After Exercise
• Supports Muscle Strength and Function
• Supports Muscle and Joints
• Prevents Muscle Loss due to Injury/Surgery/Aging
• Supports Muscle Protein Synthesis in the Young and the Elderly