I keep reading mixed results regarding supplementation with BCAA’s. Some people say they are basically useless and others say they’re essential supplement to your arsenal. I know on proteinfactory’s site they sell Theta Amino’s which are supposedly BCAA’s in their raw form that actually improve aborption and improve results. So, if you have your diet in order and using other supplements such as whey, zma, multivitamins…are BCAA’s a supplement that will boost your recovery/performance to the next level?
Not an expert, but DeFranco strongly supports l-tyrosine pre-workout. That Avant labs site cited some study that said during workout using bcaa’s was the best. Of course, they also happen to sell.
If you’re using whey, zma, multi, and real food, then what about fish oil?
i take fish oil and most people don’t get enough omega-3’s from their everyday diets. i’m just interested in BCAA’s because i’m not sure if i’m wasting my money or not.
I would think if you consume enough of high quality proteins such as CFM whey, micellar casien, etc, you’d be consuming enough BCAAs. I would rather spend extra $$$ on high quality proteins than spend $$$ on BCAAs and cheaper low quality proteins.
If you don’t mind me asking, what is “CFM whey and micellar casien”. Is that like a special type of each protein?
cfm = cross-flow microfiltration…this basically is the purest form of whey protein isolate. it has a higher amount of BCAA per serving then whey and is aborbed extremely fast and good for post-workout.
micellar is a slow absorbing protein that is good for throughout the day and before bed but not good for post-workout. if i’m not mistaken, pure micellar has all the whey extracted from it.
Who is saying they are useless? I have not read that anywhere, can you be more specific as to where/who exactly is saying this? I can say that several legit experts recommend them, most notably Dr Serrano, Tom Incledon and C.Poliquin. If you use them for any length of time using the proper dosage, I don’t think you will have any question as to whether they are effective, they are.
Thanks for the explanation. How do you check to see if this is the form of protein you’re getting?
Check the ingredients, use a reputable supplier/manufacturer or contact the manufacturer direct.
Yup what no23 said. CFM whey is the highest quality for whey protein and micellar casien is the highest quality for caseinate. They come from milk protein which composed of 80%casien and 20%whey. To get CFM and micellar casien, they use very sophiscated type of filteration. They are the most expensive proteins out there. I usually have 50/50% of each for breakfast with oats and banana (my own MRP shake). I also take another one before bedtime with fibers and 1 TBS of hemp oil (no carbs). For post workout shake, I take CFM whey only with maltodextrins (no fat). Both also have high bioactives which can improve your health. The other types such as concenrate whey, calcium casinate, etc, they tend to have lower or no bioactives b/c they were destroyed during flitering process. Like Clemson said, you get what you pay for 
considering bcaa’s are so cheap also, i can’t see cost being a huge issue. BCAA’s are effective and cheap.
yeah i agree with them being cheap. i made a lot of changes over the past few months with regards to diet and supps and i’ve made so much progress, its just hard to narrow down what is actually working and what isn’t.
wow thats an expensive protein habit…lol.
Not really - most people don’t have access to big fund$ so they have to try and make the next best thing.
Whether thats making their own Surge or Go drinks - you have to do whatever it takes.
… and you know exactly what’s going into it!
And like I said on another thread - all things being equal - often homemade PWO drinks or MRPs are superior for the athlete.
Also … Just on this point about supplements …
Lets keep things in perspective -
If you have the money - buy the best
If you don’t have the money do the next best you can
… and if you’re sitting in Dunkin’ Donuts now sipping a double latte and blowing the frost of a cremed donut and trying to figure out why you don’t have the money to buy the best - I wouldn’t even bother with supplements…
What I’m saying is that like in life you gotta make the best of what you got and rememeber Ben, Mo, TIm or Marion weren’t born drinking Go! from a babies bottle … they eventually graduated to expensive supplements - but they all at some stage had to make do with the best-supplement their money could buy.
[Even mere immortals like N4D - read his bio again]
Also - what use is it in having the best or most expensive supplements in the world and the worst attitude to training or poorest training log in the world?
All I’m saying is that younger athletes should understand the word ‘supplement’ in its original form - there are no magic bullets.
LOL. Actually, it’s much cheaper than Surge! Trust me…
People get mixed results because individual biochemistry does not allow for the successes of the few in the many. One person that swears by leucine, a leucine metabolite, or isoleucine or valine may have observed success only due to a relative deficiency or to a deficiency of related cofactors (particularly, in the case of the BCAA’s: B1, B5, and lipoic acid).
Perhaps the observation worth discussing is, how can we cut to the chase and find out what those performance-limiting deficiencies are in each individual?