Should you take whey, BCAAs, or both? Are you missing out on gains if you don’t?
No-one doubts that these products can be effective for building muscle. But do you need both? Or is one better than the other? (for an extremely effective way to train to stimulate growth, click here to download my full workouts here – they are free)
It’s a big debate – Whey or BCAAs.
Personally, I don’t think there’s much of a debate. But if you want this issue cleared up and know what you need to do to maximize muscle growth, read this short article. It’ll only take you a minute.
Here’s my short answer: I don’t see any reason for taking BCAAs if you’re getting all the protein you need on a daily basis to build muscle.
The one time they are definitely recommended is when you are going unfed for a period and will still be training. Intermittent Fasting people utilize BCAAs around their workouts to good effect in this way.
Apart from that, I don’t take them.
When you buy BCAAs, you are getting the following amino acids:
- Leucine
- Isoleucine
- Valine
But you get these aminos in abundance from the protein you eat (and from whey). It begs the question: Would adding extra amounts of these aminos have an additional benefit?
Considering that the research [1] that purports to show such an advantage is carried out on people who are not already getting enough daily protein (about 50%), and other studies [2] are paid for by supplements companies with an “incredible” new BCAA supplement to market, things start getting a little doubtful.
Michael Matthews does a great job explaining the above issues and gives a no B.S. explanation as to why he thinks BCAAs are way overrated here.
Other studies [3] [4] show the opposite i.e. that whey alone is actually better at stimulating muscle protein synthesis than BCAAs. Researchers concluded:
“These results suggest that ingestion of WPH, compared with ingestion of a mixture of amino acids with an identical amino acid composition, induces greater changes in the post-exercise gene expression profile via activation of the proteins ERK1/2 and HIF-1α.”
and…
“These results indicate that WPH may include active components that are superior to amino acids for stimulating muscle protein synthesis and initiating translation.”
Like I stated above. If you’re getting your daily requirement of protein from the best quality sources (including meat, dairy, whey), you are getting all the aminos you need in the correct quantities. Furthermore, taking whole protein alone may even be superior than taking it in conjunction with additional constituent amino acids.
For your information, the whey proteins I recommend are Optimum Nutrition Whey in the USA and Impact Whey from MyProtein for Europe.
To clarify, whether you’re “bulking” or “cutting”, like with my Total Six Pack Abs fat loss plan, makes no difference. Your total protein intake from quality sources is king here (unless you are fasting).
Couple intense training with quality sufficient protein intake and you’ll succeed. Download Targeted Hypertrophy Training and start growing like these guys did. It’s 100% free. No catches…
Stay Motivated!
Mark
References:
[1] Combined effects of caloric restriction and branched-chain amino acid supplementation on body composition and exercise performance in elite wrestlers. Int J Sports Med. 1997 Jan;18(1):47-55.
[2] This study that supposedly produced steroid-like gains with BCAAs was actually unpublished (weird eh?). This is all I can show you of it.
[3] Post-exercise impact of ingested whey protein hydrolysate on gene expression profiles in rat skeletal muscle: activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α. Br J Nutr. 2014 Jun 28;111(12):2067-78. doi: 10.1017/S0007114514000233. Epub 2014 Mar 6.
[4] Post-exercise whey protein hydrolysate supplementation induces a greater increase in muscle protein synthesis than its constituent amino acid content. Br J Nutr. 2013 Sep 28;110(6):981-7. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512006174. Epub 2013 Feb 7.
A couple years ago in my training I always took both. Both before and after my workouts. But after a year I hadn’t noticed any benefit of the BCAA’s on top of the protein powder. So I stopped spending money on the BCAA and only took whey. Made no difference as far as I could see and I saved a stack of money.
Besides possibly having an allergic reaction to whey, it’s full of sugar. Whey on it’s own should ellict an insulin response but they spike it with sugar to make it taste better. So if you’re insulin sensitive, it’s fine but if you are laying down fat best to lay off until you get the insulin issue under control. I say possible allergic reaction because it’s my experience, I can’t take the stuff, but amino acids I have no problem with. BCAAs are supposed to be directly involved with around 35% of muscle repair. I combine them with citrullcine, ornithine aKG, and ascobic acid.
When is THT coming to the IPhone?
What is the best thing to drink during your workouts. I was told BCAA’s are great to take while you are working out. Is this true?
@Dan. I’m not aware of any whey with sugar in it (mine certainly doesn’t). Some are sweetened with sucralose at no calories and plenty of new Wheys are naturally sweetened calorie-free with Stevia, which I personally take.
Personally I haven’t noticed any additional gains since starting to take BCAA, however I have noticed a drastic decrease of DOMS; as to say they are almost non-existent now! Don’t know if this is definitely down to the BCAA though, it could be down to a host of other factors. I generally take 3-4g immediately after a workout with 40g whey (in milk) and 1g fish oil. Virtually no pain the next day and none at all the day after. My thoughts were that as these proteins basically skip the met process and go straight to the muscles, they are probably helping as a quick fix 🙂 as I say though, could also be down to many other factors. Any thoughts/experiences of a similar nature from anyone else?
Interesting ,
But timing of these product will help you heaps
I take hydro whey from ON it has added bcaas
And EEAs
I notice that I do see results with this whey
Prehaps bcaas are pointless if there is no
EEAs . We do need all animos not just the 3 bcaas
Also in a cutting phase i end up having
Bcaas as a pre intra and post. Which allows me
To have enegry on a low carb intake
Optimal Nutrition has acesulfame, an artificial sweetener. So does impact whey, but they sell one that I might try that uses stevia instead.
What about BCAA before workout first thing in the morning to workout in a fasted state and encourage using body fat for fuel? I know this is probably so theoretical that there is debate. Then a meal with plenty of protein powder, mostly whey right after finishing.
@Joe Ciulla. I recommend a solid food meal or a whey shake an hour or so before training. The aminos from this be going into your bloodstream during the workout, so again I would be intra-workout BCAAs as unnecessary.
BCAAs? More marketing bullshit from supplement companies that hook so many fools in.
I know here in Canada I’ve run into Whey & even Creative spiked with large amounts of sugar. I remember 1 company, I think it was 6 star muscle. Big letters “creatine” when you read the back in 1 40g scoup 30g was sugar. Their Whey also has something like 10-20g of sugar in a 50g scoup. They come out with funky flavors like “cookies n cream” then load it up with sugar
I use fitness labs whey protein no flavor no sugar no bs just protein. Flavor and sugar as needed.
Spot on with this write-up, I truly believe that this
website needs far more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read
through more, thanks for the info!