Download draft - Write Now

Logan Miller
English 105
2/9/2016
730007124
Benefits of BCAA Supplementation
Waking up the morning after an intense workout can make anybody question why they
ever decided to run that far or spend that time in the gym if their reward was a soreness all over
that can make everything painful for the rest of the day. Fatigue and muscle soreness turn many
people away from intense physical activity but there are ways to reduce these unpleasant effects
after training. Recent studies have shown that supplementing intense physical exercise with
BCAA’s can significant reduce soreness muscle fatigue and damage.
BCAA stands for branched chain amino acids and consist of three essential amino acids
valine, leucine and isoleucine. A recent study was conducted to test the benefits of BCAA’s in
people who participate in intense physical exercise. Researchers conducted a double blind
experiment with twelve long distance runners that were both male and female around the age of
twenty. They ran a total distance of 64 km for the women and 86 km for the men with a variety
of uphill, downhill and flat ground running. The goal was to test specifically muscle soreness,
damage, and inflammation. One group received a drink containing BCAA and the other received
a placebo. These participants all completed the same long distance running program, took the
supplement drink or the placebo drink at the same time and ate the same food. They were not
allowed to take any medicine, other supplements or to eat any food not given to them by the
researchers. Soreness and fatigue were both measured with the Visual Analog Scale which is a
scale from one to ten; one being no soreness and ten being extremely painful. To accurately
measure muscle damage and inflammation blood samples were taken at the beginning and end of
the experiment and used to measure the levels of plasma CK, lactate dehydrogenase, and serum
myoglobin.
At the end of the study the group that had been receiving BCAA supplement reported
significantly less soreness than the group that received the placebo. Also the group taking the
BCAA’s reported no increase in whole body fatigue after the physical exercise and reduced
fatigue during the exercise when compared to the placebo group. Previous studies have shown
that the levels of plasma CK and lactate dehydrogenase correlate with soreness cause for the
most part by downhill running. There group that was given the supplement drink also show
smaller percentage levels of plasma CK, and lactate dehydrogenase which indicated less muscle
damage and inflammation. Overall the researchers can conclude that there is a clear correlation
between taking BCAA’s and less muscle soreness, damage, and inflammation.
There have been a number of other studies that all have gotten the same results of this
study. One of these was done on other endurance athletes such as cyclists people participating in
a triathlon and several other groups of long distance runners. These studies results were the same
and showed suppressed muscle breakdown and levels of lactate dehydrogenase which show less
muscle soreness. Also there have been studies that have shown reduced soreness in areas other
than endurance exercise such as resistance exercise which shows the helpfulness of BCAA’s
across several different types of intense physical exercise.
Waking up with soreness if a familiar experience to anyone who participates in any type
of intense physical exercise. This study focus on the usefulness of BCAA’s to combat soreness
and fatigue on long distance runners because these two factors greatly affect their physical
training: but there have been many other studies that show many other benefits as well which are
more beneficial in other forms of physical exercise. Some of these other benefits are increasing
protein synthesis and decreasing protein breakdown both of which have an effect on protein
metabolism. These benefits are more beneficial to people who want to increase their muscle
mass or overall strength such as powerlifters, crossfitters, people who lift weights or any one
who participates in some form of resistance training with the goal of increasing muscle mass and
strength.
The intense pain from soreness that is a reward for exercising can turn many people away
from intense forms of exercise but this study proves that supplementing exercise with BCAA’s
can help reduce theses effects. The study showed both less reported soreness and fatigue as well
as use blood tests to confirm the results. The benefit of BCAA’s also expand outside of just
helping soreness and can help with protein synthesis which expands the usefulness of BCAA’s to
many other types of intense physical exercise.
Works Cited
Matsumoto, K. et al. “Branched-chain Amino Acid Supplementation Attenuates Muscle Soreness, Muscle
Damage and Inflammation During an Intensive Training Program.” Journal of Sports Medicine
and Physical Fitness 49.4 (2009): 424-31. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.