Science

Do you need BCAAs?

BCAAs are a popular supplement currently used for everything from weight loss to muscle soreness and muscle growth. Let’s explore what they are, how they’re used and if they’re needed.

WHAT ARE BCAAs?

BCAA stands for “branched chain amino acid,” which are building blocks of proteins. A chain of amino acids make up a protein. There are two categories (some argue three), which include essential and non-essential amino acids. ESSENTIAL amino acids are not naturally produced by your body and you must supplement them externally. Foods that have all 9 essential amino acids are called “complete” proteins. Complete proteins are usually animal proteins – everything from milk to meat and cheese. Non-animal product complete proteins include quinoa, hempseed, chia, soy, spinach and a few others. Protein sources that don’t have all 9 essential amino acids are called incomplete proteins. NON-ESSENTIAL amino acids are produced naturally by your body and don’t often need supplementation.

WHY DO PEOPLE USE THEM?

There are many claims about what BCAAs do – let’s investigate them.

  • INCREASED MUSCLE PROTEIN SYTHESIS: Mostly, yes! See below
  • HELP WITH MUSCLE SORENESS: no evidence to support this
  • HELPS CARDIOVASCULAR PERFORMANCE: no evidence to support this
  • HELPS WITH WEIGHT LOSS: no evidence to support this
  • DECREASES FATIGUE (MENTAL) DURING EXERCISE: Slightly lower when supplemented >10g during exercise
  • DECREASES FATIGUE (PHYSICAL) DURING EXERCISE: People claim they increase the time to exhaustion in prolonged endurance exercise – but this has only been shown in lightly trained or untrained athletes.
  • INCREASES FAT OXIDATION IN PROLONGED EXERCISE: Some studies show this, but it’s unsure if this is due to glycogen preservation or not
  • Further studies show no effect on cortisol or insulin levels, as well as epinephrine, etc.

MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS:

While many of the original claims of the usefulness of BCAAs have been debunked over the last few years, one claim that sticks around is its effect on muscle protein synthesis (MPS). This is the idea that supplementing with BCAAs will increase muscle growth and even be muscle sparing during weight loss.

These claims come from studies around leucine, one of the essential amino acids. This amino acid alone was shown to increase MPS due to its effects on mTOR (mammalian target or rapamycin). Various studies explored how supplementing leucine could be used. When leucine was supplemented alone the results weren’t significant, but when paired with a protein source MPS was higher. This is most likely because it interacts with isoleucine and valine to create the best stimulus. Further studies show that if you add leucine to your post workout protein and carb source you’ll have more MPS than with just protein or just carbs. It also reduced protein breakdown.

HOW MUCH LEUCINE?

Most of these studies advocate for supplementing 2.5 g of leucine per meal, for a total of 8-10g of leucine a day.

HOW MUCH LEUCINE IS IN FOOD VS BCAAS?

  • A scoop of whey protein: 2.5 g of leucine
  • 142g of chicken: 2.5 g leucine
  • 142g of round beef: 2.5 g leucine
  • 4.6 whole large eggs: 2.5g of leucine
  • BCAAs: ~2.5g/serving

IS IT SAFE?

TUI (tolerable upper intake) is 500mg/kg, as it can increase ammonia levels.

WHAT’S THE TAKE AWAY MESSAGE?

  • BCAAs are made up of the building blocks of protein, the most important of these for muscle stimulus is leucine
  • When pairing leucine with protein (and, more specifically, the amino acids valine and isoleucine) you have a higher muscle protein synthesis than just carbs or just protein
  • Complete sources of protein are also high in leucine and can be supplemented if BCAAs are cost prohibitive
  • Vegans/vegetarians/those who dislike animal protein would benefit from supplementing BCAAs to ensure they get all their essential amino acids
  • BCAAs do not decrease muscle soreness, help with weight loss, or effect insulin

REFERENCES:

  1. Blomstrand E, Hassmén P, Newsholme EA Effect of branched-chain amino acid supplementation on mental performance . Acta Physiol Scand. (1991)
  2. Consuming a supplement containing branched-chain amino acids during a resistance-training program increases lean mass, muscle strength and fat loss
  3. Elango R, et al Determination of the tolerable upper intake level of leucine in acute dietary studies in young men . Am J Clin Nutr. (2012)
  4. Liu Z, et al Branched chain amino acids activate messenger ribonucleic acid translation regulatory proteins in human skeletal muscle, and glucocorticoids blunt this action . J Clin Endocrinol Metab. (2001)
  5. Lynch CJ, et al Regulation of amino acid-sensitive TOR signaling by leucine analogues in adipocytes . J Cell Biochem. (2000)
  6. Shimomura Y, et al Effects of squat exercise and branched-chain amino acid supplementation on plasma free amino acid concentrations in young women . J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). (2009)
  7. Shimomura Y, et al Branched-chain amino acid supplementation before squat exercise and delayed-onset muscle soreness . Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. (2010)
  8. van Hall G, et al Ingestion of branched-chain amino acids and tryptophan during sustained exercise in man: failure to affect performance . J Physiol. (1995)

June 17, 2017 Fat Loss, Myths, Science, , , , , , , Read more >

Warm Up and Foam Rolling – is there a point?

Why do we warm up?

“Warming up” is a blanket term used to describe the actions we perform prior to an exercise to allow us to exercise injury free and prime us for ideal performance. During a warm up we increase blood flow to the muscles we plan on using, increase our core temperature, increase range of motion, and get our heart rate elevated. These are all necessary to decrease instances of injury and ensure we have the best performance.

Static stretching vs. dynamic warm ups

When I was in elementary school and took PE I remember warming up with static stretches. This involved grabbing various parts of your body and folding them in ways to stretch the muscles prior to exercise we performed. This mode of warm up is no longer recommended – it’s been replaced with dynamic warm ups.

Dynamic warm ups are not static – it’s movement of the muscle to stimulate it for action. This includes things like lunges, kicks, walking, etc. Any sort of movement that increases blood flow to the muscle. Study (source) after study has shown an increase in acute performance after dynamic warm ups vs. static stretching. This has been confirmed in all sorts of populations, from children (source) to D1 collegiate athletes (Source).

Some dynamic warm up videos:
Katie Anne’s Warm UpMegsquat’s Lower Body and Bench Warm Up

Foam Rolling

Over the last few years’ foam rolling has gained a lot of traction. A foam roller is a long foam device that allows someone to manipulate their muscles without the need of a second person. They come in a lot of different types – plastic, foam, some have rivets on them, etc. While I use “foam rolling” in the rest of this article, you can include using items like lacrosse balls, tennis balls, PVC pipe and massage sticks in this topic.

When I asked friends and family why they foam rolled, by far and away the most common response was “To break up the lactic acid in sore muscles, decreasing DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).” This isn’t an accurate point for many reasons. First, lactic acid build up does not cause DOMS. While many theories have been explored – and the exact mechanism isn’t known – the lactic acid theory has been widely rejected and replaced with theories about microtears and inflammatory processes. Second, it gives the idea that the foam roller can cause fascial (tissue/muscle) manipulation at a level to “break up” or “release” anything. Studies have shown that you need somewhere in the neighborhood of 600-900kg of weight to cause meaningful manipulations in fascia (source). In fact, there have been quite a bit of papers debunking the idea that you can “release” fascia without serious force – as stated above.

So why foam roll? Well, there are studies that prove foam rolling increases acute range of motion (source). If you’re foam rolling a “tight” area of your body prior to exercising that area you will find that your range of motion has increased (source). However, this has been noted with any sort of warm up, not just foam rolling. Additionally, the science supports it being just an acute process. If you foam roll on your off days and expect that to carry over to the next day’s exercise you’ll find no improvement. It’s the movements you perform afterwards that are meaningful in long-term increases in flexibility and range of motion.

There’s also been a lot of interesting studies into why foam rolling seems to decrease DOMS (source). There are theories about stimulating pain perception points and even more theories about a placebo effect. Much like the cause of DOMS, the jury is still out on how this can decrease the sensation of soreness.

 

So how should you interpret this data and apply it to your life?

  • If you enjoy foam rolling, keep doing it. Limit it to <10 minutes pre or post workout and include it with other types of warm ups like dynamic stretches and movements.
  • Don’t guilt yourself if you don’t foam roll on your days off. Instead, try other active processes to increase blood flow to your muscles and help with range of motion and flexibility.
  • If foam rolling is not something you enjoy, you don’t have to do it.
  • As always – if it works for you and you feel better before/after you foam roll, keep it up! What works best for you is what YOU should do.

January 10, 2017 Exercise, Myths, Science, , , , , , , Read more >

A Case Against Breakfast

Let me preface this article by saying “If you’re hungry, you should eat.” Plenty of people wake up ravenous, enjoy breakfast, and go on with their day. Others wake up without an appetite and report that when they do eat breakfast, they feel like crap all morning, or they’re hungry twenty minutes later. Without delving into the “What are you eating? How much? Etc” argument, I’d like to present this little piece of science for those of you who want it. If you find breakfast a chore here’s some ammo to shoot at the pro-breakfast crowd always trying to get in your face. If you’re not hungry, you’re not hungry: end of story. Every body is different.

Let’s start with hormones and waking. Cortisol (click the link to read about it) is a huge part of your sensation to wake up. It gradually rises through the night, and reaches its peak when you open your eyes. Your cortisol is highest in the morning and may continue to rise after you wake up, until about 30-45 minutes later. That’s breakfast time. Here’s the deal with cortisol – it antagonizes insulin. Insulin helps pull the sugar from your bloodstream after a meal and put it into your cells to refuel them. Because of this, you end up with a higher blood sugar than you would normally.

The issue is that with a blunted insulin response your cells aren’t getting the energy they need. Simply put, insulin gives the energy directly to the cells, and cortisol gets in the way of them doing that. If your cells are yearning for energy they’re going to send hunger signals to your brain to encourage you to eat and feed your cells. This is the case with people with chronically elevated cortisol levels as well who have trouble maintaining a normal appetite.

What about the fit person?

A fit person will have increased insulin sensitivity, especially as they lean out. They tend to be very responsive to an increase in blood sugar and quick and efficiently pump out insulin to compensate. These people then see their blood glucose drop faster, and tend to get hungrier faster. This is exacerbated in the fasted morning states with a high cortisol. You have an extremely active pancreas pumping out insulin and being countered by cortisol, so you’re pumping out more. This can mean a dramatic decrease in blood glucose. Not so much as to cause hypoglycemia, per se, but enough for your hunger signals to fire up just a short time later.

But why does this not affect ALL people – why are some people breakfast lovers and others aren’t? The level of cortisol in your blood is highly dependent on a lot of factors. Some people simply do not have a high enough level of cortisol to counteract any of the breakfast-induced blood sugar problems. Others, such as diabetics, have a need for a regular blood sugar management. Every individual is different, which is why I say again – if you’re hungry, eat!

Lastly, let’s look at a very specific study targeted at the traditional “If you skip breakfast you’ll gain weight” hoopla. This study was a 16 week controlled study in overweight and obese adults, one group ate breakfast, the other didn’t. Between both groups the average weight loss was 1.18 kgs vs. 1.17 kgs. Essentially, the results showed little difference in weight loss between breakfast eaters and non-breakfast eaters.

So, as I said earlier – eat if you’re hungry, don’t eat if you’re not. If you find breakfast is detrimental to your state of mind (no one likes being ravenous at 9am!) then skip it. It’s your individual choice.

August 6, 2014 Fat Loss, Myths, Nutrition, Science, , , , Read more >

Fasted Cardio: Myth or Fact?

Fasted cardio is one of the hottest topics amongst dieters, especially those who compete in body building. The idea of doing cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning makes sense to some people – with no immediate source of energy, won’t your body burn stored fat for energy? There’s compelling evidence for and against fasted cardio, so I thought I’d break down the main points of various studies for both sides and let you chose.

FOR FASTED CARDIO

One study that is often cited (Bonen, A. et al. (2008). Effect of training in the fasted state on metabolic responses during exercise with carbohydrate intake. Journal of Applied Physiology. Apr;104(40):1045-55) showed that training fasted actually increased your muscle glycogen stores, making it a great adjunct to endurance athlete’s training. The idea is that increasing the body’s ability to store glycogen will allow athletes to compete at higher intensity long term.

Another study looked at supplementing your fasted cardio with caffeine and yohimbe and found that this increased catecholamines in the body, which helped to break down fat stores more readily. So fasted cardio, at least in the short term, increases the bodys’ ability to burn fat.

But, that’s pretty much where the science ends. The idea of fasted cardio – that your body would used its reserves instead of readily available food – was greater than the research. Now powerhouses such as Dr. Layne Norton and pretty much all of science have decided the cons far outweigh the pros.

AGAINST FASTED CARDIO

A lot of data for this comes from a study done through The Strength and Conditioning Journal (Volume 33). They found that the thermogenic effect of exercise (that is, your long term calorie burn) is HIGHER if you’ve eaten before exercise. They also found that training fasted decreased your overall energy output, so if you felt sluggish you didn’t put as much effort into a training session as someone who ate before.

What is more alarming than this is the catabolic effect fasted cardio can gave. Muscle catabolism is exactly what everyone wants to avoid – why train fasted if you could possibly lose muscle in the process? Proteolysis (the break down of protein) is higher in fast training and nitrogen losses more than doubled in this state.

So what’s the take home message with these studies? Know your goals. If you’re trying to maintain muscle and lose fat then eating something before doing your cardio (oatmeal, BCAAs, egg whites, pop tarts, etc.) can help you from losing muscle and keep your energy high. If you’re an endurance athlete then fasted cardio can contribute to your glycogen stores. With this information you can make appropriate decisions based on your own goals and levels of fitness.

February 9, 2014 Exercise, Fat Loss, Myths, Science, , , , Read more >

What is Creatine?

I remember the first time someone told me to take creatine to improve my performance. Like most newbies to fitness I had absolutely no idea what it was or why I’d use it, or even if I should use it. I placed it on the same level as a fat burner or some other useless supplement parroted by people wanting to make money.  In reality, creatine is one of the most effective performance enhancing nutritional supplements out there.

How does it work?

During stress your body releases phosphocreatine to aid in cellular function. Creatine is integral in storing phosphocreatine. This is why it’s cited as increasing strength, but why it’s also important for brain, bones, muscle and liver. Creatine essentially puts more gas in the tank to allow you to perform at higher levels.

Is it safe?

Creatine has undergone a plethora of tests that have confirmed its safety. Most people recommend 2g-5g a day taken with 8oz of water. When taken without water GI upset has been a side effect. If you’ve taken too much diarrhea is a common side effect. It’s important to maintain a good hydration status (drink plenty of water!) while taking creatine. Some people have reported an increase in water retention up to 5 pounds, but this is a highly individualized response.

Who should take it?

Anyone looking to increase their performance may benefit from creatine. Creatine is found naturally in food (like meats, eggs and dairy) and also naturally produced in the body, so in no way is it a “foreign” supplement.

Do not confuse creatine with creatinine, which is the breakdown product of creatine in muscle.

November 10, 2013 Nutrition, Science Read more >