EndurElite Chief Endurance Officer Matt Mosman discusses the top 3 benefits of BCAAs for runners, cyclists, and other endurance athletes.
Video Transcription:
Woohoo! I don't know if it's the great 10 mile run I just got done with or the Perform Elite pumping through my veins, but I am so excited, EndurElite family of fast, to bring you today's endurance fast fact. Now, today, we're gonna be talking about the BCAA's leucine, isoleucine, and valine, and how they can benefit your endurance performance. Now, some of you may be saying, "Hey Matt, aren't them BCAAs for that gym bro type crowd?" And they kinda are, but they can have three really great benefits on your endurance performance. And here's what they are.
BCAAs Blunt Muscle Fatigue During Endurance Exercise
One, BCAAs can help blunt fatigue during exercise by competing with tryptophan in the brain. Now, we all know tryptophan makes you pretty sleepy from, you know, eating things like too much turkey, or exercising really hard. So BCAAs just say, "Tryptophan, we're gonna take your place right now, so get the hell out of there so we can keep on exercising hard." So that's the first way BCAAs can benefit endurance performance.
BCAAs Reduce Muscle Protein Breakdown
Two, BCAAs can help reduce muscle protein breakdown during exercise. So when you're running or riding, this puts a tremendous amount of stress on your muscles, especially as you exercise more intensely, which leads to muscle protein breakdown, which leads to fatigue. So BCAAs can help combat this, while also helping to kind of kick start the recovery process.
BCAAs Can Provide Energy To Working Muscles
Now, the third way that BCAAs can benefit endurance performance is they can actually act as an intramuscular fuel source during long exercise when glucose and glycogen levels become depleted, or during really intense bouts of exercise.
So, those are the three ways that BCAAs can benefit your endurance performance. And there's actually a study that just came out that showed BCAAs can improve cycling and sprinting performance by approximately 11%. Say what? Yes. I'm dead serious. There's a whole article on the EndurElite website on this study I highly encourage for you to check out.
So that's the 411 on BCAAs and how they can help you improve endurance performance, and this is also part of the reason we put BCAAs in our sports drink, SustainElite. All right, EndurElite family of fast, I hope you all have an awesome super-duper weekend, and until next time, stay fueled, stay focused, and stay fast.
