Can You Take BCAAs in the Morning?

There’s a lot of different advice on the Internet and in local gyms regarding the best ways to use fitness supplements. These products are a staple of exercise regimens the world over, and for good reason: A quality pre-, mid-, or post-workout supplement can mean the difference between productive trips to the gym that lead to noticeable gains and wasted hours lifting weights with little to show for it. And while the importance and effectiveness of fitness supplements are not in doubt, there is some debate regarding the best way to use supplements like BCAAs. One common question relates to when you should use these products; for example, can you take BCAA supplements in the morning? To learn the answer, keep reading as the people at aminoVITAL® shed some light on this contentious topic.

Does It Matter When You Take BCAA Supplements?

Perhaps the most common bit of conventional wisdom governing when you should take supplements is that you should drink your protein or amino acid shake right after working out. In many cases, this belief is well-founded, as there are a number of biological processes that can greatly improve the effectiveness of supplements right after exercise, whether you work out in the morning or not. However, this mantra doesn’t tell the whole story.

If you find yourself wondering if it matters when you take your BCAAs, know that timing absolutely makes a difference with these (and other) supplements due to the way the body works to recover from exercise. After you finish at the gym, your muscles are probably in a sorry state, thanks to the damage caused by the physical stress of exercise and the breakdown brought on through the process of catabolism. To repair this damage, your body kicks off another process known as muscle protein synthesis, or MPS.

At this point, your system will take whatever resources are handy and use them to build new tissues, repairing the damaged areas and reinforcing them with additional muscle mass. This leads to the gains coveted by so many and helps the person in question prepare for their next workout, though MPS doesn’t continue indefinitely; the window in which the body works to quickly build muscle lasts for only a few hours¹.

The best way to ramp up this process of healing and strengthening is to ensure that your body has all the resources it could possibly need during the most active part of MPS, which is why most people take their BCAA or protein supplements right after working out. It should be noted, however, that the same benefits received when using a supplement after exercise may also occur when supplementing with BCAAs during exercise; either way, it’s important to time your use of BCAAs for the window in which they are most effective.

Benefits of Taking BCAA Supplements in the Morning

Though the advantages of taking BCAAs in the morning will ultimately depend on whether you also work out at that time, those who do will see the same benefits as anyone else using these powerful supplements. Each of the three BCAAs can support your fitness efforts in its own unique way; the following are some of the benefits of taking BCAAs (along with exercise) in the morning:

• First among the BCAAs is leucine, the amino acid that triggers MPS. Take leucine as part of your morning exercise routine and you can expect to see greater gains in the long run, plus one of leucine’s metabolites – a compound called HMB – may help guard muscle tissue against damage, too.
• The next BCAA is isoleucine, a compound that promotes the movement of glucose, the body’s preferred form of energy, to the muscles. This helps increase endurance during long periods of exertion, such as on a lengthy morning run.
• The third and last BCAA is valine, an amino acid that – among a great many other things – serves to limit exercise-induced damage to muscle cells, preserving mass and reducing the amount of healing that must be done after a workout.

And these are just the individual benefits of the three BCAAs; amino acid supplements can also help with morning workouts by providing a boost of energy. For those who struggle to get in gear in the mornings, this increase in energy can make it easier to exercise, and it doesn’t come with the jitters and eventual crash that tend to accompany stimulant-based pre-workouts.

If you’re worried that working out in the morning might tire you out, BCAAs can help with that, too. These compounds help fight the buildup of serotonin in the brain, which is believed to be the cause of exercise-related central nervous fatigue. Best of all, BCAA supplements from aminoVITAL® come with fewer calories and less sugar than your average protein shake, and they take effect much more quickly, too.

Try BCAA Supplements Before, During, or After Your Morning Workout

However you choose to pursue your health and fitness goals, the BCAA supplements offered by aminoVITAL®’ can help you reach them. Try our Rapid Recovery post-workout mix after your morning exercise to speed your recovery and reduce soreness, or down a packet of Fast Charge pre-workout mix for sustained energy in the morning without the jitters or crash. To learn more about all the amino acid supplements available from aminoVITAL®, visit us online or call (888) 264-6673 today.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3381813/