Do Bodybuilders Need to Take Amino Acid Supplements?

Why Do BodyBuilders Take Amino Acid Supplements?

Amino acid supplements are some of the most popular bodybuilding supplements on the market today. Amino acids have lots of nitrogen, and thus they are thought to be able to help your body retain nitrogen. This retention is thought to boost protein synthesis, which results in muscle growth. Some advertisements for amino acid supplements claim that amino acid supplements are able to boost strength and build muscle as natural anabolics. Companies market amino acid supplements as HGH boosters (Human Growth Hormone Boosters) and as protein replacement supplements, that replace protein in the muscles.

There have been some studies that have shown that injecting amino acids can boost human growth hormone secretion. This may be the case, but more growth hormone may not result in more muscle mass (this is hotly debated). Plus, amino acids are generally taken orally not through injection. There are studies that show that taking amino acids orally is not very effective to increase growth hormone. Additional studies have shown that additional growth hormone secretion did not result in more muscle.

Reasons Not To Take Amino Acid Supplements

One reason why taking a lot of amino acid supplements may not be a good idea is cost. Three ounces of red meat has about 1,700 mg of arginine and 2,200 mg of lysine. You’d probably have to take a handful of amino acid supplements in order to get that many amino acids!

Some strength trainers and bodybuilders are concerned that if they don’t get enough branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), they will suffer from protein breakdown during aerobic exercise. But your body will only begin to fall back on BCAAs as energy if you fail to eat carbohydrates, your body’s main source of energy. It’s easy to get enough BCAAs from your diet. In order to get enough all you need to do is eat 3 ounces of either chicken or tuna.

Conclusion

Present scientific research does not support the need for massive dosing of amino acid supplements. So, if you eat a variety of protein you probably don’t need to take amino acid supplements. Besides, it’s much cheaper to get your amino acids from food than from supplements.

References

Kleiner, Susan M., Power Eating

Pressman, Alan, The Complete Idiots Guide to Vitamins and Minerals