Can BCAA Increase Performance During Exercise?

Introduction

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are essential nutrients that play a significant role in muscle metabolism and energy production. There has been considerable interest in understanding whether BCAA supplementation can enhance exercise performance and aid in recovery.

Key Insights

Performance Enhancement During Exercise:
- BCAA supplementation can improve endurance performance, particularly in activities requiring sustained effort over consecutive days or in heat stress conditions .
- BCAA intake before exercise can prolong time to exhaustion in rats, suggesting a potential benefit for endurance performance.
Central Fatigue and Cognitive Performance:
- BCAA supplementation may alleviate central fatigue by reducing the tryptophan/BCAA ratio, which in turn may lower serotonin synthesis in the brain, thus improving cognitive performance during and after exercise .
- Improved cognitive performance and reaction times were observed in athletes supplemented with BCAA, arginine, and citrulline .
Muscle Recovery and Damage:
- BCAA supplementation before and after exercise can reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), promoting faster recovery .
- BCAA intake has been shown to decrease levels of muscle damage markers such as creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) .
Energy Metabolism:
- BCAA supplementation can positively affect energy metabolism by maintaining glucose levels and reducing lactate and ammonia accumulation during exercise .
Mixed Results on Direct Performance Enhancement:
- Some studies indicate that BCAA supplementation does not significantly enhance athletic performance directly but may still offer benefits in terms of muscle recovery and immune function .

Conclusion

BCAA supplementation appears to offer several benefits related to exercise performance and recovery. While it may not directly enhance performance in all cases, it can improve endurance, reduce central fatigue, and aid in muscle recovery by decreasing muscle damage and soreness. These effects collectively suggest that BCAAs can be a valuable supplement for athletes, particularly those engaged in prolonged or high-intensity exercise.

Summary

Consensus Meter

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

BCAA intake affects protein metabolism in muscle after but not during exercise in humans.

The Supplementation of Branched-Chain Amino Acids, Arginine, and Citrulline Improves Endurance Exercise Performance in Two Consecutive Days.

Exercise promotes BCAA catabolism: effects of BCAA supplementation on skeletal muscle during exercise.

Effect of BCAA supplement timing on exercise-induced muscle soreness and damage: a pilot placebo-controlled double-blind study.

Effect of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), glucose, and glucose plus BCAA on endurance performance in rats.

Branched-chain amino acids, arginine, citrulline alleviate central fatigue after 3 simulated matches in taekwondo athletes: a randomized controlled trial

Branched-chain amino acids prolong exercise during heat stress in men and women.

Branched-chain amino acid supplementation does not enhance athletic performance but affects muscle recovery and the immune system.

Branched-chain amino acid supplementation during 30-km competitive run: mood and cognitive performance.

Effect of BCAA supplementation on central fatigue, energy metabolism substrate and muscle damage to the exercise: a systematic review with meta-analysis

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