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BCAA's?

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Head Nurse
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which brands do you like? best flavors? best performance? with caffeine? no caffeine?
Cryptic Vigilante
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I've never felt the need to invest in BCAAs. They're essentially nothing more than three specific amino acids (ie. Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine) which already are readily available in any quality protein source. Just a scoop of your average protein powder actually contains more BCAAs than a scoop of refined BCAA powder.


BCAA powder:





Regular protein powder:






And an average serving of salmon/chicken contains more than 3x the amount found in a scoop of refined BCAA powder: 3200mg Leucine, 1800mg Isoleucine, and 2000mg Valine for a 200g serving of salmon.

The only argument in favor of BCAA powders is that they're supposedly more easily/rapidly absorbed by the human body around a workout. However, many of these myths concerning nutrient-timing have been debunked in the past few years. As long as you ingest a sufficient amount of quality proteins in a 24-hours period surrounding your workout (ie. 0.75-1.00g / 1 lbs of body weight), you'll have plenty of BCAAs available in your system during your training session. Your body is smart enough to store/manage calories, it can convert proteins to glucose if need be, fats can even be converted to ketones to fuel the brain in the absolute absence of glucose; it really doesn't give a fuck about fussy nutrient-timing to optimize protein synthesis.

That's my opinion anyway. Invest in those costly powders at your own venture...
Head Nurse
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Fair enough. I like the ones that contain caffeine for my long rides. I suspect its mostly the caffeine I like.
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by Dirty_D
Fair enough. I like the ones that contain caffeine for my long rides. I suspect its mostly the caffeine I like.


Coffee would have the exact same effect for a fraction of the price, ya know.
Raised on Blackroot
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I try to avoid most supplements these days.

Just whey for added protein shake enhancements.

I can the kind supposedly for pre-workout boosts, but I suspect the energy had more to do with the caffeine than anything and I try to stay away from that shit. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I had caffeine. Usually my 5 minute warm-up gets me alert enough for a lifting routine.
Head Nurse
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Quote by SereneProdigy


Coffee would have the exact same effect for a fraction of the price, ya know.


Cant stand the stuff. Also not a tea fan.

MM- its not about being alert. Its for the flagging spirits on my 3hr+ rides.
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by Dirty_D


Cant stand the stuff. Also not a tea fan.

MM- its not about being alert. Its for the flagging spirits on my 3hr+ rides.


Why not ride with a companion? I do not mean just anyone. I am certain there are many decent people who would love to ride with you.
Even gypsies ride in groups.
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by Dancewithme
Why not ride with a companion? I do not mean just anyone. I am certain there are many decent people who would love to ride with you.
Even gypsies ride in groups.


How in hell does that relate to BCAAs or her athletic aspirations?

Man, cheesiness is oozing out of your every orifice. You really should see a doctor... or an escort.
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by SereneProdigy


How in hell does that relate to BCAAs or her athletic aspirations?

Man, cheesiness is oozing out of your every orifice. You really should see a doctor... or an escort.


Who are you to criticize a single other member when as of 3:37 A.M. on March 8, 2017 your profile page is totally blank?
Head Nurse
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Quote by Dancewithme


Why not ride with a companion? I do not mean just anyone. I am certain there are many decent people who would love to ride with you.
Even gypsies ride in groups.


Who says I dont, occasionally Ill join in a group. My coach however, is fan of solo efforts for ironman training. Besides, my training time tends to differ from most people who ride. In any case, flagging spirits has nothing to do with people, but the burn that starts to set in on long efforts. Caffeine helps.
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by Dancewithme
Who are you to criticize a single other member when as of 3:37 A.M. on March 8, 2017 your profile page is totally blank?


Touché. I admittedly forgot that adorning my profile with a clichéd bio and an obnoxious background that prevents people from reading said bio were prerequisites to interact with anyone in the forums. I promise to work on all that, as well as dick-pics, overly sentimental poems, and even an irksome glittering banner to use as my forum signature.

As of 9:08 P.M. on March 8, 2017, I pledge to become an exemplary and valuable member of the Lush community.
Troublemaker
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Hi Dirty D: I'm not convinced BCAA's are the answer for flagging spirits during long rides but I've only used them as part of a weight training regimen. I used to ride 800km a week with many 5-6 hour rides. Are you eating enough during rides? I mean real food; fruit, muffins, sandwiches, chicken, rice, gorp rather than hi-tech gels or bars (I do use gels and bars too) I used to eat like a pig and never bonked. On the rare occasion I felt myself flagging it was always due to lack of food or water intake, usually at the 2 - 3 hour mark which suggests a link to depleted glycogen stores. I have never used caffeine for rides but try it and see what works.
You might also try new training routes or just a long ride with no HRM or cyclocomputer. Change things up, try something crazy. What do you think about when you ride, do you let your mind wander? Read everything fitness related you can get your hands on: nutrition, cycling, sports psychology heck even Zen Buddhism; I bet you find something that helps. I never found any one source in a book or a coach that was 100% 'on' in all situations. No offense to your coach who I'm sure is eminently more qualified than me but sometimes you have to find something new.
Sounds like you have a very demanding training regimen. How is your pulse rate in the morning? Maybe you are over-training? Do you have a rest day?
And huge hats off for challenging yourself!!!
Head Nurse
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Quote by LYFBUZ
Hi Dirty D: I'm not convinced BCAA's are the answer for flagging spirits during long rides but I've only used them as part of a weight training regimen. I used to ride 800km a week with many 5-6 hour rides. Are you eating enough during rides? I mean real food; fruit, muffins, sandwiches, chicken, rice, gorp rather than hi-tech gels or bars (I do use gels and bars too) I used to eat like a pig and never bonked. On the rare occasion I felt myself flagging it was always due to lack of food or water intake, usually at the 2 - 3 hour mark which suggests a link to depleted glycogen stores. I have never used caffeine for rides but try it and see what works.
You might also try new training routes or just a long ride with no HRM or cyclocomputer. Change things up, try something crazy. What do you think about when you ride, do you let your mind wander? Read everything fitness related you can get your hands on: nutrition, cycling, sports psychology heck even Zen Buddhism; I bet you find something that helps. I never found any one source in a book or a coach that was 100% 'on' in all situations. No offense to your coach who I'm sure is eminently more qualified than me but sometimes you have to find something new.
Sounds like you have a very demanding training regimen. How is your pulse rate in the morning? Maybe you are over-training? Do you have a rest day?
And huge hats off for challenging yourself!!!


I know where the weak link is. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about it. I work night shift, and typically get 4hrs or less of sleep a day.

I fuel rides with baby food packets (currently loving the banana/plum/apple and the blackberry/chia mixes), lara bars, and on rides >4 hrs ill add chews, Im pretty happy with the nutrition ive got going currently. I recently had a 12 hr mountain bike race, and felt good on nutrition, aside from a couple laps where I failed to fuel. That was operator error, cant blame the nutrition I carried but failed to consume :O once I ate it I came back feeling strong again but those bcaa's were a lifesaver there when I wasnt fueling as i should have.
Troublemaker
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Hey Miss D: thanx for the baby food packet idea! 12 hour mountain bike race???!!!!! Now THAT'S impressive!!! I'd be crashing over every second pebble and tree root in the last half of that ride.
Have you tried melatonin to help you sleep? Might help with duration or quality of sleep but check out the potential side effects or interactions with other meds. Night shift wreaks havoc on the body's natural sleep patterns and I'd guess your schedule makes sleep a challenge. I use melatonin sparingly and have never noticed a negative impact on the following day's performance but then I am not at your level so a fractional difference may be more noticeable to you. Alternatively you may find Valerian Root helpful for sleep too.
Hope you meet and surpass all your goals, after reading your posts I'm dying to get out for a ride!

But how the hell did you find time to write all those EP's and RR's???
"insensitive prick!" – Danielle Algo
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There's only one Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, so I'm not really sure what brands you're all referring to


===  Not ALL LIVES MATTER until BLACK LIVES MATTER  ===

Troublemaker
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Quote by noll
There's only one Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, so I'm not really sure what brands you're all referring to


Unless you know what Belgian toothpaste is get out of this thread!
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by Dirty_D
(...) but those bcaa's were a lifesaver there when I wasnt fueling as i should have.


Just to reiterate because I'd hate to see you waste your money...

BCAAs hardly have any effect on your performances or how you feel during an endurance workout: their only benefit is to boost protein synthesis in a proper bodybuilding optic (and even then). The physiological effects that you're noticing are most certainly triggered by the caffeine that's contained in your powder.

Caffeine products are much more reasonably priced on the fitness market, if that's really your thing (nothing wrong with any of that). 400g (40 servings) of BCAAs usually costs $40, or $1.00/serving; 100 capsules of caffeine only costs around $7, or $0.07/serving. In other words, you could get your hands on a product that offers the exact same benefits that you seek for 1/15th of the price.

I hate to burst your bubble, but using BCAAs for endurance purposes is like buying a box of Cracker Jack solely for the shoddy surprise that's inside.



Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by Dancewithme


Who are you to criticize a single other member when as of 3:37 A.M. on March 8, 2017 your profile page is totally blank?


Don't worry about it. He gets his feathers ruffled very easily.
Head Nurse
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Quote by LYFBUZ
Hey Miss D: thanx for the baby food packet idea! 12 hour mountain bike race???!!!!! Now THAT'S impressive!!! I'd be crashing over every second pebble and tree root in the last half of that ride.
Have you tried melatonin to help you sleep? Might help with duration or quality of sleep but check out the potential side effects or interactions with other meds. Night shift wreaks havoc on the body's natural sleep patterns and I'd guess your schedule makes sleep a challenge. I use melatonin sparingly and have never noticed a negative impact on the following day's performance but then I am not at your level so a fractional difference may be more noticeable to you. Alternatively you may find Valerian Root helpful for sleep too.
Hope you meet and surpass all your goals, after reading your posts I'm dying to get out for a ride!

But how the hell did you find time to write all those EP's and RR's???


This is some footage of the trails I raced on(not race footage), ended up with a pretty sweet trophy for 2nd place female solo biggrin


I dont have a problem getting or staying asleep. My Fenix typically only shows a few minutes awake each sleep.(night? day?) Its simply time consuming to put the hours in training that are required. I get off work typically at 7:30 AM, drive an hour home, train, sleep by noon, wake up at 1530 to plank/squat/what have you eat, shower, dress and leave by 1730 to be back to work in time.

I havent written anything since becoming serious about my training. I simply haven't had the time :/
Head Nurse
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Quote by SereneProdigy


Just to reiterate because I'd hate to see you waste your money...

I hate to burst your bubble, but using BCAAs for endurance purposes is like buying a box of Cracker Jack solely for the shoddy surprise that's inside.




I completely agree that caffeine doesn't help with long term endurance. but it does have a place.

RE:the help when I bonked, it's well established that buccal routes are faster ways to absorb and utilize, plus liquids are digested faster. So the time it took to recover from improper fueling/bonk was much less than it would have taken if i had just taken a tablet(not something easily done on the bike anyway) and eaten a lara bar. Besides, I rather like the way the watermelon tastes and I end up hydrating better, something I struggle to do anyway. So the cost isn't terrible, $20/2 months or so and the peripheral benefits are useful, even if it doesn't make a perceptible difference.
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by roymunson101


Don't worry about it. He gets his feathers ruffled very easily.


Thank you Roy!!
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by Dirty_D
I completely agree that caffeine doesn't help with long term endurance. but it does have a place.

RE:the help when I bonked, it's well established that buccal routes are faster ways to absorb and utilize, plus liquids are digested faster. So the time it took to recover from improper fueling/bonk was much less than it would have taken if i had just taken a tablet(not something easily done on the bike anyway) and eaten a lara bar. Besides, I rather like the way the watermelon tastes and I end up hydrating better, something I struggle to do anyway. So the cost isn't terrible, $20/2 months or so and the peripheral benefits are useful, even if it doesn't make a perceptible difference.


I believe you misread me here. Caffeine can actually have a pretty noticeable (and positive) effect on endurance training, BCAAs themselves are practically useless if not intended for building muscles. Hence my analogy with a box of Cracker Jack: you're essentially paying $40 for your BCAAs when what really interests you is the inexpensive caffeine that's mixed with it.

Besides, gelatin capsules take about 5 minutes to dissolve in gastric acid, so the difference in terms of absorption time is practically nil when compared to pure powder. And mind you, pure caffeine powders are totally available too. You could just add a teaspoon of caffeine to your favorite fruit juice and you'd achieve the exact same results for a fraction of the price.

You do whatever you please of course, I'm just suggesting economical alternatives to what you're currently performing.
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by Dirty_D
This is some footage of the trails I raced on(not race footage), ended up with a pretty sweet trophy for 2nd place female solo biggrin


This is awesome, both the track and you placing second.
Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by roymunson101
Don't worry about it. He gets his feathers ruffled very easily.

Quote by Dancewithme
Thank you Roy!!


I see a bromance forming... how lovely!
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by SereneProdigy


I see a bromance forming... how lovely!


He doesn't need me when he has one of the finest women on the site.

I am also very pleased to see that you are picking up on potential bromance. That is very kind of you. Thank you.
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by Dancewithme


Thank you Roy!!


Don't thank me yet. I'm betting he will pm you with a message that contains 14 paragraphs and 12 marked up illustrations on how you are wrong.

Cryptic Vigilante
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Quote by roymunson101
Don't thank me yet. I'm betting he will pm you with a message that contains 14 paragraphs and 12 marked up illustrations on how you are wrong.


Now now, there's hardly any necessity to project your particular case of butthurt into my own personal pursuits.

I don't recall ever sending the kind of message that you're describing to anyone on Lush, and insignificant specimens like you or Mr. Cornball certainly wouldn't be the kind of persons to warrant that kind of consideration anyway. Look, I'm well aware that I'm a major threat to your petty cyber-existence and that I'm occupying a ginormous space in your mind (which you've validated time and again by the fanatical attention that you keep offering me), but please don't be silly and assume that any of that is reciprocated coming from me.

Anyway little man, what are your thoughts on BCAAs?
Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by SereneProdigy


Now now, there's hardly any necessity to project your particular case of butthurt into my own personal pursuits.

I don't recall ever sending the kind of message that you're describing to anyone on Lush, and insignificant specimens like you or Mr. Cornball certainly wouldn't be the kind of persons to warrant that kind of consideration anyway. Look, I'm well aware that I'm a major threat to your petty cyber-existence and that I'm occupying a ginormous space in your mind (which you've validated time and again by the fanatical attention that you keep offering me), but please don't be silly and assume that any of that is reciprocated coming from me.

Anyway little man, what are your thoughts on BCAAs?


Active Ink Slinger
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Quote by SereneProdigy
Insert Standard Jr. High Photoshop here


That's very impressive. If and when I ever meet Woody Harrelson, I will make sure to tell him that you totally burned him with photoshop in the forums of a sex site.