For the past two weeks, I touched on the benefits of supplementing with Citrulline Malate and Glutamine for cardiovascular health, recovery and effective blood flow.
This week, I will discuss how you can enhance fat loss using Branch Chain Amino Acids better known as BCAAs.
Losing fat requires a caloric deficit. This simply means you need to eat less to force your body to make up for the shortfall by burning fat. The rate at which you lose weight depends on two things – how big a deficit you create by eating less and how much exercise you do. However, most experts agree a weight loss of around one to two pounds per week is about right.
Losing weight is a bit of a balancing act. Ideally, you want to lose fat while preserving fat-free mass – ie muscle. However, it doesn’t take much to tip you over the edge so you end up losing fat and muscle together – something you want to avoid.
Avoid skinny-fat
Some muscle loss is expected during a fat loss diet but the trick is to keep this to an absolute minimum. If you lose a lot of muscle along with fat, your body fat percentage will not change much and as a result, you run the risk of just getting slimmer, but not leaner – what is often known as being ‘skinny-fat.’
Skinny-fat people look slender from a distance, but when you get up close and personal, they are soft and weak. Not a good state of affairs.
Muscle is good
If you lose too much muscle, your metabolic rate will drop which can bring fat loss to a halt. Muscle is biologically active and the more muscle you have, the greater your daily calorie needs will be.
Losing muscle can also impair physical performance – you’ll get weaker and won’t be able to train as hard so, again, fat loss can stall.
Long story short, you don’t want to lose muscle.
To make sure you preserve as much muscle as possible during a weight loss diet:
* Consume BCAAs – branch chain amino acids are so called because of their branched shape and structure and are the collective term for the three amino acids most prevalent in your muscles; leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
* Supplementing BCAAs can help prevent muscle breakdown and even enhance fat burning. How? Let’s take a look.
BCAAS are virtually calorie free
Despite almost being a source of protein, BCAAs are virtually calorie free. You can consume BCAAs in place of some of your protein intake thus saving yourself calories. BCAAs provide your muscles with a lot of what they need for growth and repair. Take BCAAs between workouts in place of protein to contribute towards your caloric deficit.
BCAAS can be used for fuel during fasted exercise
Fasted exercise is a great way to speed up fat loss but lack of energy can rob your workouts of intensity and can lead to excessive catabolism; so while you do burn fat faster, you might also lose muscle. Consume 10 grammes of BCAAs 15 minutes before fasted exercise to: a) provide fuel for your workout and b) prevent unwanted catabolism.
Also, if you chose to follow an intermittent fasting diet and eat fewer meals throughout the day, snacking on BCAAs can prevent the muscle loss that often accompanies long periods without food.
BCAAS enhance post-exercise recovery
Exercise causes catabolism – the proper word for muscle breakdown. It’s only after rest and adequate food that your muscles repair and rebuild so you can exercise again. The slower your recovery, the less frequently or intensely you can exercise.
Consuming BCAAs immediately after exercise will speed up recovery so you can exercise sooner and for longer. You may experience less post-exercise muscle soreness too. Needless to say, if you are exercising for fat loss, you need to work out frequently so you can avoid reducing your food intake too severely.
Timing BCAAS
To get the most from BCAA use, take five to ten grammes at the following times:
– Fifteen minutes before exercise – especially fasted – to provide energy and prevent catabolism
– During exercise to maintain energy levels and intensity
– Immediately after exercise to kick start recovery and repair muscle
– As a calorie-free snack that will preserve muscle mass between meals
– Consume before bed to enhance recovery and boost fat loss
Stay tuned, friends.
If you need help with building muscle or losing fat, shoot me an email: emmersoncampbell@gmail.com
