Weight List: George Lockhart discusses the workings of branch chain amino acids

In the latest installment of the Weight List, George Lockhart discusses athlete specific diets and the supplement focus of the week: branch chain amino acids.

Getting fit has been a booming business for decades, and along with fitness centers, personal trainers, meal services (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and the like), fitness gear and a slew of other ways to have you reach into your wallet, is the supplement industry. A cornerstone of the bodybuilding world for years, supplements have spilled over to all walks of life, from the professional athlete to the average Joe.

Supplements are taken to bulk up, lean out, energize, recover, and any number of other effects that represent positive results. The problem is, there is quite a hefty percentage of companies that don’t deliver what they promise, have combinations of ingredients that produce negative and sometimes even harmful side effects, throw electrolyte balances askew or just plain don’t work.

In this sea of possibilities, it’s always nice to have a guiding hand to help make the best choices possible in a broad spectrum. That’s one of the aims of the Weight List, brought to you by the Three Amigos Podcast. Leading weight cutting specialist, George Lockhart and our own Iain Kidd (spectacular researcher and co-author of Lockhart’s two upcoming books) tackle 2-3 topics each week in a short, digestible 15-minute segment designed to help everyone from the seasoned professional athlete to the first stage fitness seeker in understanding how their bodies work with certain foods and diets, as well as spotlighting supplements, electrolytes and basic food elements.

In this week’s 22nd installment, George and Iain discuss these topics:

  • Diet for athletes that don’t have to cut weight vs athletes that do cut weight
  • Diets for endurance athletes vs diets for explosive athletes
  • Supplement focus: branch chain amino acids

Here’s some quotes on this week’s supplement focus:

BCAAs & nutrient absorption

Iain: I’ve found a lot of people tend not to understand exactly what BCAAs do. They see you’re supposed to take them with whey protein, so they must give you bigger muscles. They think it’s made of amino acids, the same stuff as protein, so it’s basically like super protein.

In reality, branched chain amino acids are useful because they help open to retain and replenish glycogen in your muscles. They also increase availability of the protein you eat for muscle repair and muscle protein synthesis.

George: Supplement companies and food companies are there to sell to you, and will push their protein and stuff as having ‘amino acids,’ but that’s often non-essential amino acids. BCAA supplementation allows you to narrow in on exactly what you need. BCAAs are leucine, isoleucine and valine. That’s what your body needs. Those are the amino acids which help with protein synthesis, with glycogen absorption and with muscle repair.

What people don’t understand is that it’s important to ensure your body can absorb and use the nutrients you give it. Let’s say I have a guy that has to take in 15g of protein and 35g of carbohydrates. Just because he takes that much protein and carbohydrates, that doesn’t mean it gets properly absorbed by the body.

There are so many studies on stuff like vitamin D showing how we need that to absorb certain micronutrients and macronutrients. Take calcium, which is very important for our metabolism, for the contraction of muscles, and for bone health. In America, we drink more milk than any country in the world, but we also have the highest rate of osteoporosis in the world. That’s because it’s not enough to just take calcium, your body has to absorb it and take it to where it needs to go.

If you have a question you’d like to submit to The Weight List Mailbag, please e-mail [email protected] or shoot him a tweet @iainkidd. You can also drop your question off on our Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/threeamigospod

You can check out the entire segment here at the 11:10 mark of the audio or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Geroge Lockhart, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Podcast.

In the latest installment of the Weight List, George Lockhart discusses athlete specific diets and the supplement focus of the week: branch chain amino acids.

Getting fit has been a booming business for decades, and along with fitness centers, personal trainers, meal services (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and the like), fitness gear and a slew of other ways to have you reach into your wallet, is the supplement industry. A cornerstone of the bodybuilding world for years, supplements have spilled over to all walks of life, from the professional athlete to the average Joe.

Supplements are taken to bulk up, lean out, energize, recover, and any number of other effects that represent positive results. The problem is, there is quite a hefty percentage of companies that don’t deliver what they promise, have combinations of ingredients that produce negative and sometimes even harmful side effects, throw electrolyte balances askew or just plain don’t work.

In this sea of possibilities, it’s always nice to have a guiding hand to help make the best choices possible in a broad spectrum. That’s one of the aims of the Weight List, brought to you by the Three Amigos Podcast. Leading weight cutting specialist, George Lockhart and our own Iain Kidd (spectacular researcher and co-author of Lockhart’s two upcoming books) tackle 2-3 topics each week in a short, digestible 15-minute segment designed to help everyone from the seasoned professional athlete to the first stage fitness seeker in understanding how their bodies work with certain foods and diets, as well as spotlighting supplements, electrolytes and basic food elements.

In this week’s 22nd installment, George and Iain discuss these topics:

  • Diet for athletes that don’t have to cut weight vs athletes that do cut weight
  • Diets for endurance athletes vs diets for explosive athletes
  • Supplement focus: branch chain amino acids

Here’s some quotes on this week’s supplement focus:

BCAAs & nutrient absorption

Iain: I’ve found a lot of people tend not to understand exactly what BCAAs do. They see you’re supposed to take them with whey protein, so they must give you bigger muscles. They think it’s made of amino acids, the same stuff as protein, so it’s basically like super protein.

In reality, branched chain amino acids are useful because they help open to retain and replenish glycogen in your muscles. They also increase availability of the protein you eat for muscle repair and muscle protein synthesis.

George: Supplement companies and food companies are there to sell to you, and will push their protein and stuff as having ‘amino acids,’ but that’s often non-essential amino acids. BCAA supplementation allows you to narrow in on exactly what you need. BCAAs are leucine, isoleucine and valine. That’s what your body needs. Those are the amino acids which help with protein synthesis, with glycogen absorption and with muscle repair.

What people don’t understand is that it’s important to ensure your body can absorb and use the nutrients you give it. Let’s say I have a guy that has to take in 15g of protein and 35g of carbohydrates. Just because he takes that much protein and carbohydrates, that doesn’t mean it gets properly absorbed by the body.

There are so many studies on stuff like vitamin D showing how we need that to absorb certain micronutrients and macronutrients. Take calcium, which is very important for our metabolism, for the contraction of muscles, and for bone health. In America, we drink more milk than any country in the world, but we also have the highest rate of osteoporosis in the world. That’s because it’s not enough to just take calcium, your body has to absorb it and take it to where it needs to go.

If you have a question you’d like to submit to The Weight List Mailbag, please e-mail [email protected] or shoot him a tweet @iainkidd. You can also drop your question off on our Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/threeamigospod

You can check out the entire segment here at the 11:10 mark of the audio or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Geroge Lockhart, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Podcast.