As you embark on your fitness and bodybuilding journey, you need all the support you can garner. Essential Amino Acids or EAA supplements is one ally you can call on to help optimize your performance and skeletal muscle building goals. EAAs are essentially the building blocks required by your body to promote muscle repair and recovery, boost muscle growth, and enhance your overall athletic performance.
As your body is unable to generate these amino acids by itself, you need to supplement your diet by including EAA supplementation in order to benefit from the immense bodily function and bodybuilding gains that EAAs can offer.
In this article, you will get to know why you should make EAA supplementation an important part of your fitness and bodybuilding program.
Benefits of EAA Supplementation
1. Increased Protein synthesis and Muscle Mass Gains
In order for your body to quickly repair microtears in your skeletal muscle fibers incurred during weight training, it needs to be able to generate proteins. This process is known as protein synthesis and while your body is more than capable of producing protein, you can enhance its production of protein by providing it with a generous supply of essential amino acids through EAA supplementation.
Whenever you take EAA supplements, you supply your body with a rich amount of valine, isoleucine, and leucine amino acids which are known to stimulate skeletal muscle protein synthesis.
But while you can get these amino acids in other supplement like Broadchain Aminio Acids (BCAA), EAA supplements come loaded with nine (9) essential amino acids that BCAAs cannot compete with.
The nine essential amino acids present in EAA supplements are just perfect for the optimization of protein synthesis and are needed to fully promote the repair, recovery, and growth of skeletal muscle tissue.
Studies have revealed the importance of EAA supplementation in boosting the rate of protein synthesis and promoting skeletal muscle growth, especially during a rigorous training and calorie deficit program that otherwise makes it hard for your body to keep up a positve balance in protein levels.
2. Enhanced Recovery
The importance of recovery to your bodybuilding goals cannot be overemphasized. The time you spend on recovery helps you body to replenish energy stores while also repairing damaged muscle tissues caused by the strain of regular strength training.
You need recovery time for your torn muscle fibers to heal properly which then leads to increased muscle growth. If you spend too much time working out and don’t spend sufficient time recovering, you will leave yourself in danger of short and long term injuries that would adversely affect your ability to build muscle mass and improve your athletic performance.
How does EAA Supplements Improve Recovery?
EAA supplements provide your body with essential amino acids that help in promoting the repair of torn muscle fibers during recovery. These essential amino acids will stimulate protein synthesis needed for the quick repair of microtears in your muscle tissues.
What’s more, the essential amino acids help in reducing inflammation and muscle soreness while also promoting muscle growth at the same time. EAA supplements will easentialy quicken your recovery time, so thay you can return to your regular training routine in the shortest possible time period.
In addition to this, EAAs helpbin preserving muscle mass gains particularly in the off-season when both your calorie consumption and training sessions are significantly reduced.
EAAs Synergy with Other Recovery Strategies:
It may interest you to know that EAA supplements can be successfully used alongside your other recovery strategies like nutrient timing, sufficient sleep, and adequate hydration.
You will be able to fully optimize your athletic performance with a quick recovery time and muscle mass gains if you combine EAA supplementation with a comprehensive recovery plan.
3. Enhanced Athletic Performance
EAA Supplementation and The Preservation of Muscle Gains:
It is not uncommon for your muscle tissues to be broken down to provide an energy source to replenish depleted energy stores in your body. This often occurs during an extended period of intense training where your body enters a state of catabolism.
However, EAA supplements can help you to limit catabolism and the break down of your muscle tissues for a source of energy. EAA probides your muscle tissues with the needed essential amino acids to help preserve your muscle mass gains.
EAA Supplements Stimulate Energy and Increases Endurance Levels:
With an increase of essential amino acids in your body, you will boost your endurance levels while also preserving your energy stores.
EAA supplements perform the following functions when they are taken for preworkout support:
- EAAs help to support skeletal muscle fuction,
- EAA supplements prevents your body from an overreliance on muscle glycogen stores,
- EAAs prevents your body from experiencing premature tiredness and fatigue during a highly intense training routine like HIIT and intense cardio.
EAA Supplements Boost Stamina and Mental Focus:
Apart from offering you physiological benefits, EAA supplements are also known to boost both your stamina and mental focus. This is because EAAs consist of phenylalanine and tyrosine, two essential amino acids that act as precursors to neurotransmitters whose job it is to regulate your overall mood while also improving your cognitive function, and concentration levels for optimal performance.
Tips for EAA Supplementation
When and How do You Use EAA Supplements?
In order to optimize your use of EAA supplements, it is important to note that your timing in relations to using EAA supplementation is crucial.
To understand he importance of EAA suplementation timing, here are some tips worth noting:
Pre-Workout:
You should take EAA supplements just before you embark on your scheduled workout session. EAAs taken at this time can provide your body with the amino acids needed to protect you from catabolism and support your muscle function while you engage in your workout routines.
Intra-Workout:
You can also take EAA supplements during your training and this will go a long way in boosting your energy levels while reducing the breakdown of your muscles as you engage in intense or long workout sessions.
Post-Workout:
Using EAA supplements after a workout is great for promoting quick muscle repair, recovery and muscle growth.
EAA Supplementation Dosage Plan:
EAA supplementation dosage plan can vary from person to person and often depends on the bodybuilding or fitness needs of the individual involved. However, a recommended EAA supplementation dosage can be anywhere from 10 to 15 grams per day with multiple servings structured around your respective training routines.
Can EAA Supplements be Combined with Other Supplements?
Yes. You can effectively combine EAA supplementations with the likes of whey protein, beta-alanine, and creatine supplements for optimal recovery, muscle building, and performance results.
Conclusion
If you want to quicken your recovery time, enhance athletic performance and stimulate muscle growth, then you should incorporate EAA supplements into your workout, nutrition and supplementation plan.
EAA supplements offer your body nine essential amino acids that enhances protein synthesis for quick muscle repair and growth while reducing inflammation and muscle soreness that is synonymous with intense workouts.
It doesn’t matter if you are a novice or an elite bodybuilder, EAA supplements are important regardless of your level of fitness and bodybuilding.
You can get a whole lot more details about how EAA supplements can be useful to your bodybuilding goals when you chat with an IFBB PRO for free coaching today.
