06-10-2014, 02:26
(This post was last modified: 06-10-2014, 02:33 by Jaded Jade.)
It is a flat out muscle based body building thing.
BCAA's (branch chain amino acids) with a good protein provides all of the biological building blocks to make and repair muscle. Protein alone doesn't contain all the building blocks that you need. Since exercise and working out damage muscle, BCAA's and protein will let your body recover faster. Allowing for heavier and more frequent workouts, as well as greater gains. Though one needs to be mindful and budget for the calories in the shakes. (Though a workout that is hard enough to justify the protein, probally will burn the calories off, it might not burn that many more calories than the shake if not planned for...)
Tonalin/CLA's will make your body preferentially burn fat over muscle, exercise without protein can potentially burn muscle mass because you apparently need protein as well as carbohydrates for hard exercise. And a good multi-vitamin is a good idea too.
While losing fat cannot be targeted, since it comes off everywhere at once, muscle gains can be made exactly where you want them. And since pretty much everyone on this site wants curves in areas where the body has the largest muscles... Gaining muscle can help in multiple ways...
Also, muscle weighs twice what fat does by volume, so without losing pounds you can drop sizes and have everything fit better. I dropped a pants size and a shirt size without losing weight, though I did have to buy a fancy scale that show body composition percentages to not get crazy when the pounds stayed at the same level... (My wife loves it, because she finds it shows progress that the old scale hid for her too.) Also, muscle burns more calories just sitting there, so it is win-win.
I have found the people at GNC and Vitimin Shoppe to be very knowledgeable and helpful for information on these topics. The Livestrong website also has allot of good information.
I am bio-male, though my I have GD and hormonally I don't have quite as big a T advantage as you'd expect from that. I have seen 2-3 times the rate of strength and mass increase with BCAAs & Protein as without it. It is no magic potion, you have to work pretty hard at it, but it will make your hard work count for more.
If you are worried about bulking up too much that really isn't going to happen unless you are doing more than just working out and using protein shakes. Basically you are only going to hulk out if you do steroids and workout hours a day. If you get more muscle than you want, it won't happen that fast, just back off and it'll atrophy.
It is worth checking your protein powder, some have the BCAA's built in, but usually those are the more serious body building ones.
There are two that I use:
Tripact - has BCAA's
Syntha-6 - Doesn't, I add BodyTech's BCAA & Glutamine mix to it.
There are also other Pre- and Post- workout products, but those are more hard core, and until you are used to the basic protein and BCAA ones are likely not a good idea to mess with. (Also, the ones I use have some interaction warnings with various types of medications.) I can comment on those too if you want.
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I am a fan of the "Jillian Michael's: Yoga Meltdown" workout. (Free on Amazon Prime streaming!) I completely kicked my butt 15 minutes into the "beginner" 30 minute workout first time I tried it. It is a HIIT strength yoga*, great for pretty much every muscle in the body, endurance, and flexibility. (And it is designed to give you curves too.)
(* purists will argue it is not REAL yoga, I don't care, it is a great workout, once I hit goal weight I will worry about purity of form and all that...)
- Jaded Jade
BCAA's (branch chain amino acids) with a good protein provides all of the biological building blocks to make and repair muscle. Protein alone doesn't contain all the building blocks that you need. Since exercise and working out damage muscle, BCAA's and protein will let your body recover faster. Allowing for heavier and more frequent workouts, as well as greater gains. Though one needs to be mindful and budget for the calories in the shakes. (Though a workout that is hard enough to justify the protein, probally will burn the calories off, it might not burn that many more calories than the shake if not planned for...)
Tonalin/CLA's will make your body preferentially burn fat over muscle, exercise without protein can potentially burn muscle mass because you apparently need protein as well as carbohydrates for hard exercise. And a good multi-vitamin is a good idea too.
While losing fat cannot be targeted, since it comes off everywhere at once, muscle gains can be made exactly where you want them. And since pretty much everyone on this site wants curves in areas where the body has the largest muscles... Gaining muscle can help in multiple ways...
Also, muscle weighs twice what fat does by volume, so without losing pounds you can drop sizes and have everything fit better. I dropped a pants size and a shirt size without losing weight, though I did have to buy a fancy scale that show body composition percentages to not get crazy when the pounds stayed at the same level... (My wife loves it, because she finds it shows progress that the old scale hid for her too.) Also, muscle burns more calories just sitting there, so it is win-win.
I have found the people at GNC and Vitimin Shoppe to be very knowledgeable and helpful for information on these topics. The Livestrong website also has allot of good information.
I am bio-male, though my I have GD and hormonally I don't have quite as big a T advantage as you'd expect from that. I have seen 2-3 times the rate of strength and mass increase with BCAAs & Protein as without it. It is no magic potion, you have to work pretty hard at it, but it will make your hard work count for more.
If you are worried about bulking up too much that really isn't going to happen unless you are doing more than just working out and using protein shakes. Basically you are only going to hulk out if you do steroids and workout hours a day. If you get more muscle than you want, it won't happen that fast, just back off and it'll atrophy.
It is worth checking your protein powder, some have the BCAA's built in, but usually those are the more serious body building ones.
There are two that I use:
Tripact - has BCAA's
Syntha-6 - Doesn't, I add BodyTech's BCAA & Glutamine mix to it.
There are also other Pre- and Post- workout products, but those are more hard core, and until you are used to the basic protein and BCAA ones are likely not a good idea to mess with. (Also, the ones I use have some interaction warnings with various types of medications.) I can comment on those too if you want.
---
I am a fan of the "Jillian Michael's: Yoga Meltdown" workout. (Free on Amazon Prime streaming!) I completely kicked my butt 15 minutes into the "beginner" 30 minute workout first time I tried it. It is a HIIT strength yoga*, great for pretty much every muscle in the body, endurance, and flexibility. (And it is designed to give you curves too.)
(* purists will argue it is not REAL yoga, I don't care, it is a great workout, once I hit goal weight I will worry about purity of form and all that...)
- Jaded Jade