
Maximizing Performance: The Role of EAAs in Endurance and Stamina
, by Sandesh Prasannakumar, 6 min reading time
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, by Sandesh Prasannakumar, 6 min reading time
Whether it be a game of soccer or a jogging event at the weekend, endurance and stamina are crucial in making a difference. It is crucial to maintain a healthy diet because exercise and events may put a lot of pressure on the body. Another important nutrient that many people do not consider when looking to enhance their performance is called essential amino acids (EAAs).
EAAs are unique acids that humans cannot synthesize and are acquired through one's diet. Over the past decade, multiple research studies have been conducted to understand the role of EAAs in modulating physical performance, particularly in terms of endurance and stamina. By fine-tuning your consumption of these essential amino acids, one can observe huge enhancements due to your capability to train harder and recover even faster.
EAAs have multiple functions that are connected with athletic performance. The main principle is based on their capacity to evoke MPS – in other words, the muscle-building process. This results in a gain of muscular strength and endurance and the ability to maintain that endurance for longer periods.
EAAs also:
Furthermore, it is suggested that EAA is best consumed post-training when muscles are most receptive to breakdown and synthesis. EAAs are amino acids ingested post-workout together with carbohydrates; consuming between 10 and 20 grams leads to protein synthesis to build up the muscles faster and reduce recovery time. And let me tell you some more details about the science.
BCAAs comprise leucine, isoleucine, and valine, representing most of the EAAs. However, you need to appreciate that though BCAAs are a big deal, other EAAs are equally essential.
Supplement manufacturers have directed most of their efforts to BCAA supplements. That being said, findings show that consuming EAAs in their entirety is more effective for enhancing endurance, stamina, and recovery than BCAAs alone. For instance, the study on the effect of EAAs on endurance exercise revealed that pre-consumption of EAAs enhanced performance. In contrast, BCAA alone did not enhance performance in any way.
As we know, there is much evidence that simply taking in amino acids boosts aerobic fitness and endurance performance. Some of this involves their ability to develop a greater density of proteins in the aerobic (endurance-type) muscle fibers. This encourages adaptations – such as enhancements in mitochondrial quantity and capillary density per unit of muscle – that are similar to those expected from conventional endurance.
Furthermore, EAAs benefit oxygen utilization, thus carrying more oxygen to the muscles that are actively contracting. They also spare stored muscle glycogen, which is the only certain fuel source, so you are using less of it during the workout. This glycogen-saving capability can significantly sustain performance during long training sessions and competitive performances.
For instance, findings on the effects of EAA show that cyclists who took them recorded slower heart rates and effort during fixed-workload cycling. This can be considered an enhancement in muscle economy – the participants could exercise longer on the bike before exhaustion. Consequently, consuming 10 grams of EAAs during a 2-hour treadmill exercise resulted in prolonged subsequent exercise to exhaustion.
While training, muscles need time to recover before the next training session, and that is where this supplement comes in handy.
The consistency of hardcore training means that your body should be able to regain its strength to tackle the next session without getting overtrained. In many ways, EAAs facilitate a rapid recovery, including the following:
First, they promote muscle anabolism and override catabolism processes, which help recover damaged muscles. Secondly, they increase nutrient transport to muscles, which enhances the elimination of metabolic by-products. Thirdly, EAAs reduce the concentration of proteins indicative of muscle breakdown and the level of discomfort that arises after a training session.
As evidenced by human intervention studies, these recovery benefits make such training exercises effective for serious athletes. For example, soccer athletes consuming EAAs before bed to maintain their sprint speed, strength, and power during three days of HIIT was significantly better than taking a carbohydrate supplement. Another advantage of faster strength recovery is that it enables you to do more total strength lifts.
Despite most prior studies emphasizing their effectiveness in terms of extended exercise capacity, it is now apparent that EAA consumption contributes to enhancing muscular power and strength, additional aspects crucial for many sports.
As mentioned earlier, EAAs counteract the breakdown of muscle proteins while at the same time promoting the composition of muscle proteins. This can promote muscle tissue development in the long term and help achieve the goal of muscle building. They also adapt the motor units and enhance the force-generating ability and fast twitch muscle fibers following resistance exercise. The literature shows that combining EAA with resistance exercise improves strength and muscular power.
Even though there is limited research on EAA supplementation, one of the reviews showed that after only two weeks of taking EAA, one can experience a boost in muscle strength and power output. Increased strength enhances the sport-specific physical capacities such as the height of the jump, acceleration speed, the velocity of the throw, or the amount of power produced. This clearly depicts how the compounded benefits of a nutrition plan that has been well-developed reward itself when effectively used all the time.
It is, therefore, self-evidently obtained by research as a best practice to optimize one’s intake of essential amino acids to enhance endurance and stamina in athletic training and sports. Their ability to promote cardio and muscular changes offers advantages, from the fighting factor to the recovery point between sessions and events.
Any dedicated sportsperson and strength training workout fan can gain an important edge in workouts by using EAAs in the measured doses and time intervals revealed to enhance performance and muscle mass. Of course, the consumption of whole food should be the cornerstone of any intensive nutrition plan; however, using supplemental EAAs at certain hours will take you to the next level and allow you to reach the peak of your potential as a human being.
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