BCAAs are essential for building muscle while working out, so an increased amount of BCAA increases the speed of muscle growth throughout the body, making those intense pumps even more worthwhile. Sodium helps to regulate hydration and supports muscle contractions, p otassium helps muscle function and reduces soreness and magnesium reduces muscle soreness and is essential for proper hydration. Optimum Nutrition is a large sports nutrition company that’s best known for their whey protein powder, Gold Standard Whey. But they sell a huge variety of workout products and while we recently tried out their Amino Energy pre-workout, we wanted to see if their Gold Standard BCAA could possibly measure up to the standards set by their whey protein.

According to Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard BCAA Powder can be used before, during and after training. There are a few differences though. As you may have guessed by its name, Amino Energy contains a range of amino acids in its formula, and this is the main focus for that product. The primary BCAAs are known as leucine, isoleucine and valine - all of which are involved in the promotion of muscle growth for the entire body.

I was less impressed by the taste. It tastes like straight cherry flavored syrup, and it’s pretty intensely sour — I’d recommend mixing it with a good two cups of water. The Takeaway Not only does it allow you to power through your lifts like you’re on aviation fuel, it also allows you to complete your workouts faster too. We found it shortened our workouts by around 10-15 minutes, plus most of our lifts were up too!

The bottom line here is that both products are made by Optimum Nutrition. Amino Energy focuses more on amino acid delivery, while Gold Standard is more of a ‘classic’ pre workout supplement, although they do have a fair amount of similarities as well. The Servings And Directions An essential vitamin we’ve all heard of that’s usually taken to support the immune system and this ties into the immune-boosting side of the supplement. Where vitamin C has been seen to reduce the length of a cold by 8-14% this is a large dose of 200-2000mg. Vitamin C has no impact on the occurrence of a cold unless deficient. A traditional herb and adaptogen, it’s interesting to see it here in a BCAA supplement. Rhodiola rosea has been pretty extensively researched and been seen to reliably reduce fatigue in both extensive bouts and short bursts of physical exhaustion. It’s the extras that really grabbed my attention, though. Rhodiola is a really neat herb that is pretty strongly linked to a reduction in fatigue and increase in focus and stress resilience, even the kind of stress you get from work, not just workouts. Two hundred milligrams is a solid amount of rhodiola too, so the dosage isn’t deceptive. (However, I’d have liked to known if it’s one percent salidroside and three percent rosavins, which a lot of studies have shown is the most beneficial kind of rhodiola.)In terms of an intra-workout supplement, Wellmune® is what we get. It’s a highly refined form of beta-glucan that’s been provided to try and stimulate the immune system and help keep you healthy for your next workout. Modern BCAAs are largely vegan and are derived through a fermentation process using soy and corn among other plants and vegetables. Amino Energy is the slightly cheaper product but they are both in a very similar category when it comes to their price points. Conclusion – Our Final Thoughts Amino Energy is focused more on delivering some important Amino Acids along with some other ingredients such as Green Tea and Caffeine.

Don't waste time with small doses, poor-quality BCAAs that have no noticeable effect on performance, or overpriced tablets that barely last a month - invest in your health and gains wisely with some of the most potent BCAAs available anywhere. The best BCAAs at a glance:Gold Standard BCAA Train And Sustain is a fantastic choice if you’re looking for enhanced energy, strength, performance, recovery, and growth following your workouts. With Gold Standard Pre Workout, you’re directed to mix one level scoop with into glass of water around 20 to 30 minutes before training. We hope you found it helpful and that you are now in a better position to decide if it’s going to make a worthwhile addition to your supplement plan.

Amino Energy could perhaps be used as a post workout supplement (although you should be aware of the Caffeine content) as well as a pre workout, while Gold Standard is intended more as a ‘classic’ pre workout supplement. The Ingredients That means that although we know the separate ingredients, we don’t know exactly how much of each one is included in the product. They are also praising it for the extra energy they get from using it which allows them to train with more intensity and for longer. Recovery is also excellent with Gold Standard BCAA Powder and you can expect some noticeable fat loss too. How It Tastes….

Here’s Our Review Of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard BCAA Powder…

The only real negative for me is the magnesium oxide. It’s cheap and poorly absorbing. In a product of this price, I’d expect to see a highly bioavailable, organic form of magnesium like magnesium citrate. Isoleucine also promotes muscle protein synthesis, although not as potently as leucine. It does stimulate the uptake of glucose into muscle cells, providing intra-workout energy, and this is it’s core role in the BCAA formula as leucine and valine have been seen to inhibit glucose uptake into cells. BCAAs work in a multitude of ways - the most essential amino acid, leucine, works by stimulating enzymes that increase muscle growth, whilst also being used by muscles as energy to be burned. What are the benefits of BCAA? Sodium chloride and potassium chloride are salts you’ll find in electrolyte/ sports drinks. Put simply, they replace the salts lost through a workout. Strangely we aren’t actually given the amount of potassium. But 4% RDA of sodium is pretty high for a BCAA drink, so this is all you’ll need. Magnesium Oxide