BCAAs are the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine, which comprise around 35% of your body's muscle protein. They're "essential" because your body doesn't make them on its own—you have to get them from food and workout supplements. Like other amino acids, they're the building blocks of protein. But these particular aminos may also help preserve muscle glycogen stores, which fuel your muscles and minimize protein breakdown during exercise.

BCAAs fuel your skeletal muscles during training, helping you push your limits. Supplementing with BCAAs helps preserve your stores of glycogen—the primary fuel your muscles use for energy production. This means your body has a reliable energy source to tap into while you work out, keeping you going longer and safeguarding muscle protein from being broken down for energy.

1. Increase Growth: Leucine activates pathways that stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

2. Decrease Muscle Soreness: BCAAs decrease muscle damage and reduce the severity of DOMS.

3. Reduce Exercise Fatigue: Helps maintain BCAA levels in the blood, slowing serotonin-induced fatigue in the brain.

4. Prevent Muscle Wasting: Essential for replacing amino acids during times of muscle wasting to slow progression.

5. Liver Support: May offer protection and improve health outcomes for people with liver cirrhosis.