Amino acids are the building blocks to the protein that you see on the plate of many of your meals. As soon as that chicken breast drops into your stomach it is being churned and broken down into amino acids as quickly as possible. Now although amino acids are the building blocks to the human body, some of which are essential and some of which are non essential (these can be manufactured from the essential aminos and are hence non essential from the diet), they can have interesting effects on the body when taken on their own in isolation. I will use this article to address some of the more interesting amino acids and how they could be used in your daily life, and around training.

Tyrosine: Can stimulate increased energy production in the brain and a better sense of mental awareness. Some pre workout supplements like “power drive” use this as their base neural stimulant, with other supplements also including it in the mix at a lower dose. 5-10g will give you a good increase in mental power. This is a good amino as research proves its solid benefit above and beyond caffeine, without any jittery effects when taking a high dosage, especially when you are tired due to a lack of sleep, as caffeine can often only stress the body more when sleep deprived.

Glycine: A blocker of cortisol production. A favourite amino acid of Charles Poliquin which is used in a lot of his shake recommendations with people consuming a low carb diet. Dosages are titrated up to 20g if possible, but this can become very expensive to take. Reducing cortisol post workout can have huge benefits to overall gains due to maximising the testosterone to cortisol ratio. Work up from 1g to 4g over a couple of days to get the full benefit.

Arginine: Used in many pre-workout supplements to increase blood flow. The scientific literature is still of mixed opinion on its use for such means, but the anecdotal data and use in the majority of pre-workout supplements must increase its value for being used. 3-6g would be a healthy dose, which in theory would increase the rate of nutrient delivery while training due to its vaso-dilation effects, and increasing the pump while training.

Orthinine: A potent stimulator of growth hormone when used at the right time. Some more expensive pre bed growth hormone stimulating supplements use this alongside arginine to increase the levels of growth hormone while you sleep. Anything to increase growth hormone has to be of benefit as it will increase the weight trainers gains while helping you stay lean.

Leucine: The most anabolic amino acid as it increases the rate of leucine oxidation, a powerful internal anabolic process. Taken throughout the day, in and around training, and in the periods after training has been show to keep the process of leucine oxidation operating at full tilt. 6-10g taken post workout and then  again 2 hours later seems to be the best approach, with many post workout supplements now starting to include big doses in it.

So as well as essential amino acids (EAA’s) and branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) having their use when taken as a unit dose, there is also a great use for single dose amino acids when looking for a desired effect.