Issue 093
October 2012
Learn how muscle breakdown causes ammonia-induced fatigue and how to combat it with nutritional intervention
Daniel Pierce
Nutrition Expert
Dan is VP of brand strategy and product development at Gaspari Nutrition. He also studies BJJ at Codella Academy, Team Renzo Gracie.
Believe it or not, your body produces ammonia as a result of training-induced muscle breakdown. Basically, the more carbohydrate (glycogen) depleted you are, the more susceptible you can potentially be to ammonia-induced fatigue if you’re an avid trainer. Unfortunately, ammonia crosses the blood-brain barrier quite easily and this can cause disruptions in neurotransmission, cerebral energy metabolism, and even circulation. This creates an effect called central fatigue.
On top of that, some of the same ill effects in the brain can also occur throughout the entire central nervous system, including within exercising muscle. This is often referred to as peripheral fatigue. Whatever you want to call it, ammonia makes you feel tired and can hinder your performance either while training or even during a fight. So how can you slow down its performance-limiting effects while training?
AMMONIA AND SUPPLEMENTS
Branch chain amino acids (BCAA) have a great reputation among strength training athletes and there is no reason why a combat athlete shouldn’t consider them as well. That’s because they can help you recover faster, limit exercise-induced muscle damage that causes soreness, and help offset ammonia production when dosed correctly.
Large amounts of BCAAs (20g–30g) can actually be counterproductive and can cause increased ammonia production. This is why some “mega dosing” theories are purported to be highly flawed and rather wasteful to a budget-minded combat athlete. Smaller amounts (5g–10g) limit muscle breakdown and ammonia release during training, while also fitting into almost any budget. More is not better when it comes to BCAAs, so use them wisely.
Three other ingredients that combat the negative effects of ammonia are citrulline, ornithine aspartate and arginine. All three are key intermediaries in the urea cycle, which is responsible for waste ammonia clearance.
A brand new study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition actually puts arginine to the test in Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. This study clearly demonstrated that ammonia levels can increase four to six times their normal levels during a six-minute highly competitive jiu-jitsu match while wearing a gi. Arginine was actually able to help offset this, and given citrulline’s rising popularity and demonstrated ability to increase plasma levels of arginine greater than arginine itself, it too could have potentially yielded the same results. Less ammonia floating around while training means you are less susceptible to its fatigue-causing effects. Who wouldn’t want that edge?
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
There are many great BCAA supplements on the market that also contain some of the key ingredients that can help support the combat athlete in controlling exercise-induced ammonia fatigue. When looking for a BCAA product that can fulfill your recovery needs it’s highly recommended you look for a product with no proprietary blend to ensure you are getting the 5g–10g doses of BCAAs, ornithine aspartate, and/or citrulline to support your goals. If you’d prefer a more basic approach without the recovery benefits, arginine can be of great assistance.
Some of the best BCAA products on the market without proprietary blends include Scivation XTEND, Cytosport Monster Amino and Gaspari AminoLast – which all have doses to support recovery and limit post-training muscle soreness. If you’re looking for a pre-workout supplement that can offer an intense energy boost that also contains gram doses of BCAAs, citrulline, and ornithine aspartate, Gaspari Superpump MAX is a great option. Fortunately, all of these taste amazing and offer a great sugar-free alternative to get some much-needed nutrients to keep you performing.
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