Rest Week, MyProtein BCAA and Smartshake

This is my last day in Oman, which means my rest week is coming to an end and it's back to the grind. I am literally craving the gym right now. My body feels well recovered especially after the Thai massage I received yesterday. I would recommend this to anyone that is feeling sore. No more knots in my back!!!!! Yippee!!! One thing I've kept with me all week to aid this recovery however is my BCAA's from MyProtein and of course my smartshake. Two things I can't live without!!!

I am a huge ambassador of MyProtein and all their products. Since I started using them around 3 years ago  they have made huge advancements in the fitness world, recently sponsoring FC Porto. The only supplements I use are MyProtein, which can never be faulted. Now back to the BCCA. 

Branch Chain Amino Acids are the building blocks to protein, known as the essential amino acids. The body needs these for protein synthesis to occur, repairing and building muscle. 8 of the 16 amino acids are produced by the body with the remainder coming from diet. BCAA are even better as they metabolise through the muscle tissue and not the liver therefore arriving straight at the source, this is only unique to BCAA. The main three BCCA are leucine, isoleucine and valine.

So why do I take BCAA? The most overwhelming reason for it is catabolic crisis, losing muscle mass. When the body is running low on energy it starts to break down muscle tissue, targeting amino acids to use as fuel. However through the additional supplementation of BCAA this won't occur as they decrease the activity of the components of protein breakdown . This is the reason why I packed my BCCA to aid recovery and prevent breakdown of the muscle.

When and how should you take this supplement then. I personally in a normal week take a 5 gram scoop in my water whilst training as this is when muscle breakdown is most likely to occur and further taking one before bed as through the night recovery is the main aim in which this will aid in. In my rest week I have just taken some upon waking and pre bedtime. This is £13.29 on MyProtein, with an exclusive offer of 2 for 1 so get on there!!!

Smartshake is my shaker of choice wherever I go, I just love them!!!  The shaker has a stack based system on the bottom to hold supplements, nuts, just about any small snack. The filtering system which comes with the shaker also means you don't have to worry about any lumps, however this also depends on what powders you use. Microwave safe so you can even warm meals up in them. The last important thing of all is the longevity and how easy it is to wash. For some reason you never seem to get the smell like from others once you've used them a while. If it does just whack it in the dishwasher, yes I forgot to mention that. Plus you drop them and they never break. I'm always dropping stuff!! They have a carabiner on the shaker as well which means it's easy to transport, just attach it to a strap on your gym bag. 

So there you go my rest week is coming to a end, but this two things I defiantly can't live without. Back to the grind tomorrow, can't wait!!!

Jack