2019-07-01_Muscle_Fitness_Hers

OFFSET; SHUTTERSTOCK

BODY-BARING

ESSENTIALS

How a newly supplement-ised

set of molecules — essential

amino acids — promises to power

up your progress.

BY GINA VALENTINE

EARLY ON in the

workout game, you learn

that protein powder is

critical to getting the lean,

muscular look you crave.

You hit the next level with

branched-chain amino acids

(BCAAs): leucine, isoleu-

cine, and valine. But new

research has uncovered that

these so-called building

blocks of protein don’t

really work on their own

— and that to get what your

body really requires, in just

the right amounts, you need

something else: essential

amino acids (EAAs). So

drop the dumbbells for a

moment, here’s the scoop.

Anytime you lift

weights, you’re breaking

down muscle tissue by

making micro tears in

muscle fibres. Then comes

the crucial recovery and

growth phase, and that’s

where EAAs really shine.

HEALTH SUPP 101

46 | M&F HERS | JUL/AUG 2019