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The 5 Best BCAA & EAA Supplements In 2023: Our Tested Reviews

Top Rated BCAA & EAA Supplements

By Ryan Bucki, ISSA-CFT
Updated on: March 3, 2024

Honest Review Guarantee from Fitness Informant:
Our product testing team uses the full 30 day serving amount in container before reviewing. Learn more about our review process here.

The fitness community is filled with various drinks that aid in electrolyte replenishment, hydration, energy and muscle recovery. The last of those characteristics is extremely important for muscle repair, recovery and re-growth. Amino acid supplements provide the key to jump start muscle recovery.

As it is with many of the supplements on the market, you can get lost in your choice for the ideal amino acid. Are you to use a BCAA or a EAA? What’s the difference? Long story short, BCAAs are EAAs and they are equally important.

So which one is right for me? That’s where we come in. Supplement companies are trying to trick you with their “unique” BCAA formulas, and added ingredients that may provide zero benefit.

We Remove The BS The Supplement Companies Feed You, And Tell You What They Don’t Want You To Know.

We remove the clutter from the amino acids category. We’ve provided you with the five best BCAA supplement products of 2020. Let’s get started.


The Best Rated BCAA & EAA Supplements on the Market Today

Here's the top 5 picks for the best BCAA & EAA supplements that money can buy:

Product Name

Highlights

Rating

#1 NutraBio Alpha EAA

NutraBio Alpha EAA

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Overall BCAA/EAA Amino Acid Supplement

Highlights:


  • 8.2g EAAs
  • 600mg Alpha-GPC
  • 500mg VitaCholine

Our #1 Rated

Fitness Informant Logo

9.4 out of 10

in the Amino Acids Category

#2 GHOST Amino V2

ghost amino v2

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Best for Hydration

Highlights:


  • 10g Total EAAs
  • 2g Taurine
  • Aquamin™ and Coconut Powder for Hydration

Our #2 Rated

Fitness Informant Logo

9.1 out of 10

in the Amino Acids Category

#3 Core Nutritionals ABC

core abc

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Best for Value

Highlights:


  • 50 Servings
  • 10g BCAA
  • Taste

Our #3 Rated

Fitness Informant Logo

9.1 out of 10

in the Amino Acids Category

#4 Alpha Lion Gain-O-Rade

Alpha Lion Gain-O-Rade

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Best for Electrolytes

Highlights:


  • 10g EAA/BCAAs
  • Electrolytes
  • 2g Taurine

Our #4 Rated

Fitness Informant Logo

9.0 out of 10

in the Pre-Workout Category

#5 NutraBio Intra Blast

NutraBio Intra Blast bottle

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Best for Performance

Highlights:


  • ~10g EAA/BCAA
  • 2g Taurine
  • 2g Betaine

Our #5 Rated

Fitness Informant Logo

8.9 out of 10

in the Pre-Workout Category

There are hundreds of different brands and variations of BCAA & EAA supplements out there.

How did these 5 make Fitness Informant's top 5 list? Read on and we'll tell you:


#1 NutraBio Alpha EAA

NutraBio Alpha EAA
  • Rating: 9.4 out of 10
  • Servings: 30 Servings
  • Best For: Top Overall Product

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Pros

  • Fully transparent label
  • 2:1:1 Ratio of BCAAs
  • 600mg Alpha-GPC for focus
  • Huperzine A to prolong focus
  • KSM-66 for Stress
  • Hydration Blend

Cons

  • Could use more KSM-66
  • Some foam while mixing

NutraBio Alpha EAA was released at the beginning of 2019 and took the industry by storm. NutraBio already has an extensive line of supplements, and with the release of Alpha EAA, NutraBio showed us that they could be innovative. In fact, Alpha EAA impressed us so much, that is won our 2019 "Product of the Year" award. 

Alpha EAA is not just a basic EAA product. It took a much different approach to than the competition by not only combining EAAs with a hydration matrix like many other companies do. Instead, NutraBio decided to make Alpha EAA an EAA/Nootropic product. 

Alpha EAA starts us off with the standard 2:1:1 ratio of BCAAs at 6 total grams. This is then followed by the 6 other EAAs, which include Lysine, Threonine, Phenylalanine, Histidine, Tryptophan, and Methionine. What's greta about this profile, is that it is fully transparent, so we know exactly how much of each EAA is in here. You get a total of 8.2 grams of EAAs per serving. 

This is then followed by a Hydration Matrix, which gives you 1.2 grams of Taurine, and 500mg of CocoPure, which is coconut water powder. This is nice to see, and it has become the standard of the industry to have a hydration ingredients added to BCAA/EAA products. This makes it great to take anytime of the day, or even during your workouts.

Of course, what really sets this product apart is the Nootropic/Adaptogen Matrix. This impressive blend consists of 600mg of Alpha GPC, 500mg of VitaCholine®, 300mg of KSM-66® Ashwagandha, and 50mcg of Huperzine A. This blend may aids in focus, and can even help reduce overall stress and anxiety. This blend is what had us so impressed, as there were no EAA/Nootropic products before Alpha EAA.

Lastly, we have the AstraGin dosed at 50mg. This may aid in absorption, and is nice to see in here. 

Who Makes It?

NutraBio has been in business since 1996 producing some of the highest quality supplements you can buy today. They not only promote awesome, high quality products, but education as well.

NutraBio has been trying to educate the consumer on the sports nutrition industry for several years to ensure that you are purchasing supplements of high quality and not just a marketing gimmick. All of their products contain a 100% transparent label to ensure you know what you are putting in your body.

What's In It?

One serving (one scoop) contains:

  • 6g 2:1:1 BCAA - The three BCAAs, including Leucine which has been shown to trigger MPS. 
  • 2.2g EAA - blend of 6 EAAs which are necessary for building muscle.
  • 1.2g Taurine - improves muscular strength and endurance
  • 500mg CocoPure Coconut Water Powder - aids in hydration
  • 600mg Alpha-GPC - source of Choline which aids in focus
  • 500mg VitaCholine - cognitive improvement
  • 300mg KSM-66® Ashwagandha - adaptogen which may reduce cortisol
  • 50mcg Huperzine A- prevents acetylcholine from being broken down in the brain
  • 50mg AstraGin - aids in absorption
Alpha EAA label

Bottom Line:

NutraBio's Alpha EAA is our favorite BCAA/EAA product on the market. You get 8.2g of EAAs, a solid hydration blend, AstraGin to aid in absorption, and of course, a solid blend of Nootropics and Adaptogens. To top it all off, NutraBio made this product taste great, so not only is it effective, it also is great to sip on either during the day, or during your workout. If you want more info on Alpha EAA, be sure to check out our in-depth review here.

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#2 GHOST Amino V2

ghost amino v2
  • Rating: 9.2 out of 10
  • Servings: 40/20
  • Best For: Hydration

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Pros

  • 10g total EAA/BCAA
  • 2g Taurine
  • Great Taste
  • Fully transparent label
  • AquaMin for Hydration
  • Value

Cons

  • Foams up while mixing

Amino V2 is a top tier BCAA/EAA blend from Ghost. Ghost has been on a roll this year. They have released some epic flavor collabs as well as some awesome products, and Amino V2 is one of them. Ghost has been so impressive this year, that they were actually the winners of our 2019 Brand of the Year award. 

Amino V2 is a step-up from its predecessor, Amino. Amino V2 has a very impressive profile all around, and when you look at the profile, you wonder how they were able to make it taste so good. It starts us off with 5.5 grams of EAAs. What we have to mention, is that this blend has a high dose of Lysine, as well as the highest dose of Methionine we've ever seen. What makes this impressive is that Methionine is known to taste HORRIBLE and at such a high dose, it is crazy how well Amino V2 is flavored. Following this, we also get 4.5g of BCAAs at a 4:1:1 ratio. This is a solid amount, and provides enough Leucine to get MPS started. So in total, you're getting 10g of aminos.

Following this is the Ghost Hydration blend, which contains 2g of Taurine, 1g of Coconut Water Powder, and 500mg of Aquamin. This is one of the best hydration blends we've seen as of yet, and this makes Ghost Amino V2 of the best intra-workout products on our list. Of course, Amino V2 also contains 50mg of AstraGin, which aids in absorption. 

We did mention the taste, but we have to rave about it for a bit. Amino V2 Welch's Grape Juice is at this point the best grape flavor we've we've had. The flavor is basically Welch's Grape Juice without the syrupy texture you get from the actual juice. It's simply impressive, and if you like grape flavored products, you will love this.  

Who Makes It?

GHOST is a fully transparent brand in the supplement industry. They are more than a supplement brand, they are a lifestyle (that's really what they are going for). They could easily attract consumers with their amazing YouTube Channel and marketing campaigns, which they do, but they keep them with their quality formulas and products.

What's In It?

One serving (two-scoops) contains:

  • 5.5g EAAs- blend of 6 EAAs which are necessary for building muscle.
  • 4.5g BCAAs - three BCAAs, including Leucine which has been shown to trigger MPS. 
  • 2g Taurine - improves muscular strength and endurance
  • 1g Raw Coconut Powder - aids in hydration
  • 500mg Aquamin - aids in hydration
  • 50mg AstraGin- aids in absorption
ghost amino v2 profile

Bottom Line:

Ghost Amino V2 nails it on recovery, hydration, and taste. This is one of the best amino acid supplements on the market today. With high doses of EAAs instead of them being sprinkled in, Ghost Amino V2 is simply the best straight-amino acid product there is on the market. If you're looking for a great tasting EAA product that can aid in performance and recovery, all while tasting great, Ghost Amino V2 is a great, affordable option. 


Read our full review here.

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#3 Core Nutritionals ABC

core abc
  • Rating: 9.1 out of 10
  • Servings: 50
  • Best For: Value

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Pros

  • 10g of 2:1:1 BCAAs
  • Great Taste
  • Value
  • Beta-Alanine for endurance
  • Citrulline Malate
  • Transparent formula

Cons

  • No Hydration Ingredients
  • Could use more Glutamine

Core ABC by Core Nutritionals blew us away. Why? Where do we start. It is as solid as an intra-workout can get. The ingredient profile is on-point, the taste and fricken awesome and the value is over-the-top. This is why it finds itself towards the top of our amino acid ranking list.

Core ABC has 100-scoopers per container. The recommended serving size is two scoops, which gives you 10g of 2:1:1 BCAA, 2.5g L-Gluatmine, 2.5g Beta-Alanine and 2.5g Citrulline Malate. Two scoops also turns this into a 50-serving container. At 10g per serving, you are getting over 50% of your daily intake of BCAAs. Solid!

When you look past the ingredient deck of Core ABC you look at the flavors. The flavor we ranked so high is Australian Orange Sherbert which is an exclusive to – which we have a partnership with (use coupon code INFORMANT to save 5%). This is by far the best tasting flavor of any supplement we’ve had. It reminded us of the old Flintstones Orange Push-Up Pops.

We mentioned serving size before which makes it a great value. This retails for just over $50, meaning you are getting 10g 2:1:1 BCAA for just over $1 a serving. You can’t beat that! Overall, this is going to be a hard BCAA to top…best of luck to those trying!

Who Makes It?

Core Nutritionals doesn’t do anything sexy about their packaging, but what’s inside of those units is sexy. Core Nutritionals focuses on creating and developing some of the best products on the market. Core ABC is just one example. With Core Nutritionals you can expect full transparency and top-of-the-line quality.

What's In It?

One serving (two-scoops) contains:

  • 10g 2:1:1 BCAAs – best source of BCAA at best ratio with the highest amount we’ve seen
  • 2.5g L-Glutamine – improves muscle recovery and repair
  • 2.5g  Beta-Alanine – improves endurance and strength output
  • 2.5g Citrulline Malate – promotes blood flow leading to solid pumps


Core ABC Label

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason why Core ABC is in our top 5. They did it right. They created a great tasting BCAA product with an awesome dosage of 2:1:1 BCAA (10g) with a few extras. The additional 2.5g of L-Glutamine, Beta-Alanine and Citrulline will help speed up recovery, prolong endurance and increase your pump. At just over a $1 per serving, you won’t find a better deal out there on an all-in-one intra-workout powder.


Read our full review here.

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#4 Alpha Lion Gain-O-Rade

Alpha Lion Gain-O-Rade
  • Rating: 9.0 out of 10
  • Servings: 42/21
  • Best For: Electrolytes

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Pros

  • 4g EAAs
  • 6g BCAAs
  • Taurine
  • Electrolytes 
  • Taste
  • Transparent Formula

Cons

  • Value
  • Mixability

Gain-O-Rade is Alpha Lion's EAA/BCAA product, and boy is it quite impressive. Alpha Lion was our Breakout Brand of the Year for 2019, and this product certainly helped them get that. This is a product that we had a very hard time finding anything wrong with this product.

Gain-O-Rade starts us off with 6 grams of BCAAs, which is comparable to our top rated BCAA/EAA products. This is followed by 4 grams of EAAs in a fully transparent profile. What's interesting, is that this product has a high amount of Methionine (275mg), which is notoriously horrible tasting. Gain-O-Rade is great tasting, so we can only give them props on being able to flavor this well.

We also have an impressive hydration complex in here as well. Alpha Lion gives you 2 grams of Taurine, 1 gram of Coconut Water Powder, and 250mg of Aquamin. These ingredients are great for hydration and make Gain-O-Rade great to use during your workout to help against cramping. Of course, we end this with 50mg of AstraGin, which may aid in absorption.

Who Makes It?

Alpha Lion is a newer company, but with clever marketing and solid products, they have burst onto the scene. With awesome products, cool product names, great flavoring, if you haven't tried Alpha Lion yet, it is worth 

What's In It?

One serving (two-scoops) contains:

  • 6g 2:1:1 BCAAs – promotes blood flow
  • 4EAAs – blend of 6 EAAs which are necessary for building muscle.
  • 2g Taurine – improves muscular strength and endurance
  • 1g Raw Coconut Powder – aids in hydration
  • 500mg Calci-K - electrolytes
  • 250mg AquaMin- ais in hydration
  • 50mg AstraGin- aids in absorption
Gain-O-Rade Label

Bottom Line:

Gain-O-Rade is worthy of this list. It provides 10g of aminos, a solid hydration complex, and a great taste to boot. Alpha Lion already makes solid products, and Gain-O-Rade is no different. If you haven't tried anything from Alpha Lion yet, Gain-O-Rade is a great product to start with. The taste is great, the name is clever, and it is simply effective. 


Read our full review here.

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#5 NutraBio Intra Blast

IntraBlast
  • Rating: 8.9 out of 10
  • Servings: 20
  • Best For: Overall Performance

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Pros

  • 10g Aminos
  • Hydration
  • Recovery
  • Endurance
  • 100% transparent label

Cons

  • Value
  • Mixability

Intra Blast by NutraBio is an all-in-one muscle recovery product that includes amino acids to help with muscle recovery, repair and regrowth. Intra Blast is considered a 3-in-1 formula!

Intra Blast starts with Essential Amino Acids and Branched Chain Amino Acids for a total of 10,005mg. This portion of the supplement includes 7g of fermented 2:1:1 ratio BCAAs. This is the best ratio with the best source of aminos. You also get a sufficient amount requiring only 2-3 servings of Intra Blast per day.

Intra Blast includes other ingredients outside of amino acids to help with performance and recovery. You get 5g of L-Glutamine, which aids in muscle recovery. NutraBio also tosses in 2g of Betaine, which helps with strength output. We get several ingredients in the hydration and electrolyte area of this product, something not seen in any other supplement.

This is truly an all-in-one muscle recovery product that might be more than you need, but it sure as hell promotes repair, recovery and regrowth!

Who Makes It?

NutraBio has been in business since 1996 producing some of the highest quality supplements you can buy today. They not only promote awesome, high quality products, but education as well.

NutraBio has been trying to educate the consumer on the sports nutrition industry for several years to ensure that you are purchasing supplements of high quality and not just a marketing gimmick. All of their products contain a 100% transparent label to ensure you know what you are putting in your body.

What's In It?

One serving contains:


  • 10g Amino Acids – combination of EAAs and BCAAs to promote muscle growth
  • 7g Fermented 2:1:1 BCAAs – best source of BCAAs at scientifically backed ratio
  • 5g L-Glutamine – improves muscle recovery
  • 2g Betaine – increases muscle strength
  • 1g OKG – improves muscle recovery
  • 2g Taurine – improves muscular strength and endurance
  • Electrolytes - contains Calci K, Sodium Phosphate and Di-Magnesium Malate
Intra Blast Label

Bottom Line:

NutraBio PRE Extreme is one of the most comprehensive formulas on the market today. With 15g of carbs pre-workout and the actives, you have the largest serving size we've seen on a pre equalling over 44g. This pre-workout is NOT messing around. It is safe, effective and has the highest quality ingredients used. If you want something that is for the advanced user, NutraBio PRE Extreme is the choice for you.


Read our full review here.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Pre-Workout Supplements

Why Do You Need To Supplement With Amino Acids?

Amino acids are necessary for those who lift to aid in improved muscle recovery, muscle repair and muscle regrowth. Today’s diets do not consist of enough whole foods to provide optimal amino acid amounts. A quality amino acid supplement can help put you on a fast track to your optimal body composition.

High quality BCAA supplements can provide you with:

  • Improved Recovery Time

Amino acids jump start the muscle recovery process. In fact, the main amino acid in BCAAs is L-Leucine. This is the key that starts the mTOR engine to aid in muscle recovery.

  • Decreased Muscle Soreness

Post exercise muscle soreness, known as DOMS – Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, can be reduced significantly with proper amino acid supplementation. A study by the University of Birmingham confirms this.

  • Increased Endurance

When you participate in high intensity exercises or endurance activities, your glycogen stores get depleted rather quickly. This is what our body uses for fuel. Once our stores are depleted, the body looks to use other sources for fuel. A 2011 study showed that when you supplement with amino acids it will protect your glycogen stores allowing you a 17.2% increase in the time it takes you to exhaustion.

  • Increased Muscle Size

Amino acids, specifically branched chain amino acids, have been shown to increase protein synthesis and regulate protein metabolism. By doing these two things, BCAAs directly impact muscle growth.

  • Fat Loss

Supplementing with BCAAs and amino acids allows your body to save the glycogen stores and utilize fats for energy. The more fat you burn, the more fat you lose.

  • Fatigue Reduction

Supplementing with BCAAs and amino acids allows your body to save the glycogen stores and utilize fats for energy. The more fat you burn, the more fat you lose.

  • Improved Performance

When you reduce your fatigue, increase your performance, reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery time, you will ultimately be improving your overall performance.

What Should You Look For in a BCAA Brand?

Amino acids come in a lot of shapes, sizes, flavors, etc. So what is is exactly that you need to look for in amino acid supplements? We can understand the confusion, and when supplement companies do not fully disclose their amino acid sources, or use fancy marketing terms, it can throw you off your game.

We break down several bullet points you should look for when selecting the optimal amino acid product for you. Find what is most important to you and your goals, and select the product that closely matches that. At the end of the day, the selection should come down to what is most important to you, as the consumer, the person with the checkbook. Do not let “marketing” win. Let science prevail.

What are the Different Types of Amino Acids?

We briefly touched on this before, but the type of amino acid you choose is very important. In the sports nutrition industry, there are two types of amino acids that are present in supplements: Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) and Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). Read our BCAA vs EAA article for more information on this.

Branched chain amino acids ARE essential amino acids. However, BCAAs are most widely used before, during and after exercise to aid in muscle recovery, repair and growth. Branched chain amino acids are L-Leucine, L-Valine and L-Isoleucine.

Essential amino acids are nine of the 20 amino acids required by the body. The big difference between EAAs and the “other” amino acids are that EAAs cannot be produced by the body and must be obtained from food sources or supplements.

What Ratio BCAA is Best?

Numerous scientific studies show that the 2:1:1 ratio of BCAA (two parts L-Leucine to one part L-Valine and one part L-Isoleucine) is the optimal ratio for muscle recovery, repair and regrowth. The 2:1:1 ratio BCAA supplements should be sought out for pre, intra and post workout.

Over the years, many supplement companies have been releasing products with various ratios. We’ve see ratios of 3:1:1, 4:1:1, 6:1:1 and 10:1:1. L-Leucine is a phenomenal BCAA, but it is also the “cheapest” of the BCAAs to produce. We want to ensure that you are not overpaying for a supplement based on marketing that these products are superior to the 2:1:1 ratio. There are some great products that do alter the ratio, but they are not ideal for consumption in and around your workout.

BCAA Sources

What supplement companies do not want you to know is where the amino acids are derived from. Let’s focus in on BCAAs. If the label does not say, “Fermented,” then your BCAAs may come from places you wish wasn’t true.

Non-fermented BCAAs typically come from bird beaks, bird feathers, pig carcasses, human hair and other areas we wish wasn’t true. With that said, this has been the primary source of BCAAs we’ve been consuming for years. The truth is that we will still be consuming BCAA and amino sources derived from these. Why? We cannot tell the difference at a consumer level, and, even though it is gross, they are still beneficial to muscle recovery, repair and regrowth.

If you see the term “Fermented’ on the label, then you can sleep easily. This means that the amino acids were derived from vegas sources (i.e. plants and vegetables). These typically do not taste as good as non-fermented (how can that be…non-fermented comes from bird feathers – but it is true) so these products will typically be less favorable on taste or use more ingredients to mask the poor taste.

Ultimately it is up to you. Fermented aminos will be more expensive than those that are not fermented. The choice is yours.

BCAA Energy Ingredients

Optimum Nutrition started the energized amino acid category with Amino Energy. Now, many companies are hopping on this train. Energized amino acids are a great alternative to coffee. They provide you with a good amount of amino acids (some better than others) and the ingredients needed to boost energy and focus. Here are some energy ingredients to look for in amino acids:

  • Caffeine: caffeine does come in various forms, the most popular is Caffeine Anhydrous. Other forms include Infinergy a.k.a. Di-Caffeine Malate and Caffeine Citrate. You may see some company’s utilize a combination of the three. They do this to provide instant energy (Caffeine Anhydrous) and then provide slow-acting energy as you workout (Di-Caffeine Malate). There are no clinical dosages on stimulants, but you will typically see caffeine dosed around 200-350mg per serving. A black cup of coffee contains 90mg of caffeine.
  • Coffee Bean: A natural source of caffeine that you would find in a cup of your morning java is Green Coffee Bean. Many companies prefer to use natural sources of caffeine.
  • Green Tea Extract: Another source of natural caffeine. Green Tea Extract has been primarily used in fat loss products, but it does provide sufficient energy without a nasty crash.

Pump Ingredients

Arnold Schwarzenegger is famous for his bodybuilding and acting career, but also for his line in “Pumping Iron” when he talks about the Pump being the equivalent to sex. The “pump” provides so much more than just an amazing look to your physique. In fact, the pump plays a much larger role. When you obtain a good pump from an amino acid, it means blood is flowing into your muscles bringing them essential nutrients they need to repair, recover and regrow. The following ingredients are popular pump activating ingredients to look for in your amino acid supplement:

  • L-Citrulline: this might be the most popular pump ingredient found in pre-workouts. There are various forms of L-Citrulline but they all work the same way to contribute to an increased pump. Clinical dosages of L-Citrulline is 6g.
  • HydroMax/GlycerSize (Glycerol Powder): this powder increases the concentration of fluids in your muscles. More and more pre-workout powders are using Glycerol Powder a.k.a. HydroMax or GlycerSize as part of their pump enhancing complex. Dosage will vary as there is not a clinical dosage at this time.

Remember, the pump is more than just the look. It is important to your overall growth and physique. Obtain the pump you want through an effective amino acid supplement containing pump activating ingredients.

Endurance Ingredients

If you’re an endurance athlete, you may not want all of the ingredients that promote strength or pump. You may just want ingredients that will help your heart beat longer at faster rates through the use of supplementation. The following ingredients are used in in amino acid supplements to help with improving your endurance:

  • Caffeine: this is an energy ingredient, but it also works with your central nervous system to provide cognitive benefits and increased endurance. For an endurance athlete, you do not need 200+mg dosage. A dosage of 150mg would suffice. Many times there are other forms of caffeine meant to last longer than Caffeine Anhydrous.
  • Beta-Alanine: didn’t we say this was for strength gains? Yes we did, but Beta-Alanine has also been show to improve endurance. Dosage should be at 3.2g.
  • Taurine: another ingredient we mentioned under strength ingredients, but Taurine also contributes to overall improved endurance. You would want to supplement with 500-2,000mg of Taurine to be effective.
  • ElevATP: this is a newer ingredient with a lot of science behind it, that has been proven to enhance mitochondrial ATP production (which is what our body uses for energy). We look for ElevATP to be dosed at 150mg.
  • Peak O2: another unique, newer ingredient proven to enhance endurance. Peak O2 fights damage from oxidative stress in the body, helping athletes train longer, recover faster and leading to more oxygen uptake. No standard dosage exists but look for this to be 500-1,000mg.

As an endurance athlete, you must look for ingredients that will help contribute to your type of training as it is vastly different than strength training. In fact, a whole other muscle type (slow-twice aka Type 1) is being trained.

Taste and Flavor

Taste is of great importance to this category because you’re typically drinking amino acids throughout the day. Unlike a pre-workout, in which you chug, amino acids are meant to be sipped. Thus, taste is very important.

Fermented amino acids will typically taste worse than non-fermented amino acids. It is important to look at flavoring agents in an amino acid product like Citric Acid, Malic Acid and Sucralose.


Our Testing Process

We examined five different areas of each amino acid supplement when we compiled our rankings:

  1. Ingredients Profile
  2. Effectiveness
  3. Taste
  4. Mixability
  5. Value

Please Note: Many of the “top 10 BCAA” lists you find online are written by content writers with no in-gym or supplement experience who are paid by the word count to write an article for a website trying to generate money.

These lists are influenced by brands who pay for placement. These lists contain amino acid supplements that are, for the lack of a better word, garbage.

The following products on our best of list were used by the author of this article. He used the BCAA & EAA supplements through the duration of a full container. Sample packs were not used in determining the rankings.

Stop relying on faulty information that is influenced by outside writers and money. This list is the real deal. Here at Fitness Informant, we don’t steer you wrong. Be Informed. Live Fit.

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