Cellucor Alpha Amino is a popular BCAA supplement in the fitness arena. In this review we hope to give you the pros and cons of one Cellcuor’s top products so you can decide it is something you would like to try yourself.
The Benefits Of BCAAs
BCAAs are a great addition to your supplement stack because they are the building blocks of protein and are muscle sparing. BCAA, as you might already know, stands for branched chain amino acid and refers to a group of essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine and valine. Being essential means you have to get BCAAs from food or supplementation – your body can’t produce them.
It is worth noting,if you are new to BCAA supplementation, the many benefits that including this into your life can offer.
The most popular benefits include exercise performance and increased muscle growth.
- Exercise Improvement – BCAAs have been shown to improve exercise performance in regards to physical AND mental performance. BCAAs also have been shown to improve power and strength (1, 2).
- Increased muscle growth and reduced muscle damage/soreness – If you want to decrease sorness and muscle damage during exercise then you need to be taking BCAAs. They have been show to reduce the severity and durection of muscle soreness after a workout (3). Who doesn’t want that! BCAA supplementation has also been shown to stimulate muscular protein synthesis and suppress muscle break down (4).
BCAAs can also help support the immune system which is extremely beneficial for those who have an intense and busy exercise regime.
What To Look For In A Good BCAA Product
When looking for a good BCAA supplement, we want a product that has good ingredients, little filler and good ratios of BCAAs.
It is stated in much of the literature that a 2:1:1 ratio (leucine, isoleucine, valine) is best for optimal results. So aim for a supplement that offers this ratio.
Product Overview
Cellucor Alpha Amino has a lot of ingredients so let’s break it down so you can really see what you’re getting.
Each serving contains
- 19mg of magnesium, 60mg of phosphorous, 70mg of potassium, and 30mg of sodium. Those are the minerals.
- The supplement also has 5000mg of Alpha-BCAA Matrix, containing leucine, l-isoleucine, and l-valine in the expected 2:1:1 ratio.
- Alpha Amino also has, as the name suggests, an Alpha-Amino Complex. This is 2500mg containing glutamine, alanine, l-citrulline, l-arginine, l-threonine, l-lysine, l-phenylalanine, l-tyrosine, histidine, and l-methionine.
- And finally, this supplement also contains an Alpha-Hydration formula, which is made up of 2500mg of taurine, raw coconut water powder, dipotassium phosphate, disodium phosphate, dimagneisum phosphate, and chia seed extract.
- Alpha Amino comes in four different flavors: Lemon Lime, Fruit Punch, Watermelon, and Icy Blue Razz.
The really interesting thing to note in this Alpha Amino Cellucor review is that, unlike other BCAA supplements, Alpha Amino has chia seed, raw coconut concentrate, and an ingredient called HydroMax, which Cellucor believe increases the concentration of fluid in the tissues of the body.
Pros
- Compared to many other BCAA supplements, Cellucor Alpha Amino is not stuffed with chemicals or fillers and artificial flavors. Sure, it has some but it has kept them on the low side. This means that the majority of this product is filled with ingredients that work.
- Alpha Amino tastes delicious. All four flavors are really tasty but my personal favorites are Icy Blue Razz and Watermelon but Lemon Lime and Fruit Punch also taste amazing. Cellucor are one of the best companies around for great tasting supplements. With every single one of their supplements, Cellucor get the flavor right.
- Alpha Amino mixes really well. Just put it in a shaker with some cold water, give it a few shakes, and pretty much all of it is mixed seamlessly. There’s a few floating bits but that happens with BCAA supplements. Cellucor Alpha Amino is one of the best mixing BCAA supplements.
- You can tell that this BCAA supplement really works. It reduces muscle soreness, helps when dieting, and preserves muscle mass. If you are about to have a morning fasted cardio session, I highly recommend you fill up a shaker full of Alpha Amino. It will improve your endurance and curb your hunger pangs. When you’re leaning down, sipping on this throughout the day will ensure that the majority of your weight loss comes from fat and not muscle.
Cons
- Despite having a fantastic ingredient profile, it is not entirely clear about the exact amounts of each ingredient. We know, for example, that Alpha Amino has a complex of 2500mg that includes glutamine, alalanine, citrulline, and a bunch of other stuff. But we don’t know the amounts of the individual ingredients. Most people buying an amino acid supplement want to know the exact amounts in their supplement. I’m sure everyone reading this alpha amino review will agree. Knowing the exact ratios of all ingredients would really help us to determine when the best time to use this supplement would be (i.e. intra-workout, post-workout, during the day).
- Some people might love the idea of a complex that includes chia seeds but when buying a BCAA supplement the most important thing is the branched chain amino acids. If I wanted chia seeds, I could buy them separately and add them to my Greek yoghurt or something. If this would drive the price down a little, that would be good. Some people might like the inclusion of different ingredients though.
Wrap-Up
To conclude this Alpha Amino review, Cellucor Alpha Amino is a high quality BCAA supplement. It does what you expect it to and definitely helps when you are trying to preserve muscle or reduce soreness after working out.
It’s a great supplement if recovery is your top priority. It tastes amazing, mixes well, and works well. It has a few ingredients in addition to branched chain amino acids, which may be a benefit or a negative for some people. It’s not super expensive but not super cheap either.
Cellucor is a great company and, despite not listing the exact ratios of the ingredients on their label, I feel, based upon the strength of all of their other products, that this is a supplement you can trust. I hope this Cellucor Alpha Amino review has helped you out and made it easier for you to make an informed buying decision!
Product Images Sourced From Amazon.com