Optimum Nutrition Instantized BCAA Capsules, Keto Friendly Branched Chain Essential Amino Acids, 1000mg, 400 Count

Never in a million years..

...Will you ever be prepared for how bad the unflavored variety tastes.. It's like crushing a whole bunch of different pills and tasting it... The extra sugar or artificial flavorings in the flavored ones cannot be recommended enough. God. It's one of those tastes you will never forget. Save yourself man. Take my experience and save yourself the torture. I have to finish the damn thing as punishment for making the wrong decision... I hate myself

695 persons found it helpful

Would recommend for those with petite builds & trouble maintaining muscle.

I was honestly pretty skeptical about buying supplements online (and slightly suspicious because who regulates what's actually in them right??) but I'm really impressed. I'm a 20 yr old petite girl (5”2' 102lb) with difficulty MAINTAINING muscle. I can gain it no problem and be toned almost the day or two after a workout, but when I comes to keeping it on me, my body just eats it away if I'm not CONSTANTLY working those muscles. I started using these before a workout (usually with eggs or some protein filled dish) and O.M.G. I noticed a huge difference in my endurance. I would normally have to stop on the treadmill and walk for at least a minute for every 5 minutes running. But when I took JUST ONE of these (they recommend 2 but again I'm small af) I felt like I could run 4 miles non-stop. I also noticed a big difference the next day where my muscles are usually sore, they'd feel completely normal

315 persons found it helpful

“Unflavored” needs to be mixed or chased with something. Works great.

Great product. Taking this before and after a workout really helps with muscle fatigue, especially if you are lifting while at a caloric deficit. Warning, though: The "unflavored" isn't really unflavored; it tastes like dirt. You NEED to mix it with something, like your pre-workout and/or post-workout drinks/shakes in order to mask the flavor. I mix it with my chocolate-flavored whey protein powder and I can't taste it. Alternatively, you could take quick "shots" of this with a couple ounces of water, with a "chaser" like you would do with a shot of alcohol you don't like. But just filling up a glass with water and mixing this with it and trying to drink it? Not gonna happen

136 persons found it helpful

Unflavored review – Stage 2 product

Unflavored review A stage 2 lifting product At this stage I use three products 1) Pure Whey ( I prefer Optimum whey chocolate ) 2) Creatine (No preference) 3) Optimum Nutrition BCAA 5000mg unflavored. Why Optimum - Straightforward, no flashy packaging or complex list of ingredients promising instant gains. I was drawn to BCAA suppliment solely on my past experience with the Optimum brand. Their products mix well and do the job. Why BCAA - I train 4 days on 1 day off. I push myself hard and as a result i'm drained afterwards. I say that this is a stage 2 product because it will take you some time to truly drain yourself. If you're just starting out at the gym I recommend that you stick to just Whey protein. Why? Because you have a lot to learn about yourself and your form before you tire your targeted muscles out enough to warrant this product. "I know i'm ready for this product stop trying to sway my decision and review the product itself"- I don't draw out the bitter and sickening taste of this product, nor do I complain about it. Amino acids aren't going to taste great, accept that. If you can take a shot of tequila you can suck down a few shots of water with a serving of this. I tend to put about 3 ounces of water in a cup with a serving of BCAA powder swirl fast and shoot it down. Refill the glass with another 3 ounces and get out any residual product. If you're taking Creatine replace the water with some juice to get your sugar spike. When to take - One serving before a workout and one after (I do about .75 serving per) Results - Immediate notice in decreased muscle fatigue. I had some terrible DOMS with most muscle groups. Even with a strong diet, the soreness affected my workouts. Once I incorporated BCAA powder into my daily routine I noticed a significant decrease in soreness, as a result my workouts became more intense. Why Optimum BCAA over others? I trust Optimum. I hear a lot of talk about 2:1:1 ratio of Leucine to Isoleucine and Valine being a good ratio. I did some searching and couldn't find any conclusive evidence of this being superior, but figured it didn't hurt to go with the general opinion on this one. 4/5 stars- I am deducting a star because of the lack of scooper. It's not a huge deal but how much could it cost to throw a little measuring scooper in there. I was on the road the first time I used this product and I tried to tap some of this into my shaker. About 12 servings fell onto my lap. Summary: It's a great product from a reliable brand. It tastes like garbage, but if you can handle a shot you can handle this. I don't recommend buying if you have worked out for 2 years or less. Update 11/29/2013: I switched from 4 days on 1 day off to an intense full body one day on and one day off. I find the BCAA supplement far more useful on the 4 day on 1 day off training schedule. Since switching my routine I have trailed off from using this product

104 persons found it helpful

Tips on how to deal with taste

The powder mixes just fine in a shaker bottle, which most users of the product would be using. On flavor, you must understand that BCAAs are inherently bitter. You cannot fault ON for providing the product as described. Honestly, taking it straight isn't that bad, however, I understand that some people are highly sensitive to bitterness. If flavor is still a problem, my recommendation to treat it like bad tequila. Countering the bad taste of hard alcohol works just as well for unflavored BCAAs. Mix less than 8 ounces of water with the powder. The less volume the better, so you'll be able to gulp it down in one go. Take a small amount of salt on your tongue, gulp down the liquid, and chase with some straight lime or lemon juice. Salty is a well known counter to bitter. Prepping the tongue with pure salt helps soften the bitter shock. After gulping the BCAAs, the bitterness is well again countered with an alternative strong taste, sour. Using lemon or lime has the additional benefit of ending on a refreshing citrus note. This combination completely clears any of the rubbery bitter aftertaste. For those who want to avoid artificial flavoring or sweeteners, and prefer coming up with their own recipe, I recommend this product

74 persons found it helpful

One Heaping Teaspoonful of Awesome

A friend at my gym told me about this stuff. . She was about a hundred pounds overweight when she started at the gym and now she's the most cut, incredible athlete there so I tend to listen to what she says. She recommended the unflavored, to avoid food coloring and unnecessary sugar Things that happen to me half an hour after taking this: -I have a massive amount of energy and can do a lot more in my workouts without fatigue. -My face no longer turns beet red during hard workouts. How I deal with the taste of the unflavored powder: -I can stomach this with just water, but it's slightly bitter and I cringe a little afterward. -I cannot stand it mixed with milk or creamy chocolatey stuff and absolutely cannot drink it like this. *Pour down the drain. -I prefer it mixed with lemon juice, honey and water or with green machine and lemon juice ....the lemon juice seems to be the key. *note: if you mix it with Green Machine, do not leave it on the counter. The appearance can be traumatic for other family members

67 persons found it helpful

Great Product, Great Price.

ON Nutrition once again delivers a quality product at a very affordable cost. Wouldn't recommend this product for anyone who has any issues taking pills. Each serving (2 pills) is 1g total, so the total pill count you would be taking throughout the day is kinda up there, and you'd want to split the dosages up throughout the day. Typically I get between 10 to 15g a day (depending on if it's a rest day or not) which totals around 30 BCAA pills, not including my other pre workout/vitamin supplements (with everything, I'm taking almost 50 pills a day) but I have no issues with pills so I don't mind it. Recovery time has been reduced to nothing since I started taking these. I noticed some change right away but didn't notice the full effect until a few days of full dosages. I've also used their powder in the past, but I think I like the pills more. Whichever your choice, ON Nutrition is the way to go

65 persons found it helpful

Faster Recovery

---------------------------------- OVERVIEW ---------------------------------- Branched-chain amino acids are essential nutrients that the body obtains from proteins found in food, especially meat, dairy products, and legumes. They include leucine, isoleucine, and valine. “Branched-chain” refers to the chemical structure of these amino acids. People use branched-chain amino acids for medicine. Branched-chain amino acids are used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease), brain conditions due to liver disease (chronic hepatic encephalopathy, latent hepatic encephalopathy), a movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia, a genetic disease called McArdle's disease, a disease called spinocerebellar degeneration, and poor appetite in elderly kidney failure patients and cancer patients. Branched-chain amino acids are also used to help slow muscle wasting in people who are confined to bed. Some people use branched-chain amino acids to prevent fatigue and improve concentration. Athletes use branched-chain amino acids to improve exercise performance and reduce protein and muscle breakdown during intense exercise. Healthcare providers give branched-chain amino acids intravenously (by IV) for sudden brain swelling due to liver disease (acute hepatic encephalopathy) and also when the body has been under extreme stress, for example after serious injury or widespread infection. ---------------------------------- HOW DOES IT WORK? ---------------------------------- Branched-chain amino acids stimulate the building of protein in muscle and possibly reduce muscle breakdown. Branched-chain amino acids seem to prevent faulty message transmission in the brain cells of people with advanced liver disease, mania, tardive dyskinesia, and anorexia

50 persons found it helpful

Better Workouts & Recovery

I typically do not write about things I ingest, especially supplements, but this one was worth sharing my thoughts. I have been exercising consistently over the past five years and have always been hampered by sore muscles and not recovering well enough to maintain a workout plan 5 to 6 days per week in spite of eating right, staying hydrated, taking whey and casein protein powders, and using recovery drinks. After researching the use of this supplement, and deciding to give it a chance the past three weeks I am happy to say that it has helped my exercise performance when I take a pre-exercise dose, helped my recovery when I take a post-exercise dose, and helping muscle development when I take a dose during the day. Coupling BCAAs with Tonalin CLA and a multivitamin, I have been able to leave all the protein powders, protein bars, and recovery drinks for my husband to finish up. I seem to have finally found a "simple" supplement program that has proven effective for my needs that compliments my exercise and meal plans. I am currently in "body recomposition" mode so the scale hasn't moved much -- it's not supposed to -- but the numbers registering from my tape measure and body caliper have been heading in the right direction using few supplements in just three weeks time. This is a worthy product I will continue to use. Thanks ON!

41 persons found it helpful

12/10 Amazing! But research first!!!

Hi! So you're interested in Bcaa, you either don't know where to start or you're a pro. I w unfortunately the latter, I still don't know a ton. Here's what I do know though, so here we go! I started with this brand and Bcaa in August 2019, only in the smaller bottles. I have some kind of chronic health issue that's been degenerative to my muscles and bones, before taking these and discovering that as a vegetarian I have to work extra hard to supplement things I need. I decided to jump into the world of Bcaa, I was over loaded with options but ended up here to add something simple to my regimen. I started with a capsule a day in the morning, eventually moved up to take 3 capsules a day. After the first 2-3 weeks I already noticed a difference, I started to rebuild what little muscle I have. Using my muscles became less aggressive, and after 4 months ((I've been on them a year as of this review)) I was able to slowly restart yoga and do little kindergartener stretch exercises. This also helped my stomach alot with protein absorption as well, which is veryyyy important as a responsible vegetarian! So here we are at a year, my entire life changed with the help of these little capsules. Due to my ability to be more mobile and focus more on the food I put into my body, I've lost an extra 50 lbs on top of the 100 lbs I'd already lost previously with my daily diet changes before adding this to my regime. These now are helping me maintain my muscle health, and work on tightening up my extra skin as much as possible around my muscles. If you're new to Bcaa, and don't know what you're doing. INFORM YOURSELF PROPERLY, about what these do, how you use them properly, and how to use them safely. Otherwise? 12/10 would absolutely recommend, and I hope this was helpful

30 persons found it helpful