Best BCAA Supplements 2020 Edition

Clean BCAA Capsules Continue to Show the Way

BCAA supplements are one of the most convenient bodybuilding products because they help you remain in an anabolic state anytime, anywhere.

The Best BCAA Supplements of 2020 feature clean and science-backed formulations which help you achieve your fitness goals and boost your long-term health.

Whether they come in capsule or powder form, they help you gain a much-needed edge in and out of the gym.

Quick List: Best BCAA Supplements 2020 Edition

The best BCAA supplements combine ingredients into “stacks” that deliver superior long-term results.

More on these later, but for now here is a quick list of The Best BCAA Supplements:

Or, read on to learn about the trends, ingredients, and other pertinent facts about the Best BCAA Supplements.

Why BCAA Supplements are in Demand in 2020

The best BCAA supplements will help you increase and preserve muscle mass.

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are among the most versatile – if not the most versatile – bodybuilding supplements.

Bear in mind amino acids are the building blocks of protein. You can’t build serious muscle mass without amino acids.

For their part, BCAAs are essential amino acids. This means the body cannot synthesize or produce them – you must obtain them from whole food sources such as beef, chicken breast, tuna, salmon, tilapia, turkey breast, eggs, and peanuts. Supplements also help tremendously.

Moreover, amino acids are the focal point of strength and fitness programs. They help you achieve a variety of fitness goals which include strength, power, endurance, and stamina. Here are their general fitness benefits:

• Increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS)
• Ramp up muscles’ energy levels during vigorous exercise
• Increase muscle growth via the mTOR pathway
• Facilitate the muscle recovery process

There are three kinds of BCAAs. Let’s break them down further.

L-Leucine

L-leucine (or simply leucine) is the undisputed king of BCAAs. The reason is simple: it is the most anabolic amino acid because it helps kickstart the muscle protein synthesis (MPS) process.

In other words, it activates various muscle-building pathways (most notably the mTOR pathway).  Not only that, but leucine also helps preserve muscle mass, boost fat loss, and shorten recovery time.

If you want to produce maximum results, make sure to exercise regularly, get enough sleep, and consume ample leucine from foods and supplements. It’s crucial to replenish your leucine supplies regularly because they diminish when you exercise.

A typical BCAA supplement contains twice the amount of leucine than the other BCAAs, l-isoleucine and l-valine (following the traditional 2:1:1 BCAA ratio). The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for leucine is 14 mg/kg/day for adults. BCAA supplements should help you achieve that goal.

L-Isoleucine

If leucine helps you muscle up, l-isoleucine (or simply isoleucine) helps ramp up endurance and repair muscle tissue – two important exercise benefits.

The body breaks down isoleucine for energy inside the muscle tissues. This is a BCAA which can help you exercise longer and harder.

Isoleucine also helps keep muscle wasting at bay, maintain a positive nitrogen balance (for more muslce growth), and regulate blood sugar levels.

L-Valine

L-valine completes the BCAA triumvirate. Just like l-isoleucine, l-valine helps increase endurance and repair muscle tissue. The latter has other important benefits:

• Improves sleep quality
• Quells anxiety
• Suppresses appetite (for more fat loss)
• Increases muscle mass

Clearly, all three BCAAs are versatile. They help you achieve an assortment of fitness goals.

Whether you’re into strength training, high-interval intensity (HIIT) training, fasted training, CrossFit, BODYPUMP, or marathons, BCAA supplementation can take your performance to the next level.

The takeaway: BCAAs’ versatility make them one of the most in-demand supplements in the bodybuilding industry. We don’t see that trend changing in 2020 and beyond.

What Do People Expect from BCAA Supplements in 2020?

Standalone BCAAs

We said it before, we’ll say it again: standalone BCAAs are excellent bodybuilding supplement ingredients. Unfortunately, manufacturers included BCAAs with fat burners, pre-workout ingredients, and stimulants in some of their products in the recent past.

While this may work perfectly for some individuals, the chances of experiencing unwanted side effects increase when there are too many ingredients (especially harsh “other ingredients”).

On the flip side, more customers appreciate standalone BCAA products. Sticking to BCAAs helps preserve the dosage of each amino acid. Too many ingredients may compromise their dosage levels.

When they reap the full benefits of BCAAs, they can help take their performance at the gym to the next level. They’re confident they will achieve their long-term fitness goals.

With that in mind, expect many consumers to seek out standalone BCAA products this year. For them, more isn’t necessarily better. In fact, they love keeping it simple.

2:1:1 Ratio

Like we earlier mentioned, today’s BCAA supplements feature a 2:1:1 BCAA ratio. That’s two servings of l-leucine and one serving each of l-isoleucine and l-valine.

Here’s the key: that ratio represents the ratio which is in human muscle tissue.

According to the April 2017 issue of Nutrition (via NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov), “appropriate BCAA ratios could…also mediate the key regulators related to protein metabolism including the mTORC1 pathway.”

While the study didn’t specify the appropriate BCAA ratio, a 2:1:1 ratio should suffice. The reason: a majority of modern science-backed BCAA supplements stick to this ratio.

Customers aren’t complaining, either: it’s the ratio which gives them the best possible results.

Clean Formulation

Like other bodybuilding supplements, BCAA products can get a bad rap because of their filler and harsh ingredient content.

Whenever finicky customers spot a questionable stimulant, artificial food coloring, and the like, they tend to back off. We don’t blame them. We don’t want them in any supplement, either.

Some manufacturers include second-rate components so they can gain an edge over the competition. They include dirty ingredients to make the supplement taste better at the expense of the customer’s long-term health.

Fortunately, some companies have dignity – they believe simplicity is the key when formulating BCAA supplements. We’re glad the best BCAA products boast of clean formulations

Performance Lab SPORT BCAA’s “other ingredient” label reflects a clean ingredient profile: no synthetics, additives, and other questionable components.

Excellent Bioavailability

Modern BCAA supplements’ superior bioavailability allow you to reap their full benefits.

What’s the use of consuming a supplement if your body cannot absorb the ingredients efficiently? Everything will go for naught. You’re just wasting your time and money.

On the other hand, BCAA supplements which have excellent bioavailability allow you to reap their full long-term benefits. Some of them rely on advanced delivery forms.

Case in point: the inclusion of BioPerine® black pepper fruit extract. Doing so allows your body to absorb the nutrients more efficiently.

When this happens, expect fewer side effects (bloating, gas, indigestion, etc.) to occur. You can’t ask for anything more than that.

Quality BCAA Sources

You can find BCAAs mostly in animal products. With that in mind, many BCAA supplements have animal origins.

Here’s the harsh reality: many sleazy manufacturers derive their BCAA components from animal products such as duck feathers. We pointed this out in our Labrada BCAA POWER review.

On the other hand, some companies derive their BCAA supplements from Chinese corn. It may sound good at first, but some food products from China may contain toxins and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

Savvy consumers want their BCAAs simple and clean. Fermented BCAAs which manufacturers derive from sunflowers and other plants quickly come to mind.

Long story short, fermented and plant-based BCAAs are clean and premium forms customers should look for this year. Not only do they exude quality, but they also have excellent bioavailability. They’re worthy of a spot on your supplement stack over the long haul.

Convenience

Many BCAA supplements come in the traditional powdered form. Many customers prefer this form because some of these products have refreshing tastes and tremendous health benefits.

You can’t blame them. It’s hard to pass up on, say, a raspberry-flavored BCAA supplement which quenches your thirst and helps you remain in an anabolic state.

Unfortunately, these great-tasting BCAA products may also contain fillers such as the aforementioned artificial food colorings (FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 6, etc.).

Some manufacturers taint their supplements with these dirty ingredients and synthetic flavors so they could please their customers’ taste buds. Good for you if you have a go-to BCAA product in powdered form without these harsh additives.

On that note, expect a paradigm shift: BCAA capsules.

Realistically, there aren’t many BCAA capsules on the market – not yet, anyway. However, they have certain advantages in terms of convenience. For one, you can carry them in your pocket.

You can also take them with a pre-workout, intra-workout, or post-workout supplement at your convenience.

Finally, BCAA capsules have a cleaner ingredient profile than their powdered counterparts. You won’t find any BCAA capsules with artificial food colorings in your bodybuilding supplement store shelves.

Plus, manufacturers use high-quality capsules for better absorption and digestion. The key takeaway: if you want to get the most out of your BCAA supplement, try it in capsule form.

Best BCAA Supplements – 2020 Edition

#1: Performance Lab SPORT BCAA

Our top-ranked BCAA supplement of 2020 is the epitome of a clean and simple standalone product which should make a tremendous impact. One four-capsule serving yields three grams of BCAAs on a 2:1:1 ratio.

That may seem simple enough. However, consider the fact the manufacturer uses a highly-absorbable form of BCAAs which it naturally fermented from sunflowers.

To top it all off, the company uses Plantcaps® pullulan capsules which have key amounts of prebiotics for excellent bioavailability and improved gut function.

Truly, Performance Lab SPORT BCAA steers from the norm of filler-laden bodybuilding supplements. It’s one of the reasons it deserves the top spot in our rankings.

#2: Do Vitamins BCAA Capsules

Another BCAA capsule supplement takes the No. 2 spot. Do Vitamins BCAA Capsules contain “no animal products and no fillers. Made from pure pharmaceutical-grade vegetarian amino acids, Do Vitamins BCAA Capsules are the highest-quality, highest-purity branched-chain amino acids in the world,” per its official website.

This product’s 2.1 grams of BCAAs per three-capsule serving may pale in comparison to many competitors, but it makes up for it in terms of quality – it features AJIPURE® amino acids and Vcaps® Plus vegetarian capsules for improved absorption. In addition, its label boasts of Labdoor.com quality assurance. It’s non-GMO, certified vegan, and certified paleo friendly as well.

The bottom line: Do Vitamins BCAA Capsules is one of the highest-quality BCAA supplements. Make no mistake about it.

#3: GAT Sport FLEXX BCAAs

The famous bodybuilder Sadik Hadzovic has one of the most impressive physiques today. We daresay his body resembles Golden Era of Bodybuilding legend Frank Zane’s. His aesthetics (not to mention work ethic) are off the charts.

Hadzovic also endorses GAT Sport FLEXX BCAAs, one of the most well-rounded BCAA formulations on the market. It has a tremendous seven grams of BCAAs and 3.5 grams of l-leucine per 11.5-gram serving. We’re certain these will help you muscle up and conquer your workouts day in and day out.

It doesn’t stop there: GAT Sport FLEXX BCAAs also has 500 milligrams each of the fat-burning amino acid l-carnitine and coconut water powder. Plus, it has key amounts of vitamin B6 (176 percent of the daily value) and vitamin B12 (292 percent of the daily value).

No wonder Sadik Hadzovic is such an impressive bodybuilder – GAT Sport FLEXX BCAAs helps him crank out more reps and remain in an anabolic state. It’s simply a must for any hard-training individual.

#4: Labrada BCAA POWER

Meet another unique and versatile BCAA supplement: Labrada BCAA POWER. If the name rings a bell, it’s the signature BCAA product of LABRADA Nutrition (bodybuilding legend Lee Labrada is the CEO).

Just like GAT Sport FLEXX BCAAs, Labrada BCAA POWER also has an impressive seven grams of branched-chain amino acids per serving on a 2:1:1 BCAA ratio. The latter also has a solid 3.5 grams of muscle-building l-leucine per 14-gram scoop.

The manufacturer takes pride in its clean fermented BCAA content. Because LABRADA nutrition ferments its BCAAs in its pharmaceutical laboratories, “The result is a higher-quality, allergen-free, and more efficacious amino acid,” per its official website. There’s no way you will find any duck-feathered-sourced BCAA in this product.

Plus, it has three grams of fermented l-glutamine per serving. It’s also one of the tastiest BCAA supplements on the market. It won’t surprise us one bit if Labrada BCAA POWER gains serious traction this year and beyond.

#5: KAGED MUSCLE BCAA 2:1:1

We’re officially including KAGED MUSCLE CEO Kris Gethin as one of the minds behind B5’s Best BCAA Supplements. His KAGED  MUSCLE BCAA 2:1:1’s five grams of branched-chain amino acids and 2.5 grams of l-leucine per serving should help you achieve your muscle-building goals in and out of the gym.

Gethin is confident KAGED MUSCLE BCAA 2:1:1 will increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and keep muscle breakdown at bay, per the company’s official website. We agree wholeheartedly.

This product’s fermented BCAA content is perfect for vegans and vegetarians alike. There’s no question it’s one of those no-fuss, no-frills supplements. KAGED MUSCLE BCAA 2:1:1 is a simple and clean standalone BCAA product which should resonate well with many customers.

Conclusion on the Best BCAA Supplements of 2020

It bears repeating. This year represents a paradigm shift in the BCAA category of bodybuilding supplements.

If you’re accustomed to the traditional powder form, you’re in for a shock: BCAA capsules should make a big impact in 2020 and the foreseeable future.

Moreover, the Best BCAA Supplements represent top-notch formulations which should help you achieve your short- and long-term fitness goals. You can’t go wrong with any of these five products, that’s for sure.

However, if you want the best BCAA that we’ve personally tried-and-tested ready for 2020, then you’ll want Performance Lab BCAA. You can buy that here: www.performancelab.com