If you’re into body building, you’ve probably heard of glutamine. It’s the non-essential amino acid that comprises over 60% of your muscles and it’s directly responsible for making sure you have stamina, strength and, most importantly, the ability to recover from your grueling weight lifting routines.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s ‘non-essential’ though. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need it, it just means that your body makes it itself in your muscle tissue. That being said, many body builders take glutamine as a supplement because of the increased amount of physical tax they regularly put on their muscles.
What exactly does glutamine do?
Glutamine works to increase the amount of muscle glycogen your body has available so that you have more than enough energy to sustain your workouts. This allows you to work out harder and longer than if you didn’t have this amino acid present in your body at all.
It also lessens your recovery period. Because body builders usually fatigue their muscles to near exhaustion, it’s important that they heal themselves as efficiently and as quickly as possible to get ready for the next intense workout. Glutamine helps make that happen.
How much do you need?
Generally speaking, most adults can take anywhere from 500 to 1,500 milligrams daily and receive positive exercise benefits. However, if your doctor recommends it, the dosage requirements could go as high as 15,000 milligrams a day.
Just be careful to not overdo it as there can be some negative consequences. These include bloody urine, dizziness, fainting, breathing issues, rapid heart rate, chest pain and abdominal discomfort. Also, people with liver or kidney disease, or those with Reye Syndrome should not take glutamine supplementation at all.
When taken as suggested, you can enjoy the many benefits of adding glutamine to your body building regimen. Just do it responsibly and you will.
