The Natural Anabolic Agent Of The Future: Leucine, An Astonishing Amino Acid

By Van Young

In bodybuilding, anabolism, the capacity to set in motion the body’s muscle-building processes, is the Holy Grail. Muscle is built up via this mechanism. If sportsmen resort to doping, what they’re doing is no more and no less than, at the end of the day, artificially increasing the synthesis of proteins in their body, thus making their muscles larger. But today, thanks to recent research, we know that the amino acid leucine performs an essential role in the systems that the body employs to put the muscle together.

As you can imagine, most of you will train thoroughly with the weights in order to build bigger, more powerful muscles, and will search for any way to speed up this process, which is a fairly slow one, incidentally. It’s a well-known fact that muscles grow as a response to being made to work against a resistance. This resistance is imposed by the weight. When demands are made of the muscles, in other words when they must contract more intensely to lift the weight, a series of biochemical reactions is triggered within the muscle tissues to increase the muscle proteins actin and myosin, as well as to establish a more positive balance of nitrogen, and retain more glycogen and water within the muscles. The outcome is that the muscles modify their structure to adapt to repeated exercise and in this manner be able to cope with the demands that are placed upon them, becoming bigger and stronger.
Therefore, we have to exercise with weights that challenge the muscles, and must try to gradually increase these so that the muscles continue to build up without reaching a plateau in their development. Our diet will play a significant role in this because the muscles must be supplied the essential nutrients that provide us with enough energy to train thoroughly, as well as those that the muscles employ to synthesise new structures. One such nutrient is protein, from which the body extracts the amino acids that it uses as biochemical materials to form new structures, since they have nitrogen in them.
The purpose of intense training and eating extremely well is none other than sparking anabolism. In this process the body puts together more structures than it pulls apart, holding the upper hand over catabolism. These two processes are in constant conflict with each other and we must try to make sure that anabolism dominates over the catabolism. Anabolism does indeed depend more upon the biochemical setup within the muscles than on external influences, like exercise and diet, even though both can exert an impact for the better, but ultimately the outcome comes down to anabolism reigning over catabolism.
The proof of this statement lies in a study in which two groups of people took part. One group was made to weight train three days a week without making any changes to their diet or to their lifestyle, and the other group was asked not to exercise but was administered testosterone. Several weeks later, the group that hadn’t exercised, but had been injected with the testosterone, had built more muscle than the group that had worked out. That might be frustrating for a lot of people, but it demonstrates the importance of anabolism within the body.
Anything that can boost anabolism will lead us to gain muscle; hence the immense importance that leucine will have for those who practise natural bodybuilding. Leucine has been acknowledged as an essential amino acid because it’s the core component in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which are vital for the muscles. But today this importance has been found to be even greater— leucine could be the most important natural anabolic agent there is in the world. 

Leucine surprises researchers
As is the case with most substances and compounds that have found to be of use to bodybuilders, the research on them wasn’t undertaken for their benefit. The majority of the compounds in bodybuilding supplements were the fruit of medical research, conducted on groups of patients whose physique had seriously deteriorated, such as people who had suffered burns or had undergone extensive surgery, or who were being afflicted by diseases which diminish lean body mass, like AIDS. The logic behind their usage in supplements is that if a compound or substance is good for a sick person and can stop them from shedding lean mass (muscle), then it must be twice as good for a sportsman who trains hard and observes a fine diet.
So it’s in this same context that leucine was initially revealed to have powerful lean-muscle-building properties and to put a stop to the disposal of muscle as the years go by.
Research shows that senior bodybuilders witness a much lesser development than the youngest ones do1 and the reason for this could be how their bodies react to the anabolic agents in foods2. Every time that you eat a meal with carbohydrates, proteins and fats in it, you send special signals to the muscles to construct new tissues and revitalise themselves. This process is known as ‘protein synthesis’ and more than 80% of muscular development is triggered by the amino acids in the proteins that we consume3.
The word ‘anabolism’ is a synonym for development and essential amino acids are the elements that get it under way, as studies have established time and time again. In one study it was confirmed that six grams of essential amino acids generated precisely double the development that three of essential amino acids and three of non-essential ones did, as did consumption of the same amount of whey protein4. Precisely when the elderly people were administered with essential amino acids their development progressed at the same rate as that of the youngest sportsmen5, so the scientists opted to conduct their research on them one by one. They found that leucine is the amino acid that triggers protein (muscle) synthesis 6 and, even more importantly, that it can achieve this without the need for other amino acids to be present7.
Since it’s hugely important for people who have passed their 50s to have more muscle, people of whom there are more and more, the scientists increased the dose of leucine in the seven that they were administering from 1.7 grams to 2.8. They found that the elderly people who weight trained had gained as much muscle as the young sportsmen when they received essential amino acids8. 

Leucine and Bodybuilding
It’s a fact that protein synthesis falls during weights workouts, while the dismantlement of protein and the oxidisation of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) increase. This drop in the rate of protein synthesis is directly due to that of leucine in plasma because leucine is a proven, key regulatory agent in protein synthesis9. In fact, the two governing agents in the aforementioned synthesis are leucine and insulin, but leucine as a solo agent substantially furthers the process10. The amino acid has also been illustrated to be a powerful insulin agonist, but has even stronger anabolic properties and no side effects. And higher sugar levels aren’t required for the leucine to exercise its effects.
Research has been undertaken to determine the exact role of leucine in anabolism. A group of scientists, for instance, led by Dr Koopman, administered two groups of bodybuilders a protein drink with carbohydrates following a 45-minute-long intense weights workouts. Leucine had been made part of the drink of the second of the two groups.
The first discovery was that insulin levels were higher in the bodies of the group that received the leucine, and protein dismantlement was much lower but protein synthesis higher. Furthermore, the rate of synthesis remained considerably higher even six hours on from the end of the workout11-12-13.
But that’s not all, because leucine performs a much more varied function in the muscles than just this. Several different pieces of research confirm the importance of leucine in heightening protein synthesis (anabolism), and also that it enhances the performance of the muscles in high-intensity workouts14. The amino acid plays a crucial role in the revitalisation of the muscles and in the actions of the muscles, to the extent that it’s the restrictive factor which can prevent the muscles from developing further, even if the muscles have other amino acids in them15. The administration of leucine has helped the muscles of elderly people function better.
It has been some years since scientists, amongst them Dr Yves Boire, who is an authority on the metabolisation of amino acids and the person who discovered the special features of undenatured micellar casein, proved that leucine operated just like a hormone because the amino acids slot into receptors in the muscles to trigger protein synthesis. Bodybuilders have always known, therefore, that, besides weight train hard, they must eat plenty of protein to build muscle faster. The protein is digested and the muscles acquire the amino acids from them, the nitrogenous materials which allow the muscles to develop. Bodybuilders were also aware that there are essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids, and even though instinct tells us that the former play a more decisive role in development, today it has been corroborated that they really are the true orchestrators of development. The thing that they didn’t actually know was that almost all of protein synthesis depends on leucine.
This amino acid, therefore, can perfectly well be called the natural anabolic agent, although it’s not the only one. 

Leucine and other important sidekicks
Leucine is a natural amino acid with mighty anabolic properties, but there are other agents as well, which is why it’s one of the protagonists in the Future Concepts LPC-X10, an ergoceutical (the name by which the company refers to its formulae) of extensive scope that bolsters anabolism.
Future Concepts has observed basic leucine to have trouble being absorbed by the small intestine and we must consume this amino acid in relatively high quantities for it to set about its operations notably. Acetyl-L-leucine and methyl ester leucine, however, will make it into the blood every single time, since they exit the gastric canal and make their way straight into the blood; hence their presence in LPC-X10.
But the composition of this ergoceutical is based on another important finding for the natural commencement of muscle-building: that of two carnitine compounds of which there is enough scientific evidence to show that they set about their anabolic operations without having side effects or disrupting the endocrine system. Dr Cavallini undertook a six-month-long study in which the effects of the administration of testosterone decanoate with those of propionyl-L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine combined. In the study, 120 grown-ups were selected and three groups were formed from them. One group received 160 milligrams per day of testosterone decanoate; the second, 2,000 per day of the two carnitine compounds; and the third, a placebo (an inactive substance). The scientists focused their study on a series of variables, namely with regard to sexual activity, and found that both the testosterone and the two carnitines to generally enhance sexual performance, but that the carnitines produced more powerful erections than the testosterone16. Yes, unlikely as it may seem, the carnitines actually generated finer erections than the testosterone. But whereas the testosterone sizably increased the volume of the prostate, bolstered total levels of testosterone (free and unfree) and reduced luteinising hormone levels, the carnitines did not and had no side effects on the hormone system at all. The conclusion drawn from this study is that although both the testosterone and the carnitines effectively produced better erections, their lack of side effects made the two carnitines a safer option.
The carnitines have an even more important effect still, though. Another study proved that these two compounds created more anabolic hormone receptors in muscle tissue17. The proliferation of anabolic receptors in muscle tissue is one of the very special ways in which steroids step up development. It’s a fact that if we don’t have very many anabolic receptors in our muscles then not even steroids will add more meat to our frame. The operations of the two carnitine compounds in LPCX 10, combined with those of the leucine, will see use of the ergoceutical have an extensive impact on the physique, allowing much more muscle to be built.
Acetyl-L-carnitine crosses the blood-brain barrier much easier and sparks several functions. One of the functions of this compound is the stimulation of the hypothalamic-gonadal-pituitary axis. Various studies have established that this stimulation with the acetyl-L-carnitine prevents testosterone levels in plasma from falling after a punishing workout, when normally they would. Not just that, it increases them18.
One other major study, conducted on sportsmen, to which I must draw your attention is that by Professor Bidzinska and the accompanying team of scientists. The purpose of the study was to identify the exact role that acetyl-L-carnitine played as regards overtraining and its effects on hormone levels. In the study, two groups of male mice were taken and subjected to a severe but intermittent physical exertion. The scientists placed the animals in distress in two ways, one by making them swim in cold water, and the other by attacking their main beta-endorphins with ether. They then recorded their gonad-releasing hormone (GnRH) and testosterone levels, as well as measure the response to acute stress in animals that had already been worn down (as would be the case with overtraining). Some of these animals had been administered acetyl-L-carnitine, others hadn’t. The animals were placed in these stressful circumstances twice a day for 10 days consecutively. At the end of the study, the scientists discovered that while the group that had been subjected to the stressful conditions and not administered the compound had extremely low testosterone levels, the other group, which had received the acetyl-L-carnitine, had suffered no change in testosterone levels despite the physical exhaustion that been induced19.
LPC-X10 therefore has enough ingredients in it to bring on protein synthesis, as well as to heighten the sensitivity of muscle receptors and increase the number of them, not to mention bump up testosterone production.

But there’s more, much more
With the aim of creating a formula that not only hurries along development but also improves performance, Future Concepts has looked into the research available on other substances and compounds and made other particularly unique and vital amino acids for the formation of the insulin to regulate protein synthesis. But the product has also been equipped with a number of ingredients for the muscles to give the very best of themselves in high-intensity workouts. In this respect it contains a new compound, glycine-L-arginine monohydrochloride-alphaketoisocaproic acid calcium, with which many bodybuilders are familiar and which has proven itself to just about instantly send strength levels soaring20. The compound does this by preventing ammonia and other metabolic waste from building up in the muscles when we exercise at top intensity.
Both the arginine and the glycine possess extremely significant properties for sportsmen, each as a separate agent, as does the alpha-ketoisocaproate. But when the alpha-ketoisocaproate combines with these two amino acid salts, it makes for a compound with impressive and remarkable effects.
LPC-X10 has further ingredients in the form of phenylalanine compounds phenylalanine alpha-ketoglutarate and phenylalanine methyl ester, which have been made part of the formula because both are involved in the modulation of anabolic transcription factor 4 (AFT-4) and make the satellite cells in muscle fibres more active.
All of the bodybuilders who, 30 minutes before training, have used LPC X10 concur in so far as that after just a few sets they feel an energy rush during the workouts and, rather than begin to wear down, they feel stronger, witness a greater pump in their muscles and have the motivation to battle on and lift heavier weights.
Besides push up testosterone levels, LPCX10 urges the creation of anabolic hormone receptors in the muscles and accentuates the sensitivity of existing ones in them. And it encourages the body to synthesise proteins at a swifter rate and allows the muscles to give a much finer account of themselves.

Leucine could be the detonator that blasts your body into building muscle faster
As you’ll all know by now, you can’t build a single ounce of muscle if anabolism doesn’t have the upper hand over catabolism. And no matter how much you work out, the results will be disappointing if this isn’t the case.
Thanks to today’s research we have a much better knowledge of leucine’s anabolic properties, this amino acid being the real orchestrator of the development that takes place with the administration of BCAAs as well as of the greater part witnessed with essential amino acids.
So make leucine a part of your supplementation routine; better still, use leucine between meals and Future Concepts’ LPCX10 before working out... and welcome your muscles to a new dimension of development! 

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