BCAA Carbo/Protein Blend

I just finished reading an article in NSCA’s December issue of Strength and Conditioning Journal, titled Protein Intake: Effect of Timing. They talk in length, citing 46 different references, about the importance of pre-workout nutrition. My question for the nutrition experts is regarding the use of a BCAA’s along with carbs and/or protein. Here are a few excerpts:

1 - The benefit of amino acid ingestion prior to rexercise is also seen in the increased rate of delivery and subsequent uptake by skeletal muscle during exercise. Figure 3 describes a 2.6 fold greater increase in the rate of phenylalanine delivery to skeletal muscle when essential amino acids are consumed before resistance exercise compared with the same supplement provided after exercise. This difference continued for at least 1 hour after exercise. In addition, amino acid uptake by skeletal muscle in subjects consuming the supplement immediately before the onset of exercise was 160% greater for the total 3-hour period (rest, exercise, and postexercise period) compared with those subjects consuming the supplement immediately after exercise. The greater amino acid uptake is assumed to correspond to a great synthesis of muscle protein. Thus, ingestion of amino acids combined with carbohydrates before the onset of exercise appears to be a potent stimulator of amino acid delivery via an increased blood flow to exercising muscle and subsequent muscle upatke, resulting in greater protein synthesis than consuming this supplement after exercise.

2 - Leucine and isoleucine appear to increase to a greater extent than the other amino acids, suggesting that these specific essential amino acids have a more potent effect on muscle protein synthesis. A subsequent study has show that when leucing was added to a whole protein (whey) and carbohydrate supplement, whole body net protein balance was significantly greater than that seen after protein and carboyhydrate supplement or carbohydrate supplement alone.

So does it make sense to drink something like Surge, with its 6 grams of EAA’s prior to workout or would it be more beneficial to combine a serving (3 tablets of BCAA’s) along with Surge prior to workout?

Thanks in advance.

OK…was this a dumb question with an obvious answer? If so, can someone please fill me in on the obvious. I have seen all of the recommendations including before, during, and after workouts but I have not been able to find any research to substantiate.

As you can see in NSCA article, BCAA’s alone were less effective than BCAA’s with carbs or BCAA’s with carbs and protein and were more effective when taken preworkout.