APS Chain’d Reaction – Moved from ALR to Bring BCAAs & More!

APS Nutrition Chain'd Reaction

Chain’d Reaction use to be a carb supplement, but now since it joined the APS family, Chain’d Reaction is a well dosed BCAA product.

When Hi-Tech recently acquired it’s cavalcade of companies, two of the big names it brought together were ALR Industries and APS Nutrition. Once together, these two did a “swap” of sorts with one of their products: Chain’d Reaction.

It was formerly a carb product with ALR, but now it’s a BCAA powder with APS!

Quite the switch, if you ask us, so we’re writing this to clear up any confusion and explain the formula.

You can check out the new version of Chain’d Reaction below, but first take a minute to sign up for PricePlow alerts and check the best deal:

APS Chain'd Reaction – Deals and Price Drop Alerts

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APS Chain’d Reaction Ingredients

Chain’d Reaction, as you probably guessed, is highlighted by a healthy dose of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) along with several other aminos to help speed recovery and decrease soreness following even the most grueling of workouts.

  • BCAAs 2:1:1 (7.5g)

    APS Nutrition Chain'd Reaction Ingredients

    Chain’d Reaction boasts a hefty 7.5g of BCAAs to drive muscle protein synthesis along with several other aminos to help with recovery.

    Starting off this reaction of anabolism in your body is an impressive 7.5g dose of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in the clinically proven 2:1:1 ratio. That means in each scoop of Chain’d Reaction you’ll get 3.75g of Leucine, 1.875g of Isoleucine, and 1.875g of Valine.

    BCAAs have been well researched and provide countless benefits to training, recovery, and muscle growth. Perhaps the best known of these is that BCAAs possess the unique ability to directly stimulate muscle protein synthesis[1,2]; however, that just scratches the surface on what these potent aminos can do.

    BCAAs also enhance recovery and offset delayed onset of muscle soreness, also known as DOMS.[3,4,5] Basically, consuming BCAAs during and after training not only help you build new muscle, but also help you heal faster so you’re less sore even after a brutal leg session.

    This is a large dose — normally we see about 5g, but aggressive companies like APS have been notching it up more and more to the point where you can basically consider this a bit of protein in your daily macronutrients if you wanted.

    And yes, APS is an aggressive company – they have what we considered the best pre workout supplement.

  • L-Glutamine (2g)

    APS Combo

    Looking for the ultimate workout stack, use Mesomorph for your pre workout and continue to fuel your muscles during it with Chain’d Reaction.

    Aside from the three BCAAs, the next most frequently supplemented, and scrutinized, amino acid is Glutamine. This amino acid is classified as “conditionally essential” due to the fact that most of the time you have ample amounts of it in your body to perform the required functions (As a side note, glutamine is the most plentiful amino in the body).

    However, during high intensity exercise, glutamine stores can be depleted, which shifts glutamine from conditionally essential to essential. Therefore, it becomes necessary to supplement with glutamine if you ultimately want to avoid fatiguing early and maximizing your recovery.[6,7]

  • The rest (500mg)

    Rounding out our list of amino acids is a proprietary blend of L-alanine, L-glycine, and the combo amino acid L-alanyl L-glutamine, also known as Sustamine. L-alanine and L-glycine are the two smallest amino acids by mass,[8] but they are still vitally important to the body’s productions of protein. Interestingly enough, alanine is considered the most important nutrient for the amino acid metabolism in the blood along with glutamine (which we just addressed above).

    Now, you probably see L-alanyl L-Glutamine and are wondering: why do we need more glutamine?!

    Well, taken alone, glutamine doesn’t have the best bioavailability in the body as it’s quickly degraded and absorbed by the stomach without ever reaching your muscles. But, combining L-Alanine with L-Glutamine solves this problem, by not only improving the absorption of glutamine, but also its bioavailability as well.[9,10] This further assures that your muscles get the most recovery benefits possible from glutamine.

Flavors Available

APS Surfer Girl

APS is the All-AMERICAN brand, all we can say is, God bless America!

Chain’d Reaction comes in four flavors: Watermelon, Rocket Pop, Exotic Fruit, and Blue Raspberry.

If the Rocket Pop for Chain’d Reaction tastes anything like the Mesomorph Rocket Pop, it’s sure to be the best selling flavor of the lot. APS really seems to have struck gold in the community when it comes to this flavor.

Takeaway

There are numerous BCAA products on the market, probably more than we could ever care to count. However, the number of products that have a properly dosed amount of BCAAs is far fewer. Chain’d Reaction is one of the few well-dosed BCAA products that can actually deliver on the many benefits of BCAA supplementation without having to go through several scoops just to get the 5g required dose.

In addition, the advanced recovery combination of the fellow aminos makes Chain’d Reaction a great choice to fulfill your amino acid needs before, during, or after training so you can stop catabolism and jump start the muscle growth.

If you’re looking for a BCAA product with just a few bells and whistles, and not a heavy (and expensive) 20g scoop of other stuff, then Chain’d Reaction is worth the look. Sometimes you just want some BCAAs and glutamine to sip on, and this is a perfect option… especially with that rocket pop flavor!

Check below for the best price and make sure to sign up for PricePlow alerts!

APS Chain'd Reaction – Deals and Price Drop Alerts

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Disclosure: PricePlow relies on pricing from stores with which we have a business relationship. We work hard to keep pricing current, but you may find a better offer.

Posts are sponsored in part by the retailers and/or brands listed on this page.

About the Author: Mike Roberto

Mike Roberto

Mike Roberto is a research scientist and water sports athlete who founded PricePlow. He is an n=1 diet experimenter with extensive experience in supplementation and dietary modification, whose personal expertise stems from several experiments done on himself while sharing lab tests.

Mike's goal is to bridge the gap between nutritional research scientists and non-academics who seek to better their health in a system that has catastrophically failed the public. Mike is currently experimenting with a low Vitamin A diet.

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References

  1. Norton LE, Layman DK. Leucine regulates translation initiation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle after exercise. J Nutr. 2006 Feb;136(2):533S-537S.
  2. Blomstrand E, Eliasson J, Karlsson HK, Köhnke R; Branched-chain amino acids activate key enzymes in protein synthesis after physical exercise. J Nutr. 2006 Jan;136(1 Suppl):269S-73S
  3. Shimomura, Y., Murakami, T., Nakai, N., Nagasaki, M., & Harris, R. (2004). Exercise Promotes BCAA Catabolism: Effects of BCAA Supplementation on Skeletal Muscle during Exercise. The Journal Of Nutrition, 134(6), 1583S-1587S. Retrieved from https://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/6/1583S.long
  4. Howatson G, Hoad M, Goodall S, Tallent J, Bell PG, French DN. Exercise-induced muscle damage is reduced in resistance-trained males by branched chain amino acids: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Jul 12;9:20.
  5. Sharp CP, Pearson DR. Amino acid supplements and recovery from high-intensity resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Apr;24(4):1125-30.
  6. Legault Z e. The Influence of Oral L-Glutamine Supplementation on Muscle Strength Recovery and Soreness Following Unilateral Knee Extension Eccentric Exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2015 Oct;25(5):417-26. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0209.
  7. Koo GH, Woo J, Kang S, Shin KO. Effects of Supplementation with BCAA and L-glutamine on Blood Fatigue Factors and Cytokines in Juvenile Athletes Submitted to Maximal Intensity Rowing Performance. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2014;26(8):1241-1246. doi:10.1589/jpts.26.1241.
  8. Versiane O, et al Synthesis, molecular structure and vibrational spectra of a dimeric complex formed by cobalt and glycine . Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. (2006)
  9. Harris, R; L-glutamine Absorption Is Enhanced after Ingestion of L-alanylglutamine Compared with the Free Amino Acid or Wheat Protein. Nutrition Research 32.4 (2012).
  10. Hoffman, J; L-alanyl-L-glutamine Ingestion Maintains Performance during a Competitive Basketball Game. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 9.1 (2012)

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