Bodybuilding Forums

How much and when should I be taking L-Glutamine?

On work-out days I have been taking 5 grams with my post work-out shake and 2 grams before bed.
Non-work-out day’s 5 grams morning and 2 grams before bed.

stickupkid wrote:How much and when should I be taking L-Glutamine?

On work-out days I have been taking 5 grams with my post work-out shake and 2 grams before bed.
Non-work-out day’s 5 grams morning and 2 grams before bed.

The timing is pretty much just what you described - though most folk will tell you delay the Glutamine by about a half hour, and take only creatine immediately post-workout. I personally find taking the whole works (creatine/protein/BCAA/glutamine) after I get home from my gym - about a ten minute drive if there's traffic - works great for me.

I would recommend you up the night dosage to at least 5g. Most GH is released while you sleep, so it is imperative that you give the body the nutrients it needs to do what you want it to do. Glutamine helps prevent catabolysis. The body breaks down muscle protein into glutamine. Giving it glutamine eliminates the need for that, meaning the protein you take in can go to building new mass, not repairing broken down mass. 5g is enough that you'll get enough through your gut to be effective (a good amount of it just gets broken down into waste, unfortunately).

The general guideline is 10-15g total per day, though some bodybuilders will advocate as high as 25g. The upper limit here is what your stomach will put up with. Too much in one sitting will make you sick to your stomach, but there's no other inherent risk involved here. Just make sure each dose is 5g or more so it doesn't all meet certain doom in your stomach. There is no hard and fast rule of what dosage is going to be optimal for you, so you may want to do some tinkering to see what gives you the best results over time. If you want to take more than 5g after the gym and 5g before bed, have at it. You could either up the dosages at those times, or leave the dosage alone and take it more often, depending on what your stomach will tolerate. Aside from right after the gym and right before bed, you can take it when you know you won't be eating anything for a long while (more glutamine in the system means longer before your body raids its muscles for it), right when you wake up (cuz you just went 6-8 hours with no food), and there's anecdotal evidence in favor of taking it with your pre-workout shakes, too.

Bear in mind, the science on the overall efficacy of glutamine is still very much split. Some studies show it being remarkably effective, some show it being utterly worthless, and just like the exact dosage isn't a precise science, neither is explaining why some folks it works and some folks it don't. I find it effective, and I've noticed a significant difference in my progress since it became a regular supplement for me, but your mileage may (and probably will) vary. Might deliver results beyond your expectations, might be a waste of ten bucks. MEMAR is your friend: measure, experiment, measure, analyze, repeat.

Thanks again JoH most helpful.