Is Glutamine Beneficial for Powerlifting?

Glutamine is a pretty fascinating amino acid. Most people think of it strictly as a muscle building supplement, but it has many other benefits. Some of which include: boosts immune system, helps treat type 2 diabetes, improves learning ability and memory, stops alcohol and sugar cravings, improves gastrointestinal health, and many more things.

So is glutamine beneficial for powerlifting? Short answer is yes, but it may not be worth the money for everyone. Let me explain.

Glutamine is an amino acid, and as you probably already know, amino acids are the building blocks of protein. We like protein. Protein is our friend.

It has anti catabolic effects, and anabolic effects. Both of these are conducive to building muscle.

It has also been shown to increase HGH (human growth hormone) secretion. That’s a huge plus.

It can increase recovery rate. After a workout, your cellular levels of glutamine are depleted, supplementing with glutamine can replenish these levels.

It helps with muscle hydration and turns your nitrogen balance to positive.

That sounds great! Why isn’t everybody using glutamine?

Well, mainly because your protein powder already contains glutamine. So if you’re supplementing with whey protein powder, you’re getting glutamine in your diet.

There are certain people who can benefit from it more than others though, like those individuals who are cutting weight and need all the help they can get, or those that are very competitive and need any sort of boost they can get, especially drug free and elite powerlifters. These are the same people who would also benefit from other supplements such as BCAAs, ZMA, etc.

For the average powerlifter that simply competes for fun, and isn’t out to break records, glutamine might be a waste of money. Some people swear by it though, and if you have disposable income than by all means go for it.