We’ve previously mentioned L-carnitine, and how L-carnitine is essential in the fat-burning process because it helps get fat into the mitochondria.
L-carnitine is also used in fat metabolism and fat burning, and is a tried-and-true supplement. We’re about to dive in and take a deeper look at where it’s stored, what it is and does, as well as how you can use L-carnitine to supplement your workouts.
What Is L-carnitine?
L-carnitine is produced from methionine and lysine, and is an amino acid derivative and a conditionally essential nutrient. What does all this mean? It means that after you get done with a particularly hard training day, L-carnitine becomes essential for your diet.
Primarily stored in the muscles, it’s extremely important for mitochondria function. Since mitochondria are the main hub our bodies use to burn fat by ourselves, that makes L-carnitine an essential supplement to have.
Can You Be Low on L-carnitine?
There are some cases where your body can be low on L-carnitine, and it mostly has to do with age or your diet. Studies show that vegetarians and the elderly do tend to be low in L-carnitine.
Once your L-carnitine becomes very low, you’re going to see a lot of problems with gaining muscle, and you’ll have a harder time burning fat and an easier time gaining it. This is because you’re not going to be able to burn fat as readily and the fat transportation process is also hindered.
L-carnitine Benefits
For obese individuals, studies have shown that supplementing with L-carnitine can help them lose fat and get rid of more body fat. However, these studies have also added fiber into the mix, so the results weren’t using purely L-carnitine. Regardless, high-fiber meals such as green leafy vegetables are essential for a fat loss diet.
So, one of the benefits of L-carnitine is that it helps us when we have a high body fat percentage. The next question is whether L-carnitine can help with recovery after a workout, and we actually conducted our own study at the ASPI.
We didn’t have data on individuals who were ultra-lean, or lean and healthy taking l-carnitine, but we do know that when you’re dieting, your recovery rate tends to lower, which leads to reduced training volume and intensity.
We completed a study in which we had 80 individuals train extremely hard, and we found that L-carnitine drastically improved their recovery rate. And if you’re recovering faster, you’re actually going to be more healthy.
With an increased recovery rate comes numerous benefits such as being leaner and being able to burn more fat. Because L-carnitine can help drastically improve your recovery, it’s an amazing supplement for your bodybuilding journey.
What Is Carnipure?
One thing you need to keep in mind is that all studies showing that L-carnitine has a fat-burning and recovery-enhancing effect use a branded form of carnitine known as Carnipure. In fact, our own study was also conducted using Carnipure.
When checking supplements, you should look at the back of the label and make absolutely sure that it has Carnipure on it. That is just because it’s backed by data that makes it a credible supplement.
Recommendations for L-carnitine Supplementation
We recommend supplementing your workouts with Carnipure. While taking L-carnitine alone won’t make you shredded and like a beast on stage, it WILL help you recover faster, and can actually help you with fat burning, giving you the tools you need to reach your limits.
We recommend taking at least 2g/day–maybe even 3g/day–to help with fat burning in general.
We hope this article helped shed some light on some of the benefits of L-carnitine as a fat-burning and recovery-boosting supplement. We’ll see you next time you have any questions!
