Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Four-week beta–alanine supplementation increased power by 13.4% in untrained subjects and 9.5% in trained cyclists.
When it comes to improving exercise performance, an important factor is an amino acid called carnosine, which improves the ability of muscles to function during fatigue (1). This is thought to be due to carnosine’s ability to buffer the acid buildup (2). Just as important as carnosine’s role in muscle function during fatigue is another amino acid called beta-alanine, which is a core component of carnosine (3). Without beta-alanine, there is no carnosine.
As a result, it has been suggested that supplementing with beta-alanine will increase carnosine levels and maintain muscle contraction in the presence of fatigue. While the research supports beta-alanine’s benefit for recreational athletes (4), the benefits for trained athletes is lacking. Now a new study (5) suggests that beta-alanine supplementation may benefit athletic performance, even in trained athletes.
The study involved 39 male cyclists (19 endurance-trained cyclists with at least eight years of training experience and 20 untrained subjects) between the ages of 21 and 30. They were given either 6.4 grams per day of beta alanine, shown to be effective in previous research (6), or placebo for four weeks, creating four groups of cyclists: trained beta alanine, untrained beta alanine, trained placebo, untrained placebo). The supplements were given as six 800mg capsules per day, two capsules taken every four hours.
Before and after four weeks of supplementation, each subject completed four 30-second cycling sprints with 3-minute rest periods between sprints, cycling against a load that was 5% of their body mass.
The researchers noted a significant improvement in the beta alanine group compared to the placebo group. In the untrained subjects, beta alanine increased power output by 3.3% in the second sprinting bout after four weeks (445 to 460 Watts) compared to a 2.4% decrease in the untrained placebo group (420 to 410 Watts) (p < 0.05). By the fourth sprinting bout, the power increase was even greater after four weeks, with untrained subjects taking beta alanine showing a 10.3% increased output (340 to 375 Watts) compared to a 3.1% decrease in the untrained placebo group (330 to 320 Watts) (p < 0.05).
While the improvements in untrained subjects was significant, similar improvements were also seen in the trained subjects. After four weeks, those in the beta alanine group saw a 4.3% increase in power output (460 to 480 Watts) compared to no change in the trained placebo group (450 to 450 Watts) (p < 0.05). In the fourth bout, trained subjects taking beta alanine noticed an 8.3% increase in power output after four weeks (420 to 455 Watts) compared to a 1.2% decrease in the placebo group (420 to 415 Watts)(p < 0.05).
For the researchers, “beta alanine supplementation was effective at improving repeated high-intensity cycling performance in both trained and non-trained individuals” and that this study highlighted “the efficacy of beta-alanine as an [performance improving] aid for high-intensity exercise regardless of the training status of the individual.”
Source: de Salles Painelli et al.Influence of training status on high-intensity intermittent performance in response to b-alanine supplementation. Amino Acids (2014) 46:1207–1215; DOI 10.1007/s00726-014-1678-2
©The Author(s) 2014. This is an open access article published at Springerlink.com under Creative Commons Attribution License.
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Posted July 28, 2014.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him atPitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site atwww.PitchingDoc.com
References:
- Dutka TL, Lamboley CR, McKenna MJ, Murphy RM, Lamb GD. Effects of carnosine on contractile apparatus Ca2? sensitivity and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2? release in human skeletal muscle fibers. J Appl Physiol 2012; 112:728–736
- Bate-Smith EC. The buffering of muscle in rigour: protein, phosphate and carnosine. J Physiol 1938; 92:336–343
- Harris RC, Tallon MJ, Dunnett M, Boobis L, Coakley J, Kim HJ, Fallowfield JL, Hill CA, Sale C, Wise JA. The absorption of orally supplied b-Alanine and its effect on muscle carnosine synthesis in human vastus lateralis. Amino Acids 2006; 30:279–289
- Hobson RM, Saunders B, Ball G, Harris RC, Sale C (2012) Effects of b-Alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a metaanalysis. Amino Acids 43:25–37
- de Salles Painelli V. Influence of training status on high-intensity intermittent performance in response to β-alanine supplementation. Amino Acids 2014 May;46(5):1207-15. doi: 10.1007/s00726-014-1678-2. Epub 2014 Feb 6
- Stellingwerff T, Anwander H, Egger A, Buehler T, Kreis R, Decombaz J, Boesch C (2012) Effect of two b-Alanine dosing protocols on muscle carnosine synthesis and washout. Amino Acids 42:2461–2472
