Beta-Alanine… Does It Really Help Performance?

What is Beta-alanine?

To learn more about Beta-alanine and how it can help your training and performance, understanding what it is and how it works could help you to get the best result when using it.

Beta-alanine is a non-essential Amino Acid – that means our bodies can produce it on its own.

Beta-alanine and L-histidine is two amino acids that forms Carnosine.

Carnosine is a Dipeptide. A Dipeptide is a molecule made up of two Amino Acids linked together by ‘n Peptide bond.

You ask why all of this is important?

Carnosine acts as a buffer to maintain the pH balance of cells. This is especially important in muscles that undergo intense glycolysis, which can lead to high lactic acid levels.

Exercise reduces your pH, and acidic muscles contribute to fatigue. The muscle pH is 6.83. Beta-alanine supplement increase Carnosine in the muscle. And increased Carnosine in the muscle increases your buffering capacity for your muscles not to get acidic so quickly. This allows the pH to remain more stable. And in turn delays fatigue and prolong the capacity to do high intensity exercise for longer.

Beta-alanine is the Amino Acid in the muscle that slows you down. We have enough L-histidine in our system but not enough Beta-alanine. Muscle Carnosine levels are maintained way below the level that the muscle is capable of containing – if you are not supplementing. Your muscle is capable of up to 80% higher levels.

In a summary this is how Carnosine acts during exercise:

• Glucose is broken down: Glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose, which is the main source of fuel during high-intensity exercise.
• Lactate is produced: As you exercise, your muscles break glucose down into lactic acid. This is converted into lactate, which produces hydrogen ions (H+).
• Muscles become more acidic: The hydrogen ions reduce the pH level in your muscles, making them more acidic.
• Fatigue sets in: Muscle acidity blocks glucose breakdown and reduces your muscles’ ability to contract. This causes fatigue.
• Carnosine buffer: Carnosine serves as a buffer against the acid, reducing the acidity in muscles during high-intensity exercise.

Effectively everyone who supplement with Beta-alanine will increase muscle Carnosine.

How much Beta-alanine you take will dictate how much muscle Carnosine will increase. Studies have shown that 4 weeks of 6g/day or 2 weeks of 12g/day will end in the same increase in muscle Carnosine. Also, studies are not sure how high Carnosine levels can get as there is only estimated prediction levels, there is not a lot of studies on this subject yet.

Studies have shown that saturation is at about 24 weeks at 6.4g/day. As there are not many studies that goes beyond 24 weeks. That is also the time that the largest improvements have been noticed. Approximately 4 weeks of discontinuing you will be able to notice a drop in performance. To fully wash out of the system can take up to 16 weeks.

Beta-alanine is not a pre-workout supplement as it takes a certain loading period to increase the muscle content. A single dose is unlikely to help improve performance.

Supplementing with Beta-alanine does show small increase in improvement in exercise capacity and performance.

So, then the question, what factors would lead to smaller or larger effect on exercise performance.

1. The largest moderating factor was time: exercise duration of 30sec – 10min was most likely to show improved performance. Example, 4km cycling, 800m running, 2000m rowing or 100-200m swim.
2. Less than 30sec durations had no improvement. But shorter exercises like 100m sprints might not get benefit from b-alanine but the training might get an effect. If you can train harder, you can compete better.
3. Beta-alanine showed a positive effect on intermittent exercise. Example, Short sprints in a soccer game.
4. Strength exercise evidence did not prove any benefit or improvements. Example weightlifting.
5. In exercise lasting longer than 10min there was no real effect. Like a 200km cycle race. But sprints at the end of the race did show improvements. All power outputs in the end sprints, were increased.
6. Trained individuals might get smaller effects than untrained individuals. But smaller effects on a professional athlete means more, than a big improvement on a non-trained, non-professional individual.
7. The best improvement was shown if there was co-supplementation of Beta-alanine and Sodium Bicarbonate to increase both intracellular and extracellular buffering capacity.
8. Creatine helps high-intensity exercise performance by increasing ATP availability. When used together it also has been shown to benefit exercise performance, strength, and lean muscle mass.

Recommendation for supplementation:

Conclusion: Everyone can benefit from Beta-alanine supplementation.