Within sports supplementation, beta-alanine is a very popular dietary supplement. Its main goal is to delay muscle fatigue and improve performance during training. Come with us to see if it is really that effective and when it is worth using.
What is beta-alanine?
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid whose main job, unlike other amino acids, is not protein synthesis in the body. This is the production of carnosine, which the body makes together with histidine. Carnosine is then stored in the muscles and helps to prevent lactic acid build-up, thus delaying muscle fatigue.
Normally, histidine is more abundant in the body than beta-alanine, leading to lower levels of carnosine in the muscles and faster muscle fatigue. Some studies suggest that just by supplementing with beta-alanine, you can increase the carnosine content in your muscles by up to 80%. However, not all of these have been conclusive and more research will need to be done on this topic.
Beta-alanine | Effect on exercise performance
Most studies have indeed confirmed that through increasing carnosine in the muscles, beta-alanine directly affects performance during training. Its specific effects according to studies are:
- delaying fatigue,
- better performance during short and high-intensity interval training (HIIT),
- increased muscular endurance,
- reduces free radicals and has antioxidant effects (via carnosine),
- may help to improve body composition.
Its undoubtedly best and most proven effect is delaying fatigue. This can be felt both in weight training and especially in endurance sports. Its effectiveness is due to its ability to form carnosine, which breaks down lactic acid, so you can run longer or do more repetitions, for example.
It also has its uses in shorter and high-intensity workouts such as HIIT or sprinting. Here, it has also been shown to delay muscle fatigue, so you can increase youryour performance even higher and your cylinders show better VO2max values.
More importantly for all fitness enthusiasts, some studies suggest thatthat regular use of beta-alanine can have an effect on an athlete's overall body composition and lean muscle mass ratio. Unfortunately, it is not clear from the available sources whether this is due to the effects of beta-alanine directly or thosebecause it makes you perform more reps and puts more stress on your muscles.
When and how to dose beta-alanine?
The recommended daily dose of beta-alanine is around 4-6 grams per day. It's usually recommended to break these doses up into several smaller doses throughout the day, as too much beta-alanine at once can trigger itchy sensations. However, this does not occur in everyone and basically no one even knows why. More important than the dose itself, then, is the longevity of its usebecause with prolonged supplementation, the body can maintain carnosine levels naturally. It is quite ideal to take beta-alanine before and after training, when before training it provides quick energy and has a stimulating effect, and after training it helps with recovery.
Isn't it better to dose carnosine directly?
Here the answer is quite clear, it is not. Carnosine is broken down in the digestive tract into beta-alanine and histamine, and even the little bit is subsequently broken down in the blood via enzymes. As a result, it is better to obtain carnosine via beta-alanine, when the body naturally creates it itself.
Like other amino acids, you can get beta-alanine (and therefore carnosine) from a protein-rich diet. Its main sources in the normal diet are:
- Meat,
- eggs,
- fish,
- dairy products.
Beta-alanine is also usually a part of pre-workout stimulants and fat burners as an effective pre-workout and fatigue delayer. Therefore, we recommend you explore our comparison of the best pre-workoutpre-workouts or our ranking of the best burners.
Beta-alanine | Yes or No?
For us, definitely yes. Beta-alanine is really very effective at delaying muscle fatigue and an extra rep or two is simply never a bad thing. For endurance athletes, we would even consider it a necessity. Taking into account its minimal negative effects, which include itching at most, and the fact that it can then bethen you can discontinue it for a longer period of time, as the body maintains carnosine levels for quite a long time, it is a really interesting supplement that is definitely worth trying.
Why can you trust us?
Hey! Hey! I'm Mirek and I've been working at World Fitness almost since the beginning, except for a small break. But before that I lived only in the gym for a few years, doing deadlifts and power triathlon, going to competitions and winning a few medals.
Probably the one I value the most is the national record in the WUAP federation. But besides working out, I was also interested in food and supplements, I liked to enjoy my free timeI used to read different researches and professional books in my free time to know as much as possible.