Pre Workout Supplementation – Beta Alanine
Pre workout supplementation is a popular tool for athletes of all abilities to maximise training potential or improve results. There is a wide variety of supplements all boasting different effects, either through increasing muscular endurance to allow for a longer session, or to improve recovery time following a training session to allow for a shorter rest period before hitting the gym again. With the market saturated with various products all claiming to provide unprecedented benefits, it is difficult to know which supplement if any is worth investing in, let alone how to achieve best results. The following text will analyse the effectiveness of one of the main pre workout supplements: Beta Alanine.
Best known in the trademarked supplement CarnoSyn; beta alanine’s primary function is to raise carnosine levels in the muscles to allow for longer training at high intensities. It is a non-essential amino acid and is found in carnosine and anserine, which fall under a group of chemicals in the body called histidine dipeptides. When proteins are digested, they are broken down into dipeptides and amino acids, with a dipeptide being a molecular compound containing either one or two amino acids, plus one peptide bond. Beta alanine occurs naturally through metabolism in many ways, the main ways being through the breakdown of these histidine dipeptides and as a by-product in the process of synthesising pyruvate. While carnosine and anserine are available through dietary proteins, it is important to understand the role of these to realise the effects of Beta Alanine and how boosting these concentrations will benefit an athlete.
Skeletal muscles use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as their primary energy source for contractions. When ATP is broken down, positive hydrogen ions swarm the muscle, lowering the pH level. This raises the level of lactic acid in the muscle, and the lactic acid is responsible for the feeling of muscle soreness that is felt through fatigue after a large bout of exercise. Carnosine’s sole purpose is to absorb these positive hydrogen ions, raising the pH and therefore acidity, making the muscle less sore and more able to train for longer periods before the muscle fatigue gets too much. The only catch, however, is that carnosine concentration in the body is limited by the amount of readily available beta alanine (this is because beta alanine is a component of carnosine, so less beta alanine equates to reduced carnosine synthesis). This means, fairly obviously that if one were to supplement beta alanine and in turn boost the production of carnosine and maintaining optimal muscle pH, they would find that they were able to train harder for longer before the onset of fatigue and muscle soreness. (Betaalinine.info, 2016) (Stout et al., 2008)
Due to it being such a popular supplement on the market; Beta alanine is widely researched in various contexts and environments. Many scientific journals analyse its efficacy when used as the sole supplementation for an athlete, while others used it in conjunction with other supplements to attempt to find its optimum use and dosage.
One study in 2009 was conducted on a group of endurance based cyclists. One group supplemented beta alanine when training for 8 weeks, while another group took a placebo. The experiment was designed to fatigue the athletes by having them perform a 110 minute cycle. Following the fatiguing protocol they were monitored performing a 10 minute time trial and a 30 second isokinetic maximal sprint. The results of this study showed beta alanine’s efficacy as the supplementing group were found to have an average increase of 11.4% in peak power output over the control group. Although this shows a reduction in fatigue, both groups pH and blood lactate levels were at similar levels throughout the experiment which suggests the chemical impact on the body may be minimal, especially after such sustained exertion. (Van Thienen et al. 2009) Another explanation would be that carnosine increase is relative to the release of beta alanine, and is moderated by the body rather than flooding all available beta alanine into carnosine and into the muscle immediately. This suggests that beta alanine is far more effective when supplemented to increase carnosine concentrations over a long period of time rather than just as a one-time use.
In terms of guidelines with dosage, there is no specific grams/kg of body weight measurement, and the beta alanine website states that 4-5g per day is an ample supplementation (betaalanine.info, 2016). Studies have looked into how to get the most out of beta alanine supplementation, and some suggest that a cyclic supplementation regimen is the most effective, specifically 4-9 weeks on and 4-9 weeks of no supplementation. This is due to the fact that beta alanine uses the same neuropathway as taurine and therefore a continued use of beta alanine may result in a cellular deficiency of taurine. One study in rats found that even just 3% of beta alanine concentration in drinking water translated to a significant hepatic taurine decrease (Choi et al., 2009). There is no real downside to having a cessation period, as Baguet et al., (2010) states the muscle carnosine concentrations remain elevated for as long as eight weeks after stopping the supplementation. During this time of cessation it may be beneficial to supplement taurine to resupply the body with taurine after having a period of deficiency to allow the body to regain that balance. (Snyder, 2014)
The only real down side to beta alanine which is widely documented, is the acute paraesthesia, known in layman’s terms as pins and needles. While it is an unpleasant sensation to deal with for an hour or so, it is not harmful and is merely a result of increased blood supply to the muscles while training. It is said to occur only in doses greater than 800mg, however if an athlete is adhering to the betaalanine.info guidelines, they will be taking around 5g per day anyway, so these pins and needles are somewhat unavoidable. One way to avoid this is to use a controlled release capsule form of the supplement which Harris et al., (2008) studied. This releases the beta alanine to the bloodstream in small increments and the experiment found that controlled release didn’t cause paraesthesia. The branded version of beta alanine CarnoSyn specialises in the controlled release capsules, which may be a factor in its popularity.
In conclusion, beta alanine is a valid method to increase training potential and delay the onset of fatigue. Provided an athlete sticks to the recommended guidelines laid out by the beta alanine website, any athlete will be able to achieve a higher training intensity for longer periods.
References
Baguet, A., Bourgois, J., Vanhee, L., Achten, E. and Derave, W. (2010) Important role of muscle carnosine in rowing performance. Journal of Applied Physiology. Vol. 109, No. 4: 1096-1101. [Online] Available from: http://jap.physiology.org/content/109/4/1096.abstract [accessed 16 March 2016].
Betaalanine.info,. (2016) Effective Dose of Beta-Alanine?. [Online] Available from: http://www.betaalanine.info/beta-alanine-performance-increase [accessed 16 March 2016].
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Choi, D., Kim, S.J., Kwon, D.W., Lee, S.Y. and Kim, Y.C. (2009) Taurine Depletion by β-Alanine Inhibits Induction of Hepatotoxicity in Mice Treated Acutely with Carbon Tetrachloride. Taurine 7, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Vol. 643: 305-311. [Online] Available from: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-75681-3_31 [accessed 21 March 2016].
Harris, R.C., Jones, G.A. and Wise, J.A. (2008) The plasma concentration-time profile of beta-alanine using a controlled-release formulation (Carnosyn (R)). The FASEB Journal. Vol. 22, No. 1: 701-709. [Online] Available from: http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/22/1_MeetingAbstracts/701.9 [accessed 15 March 2016].
Harris, R.C., Jones, G.A., Kim, H.K., Kim, C.K., Price, K.A. and Wise, J.A. (2009) Changes in muscle carnosine of subjects with 4 weeks supplementation with a controlled release formulation of beta-alanine (CarnosynTM), and for 6 weeks post. . The FASEB Journal. Vol. 23, No. 1: 599-4.
Stout, J.R., Graves, S.B., Smith, A.E., Hartman, J.H., Cramer, J.T., Beck, T.W. and Harris, R.C. (2008) The effect of beta-alanine supplementation on neuromuscular fatigue in elderly (55–92 Years): a double-blind randomized study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Vol. 5, No. 1: 1-6. [Online] Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1550-2783-5-21#/page-1 [accessed 21 March 2016].
Van Thienen, R., Van Proeyen, R., Vanden Eynde, B., Puype, J., Lefere, T. and Hespel, P. (2009) b-Alanine improves sprint performance in endurance cycling. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Vol. 41, No. 4: 898-903. [Online] Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joke_Puype/publication/24191983_Alanine_improves_sprint_performance_in_endurance_cycling/links/0fcfd5114c3d80f8b5000000.pdf [accessed 08 March 2016].