Beta-alanine
// What the research shows
According to the ISSN position standPosition stand An official statement by a professional society summarising the evidence on a topic. More in the glossary → (Trexler et al., 2015), 4–6 g of beta-alanine daily for at least 2–4 weeks raises muscle carnosineCarnosine A compound in muscle that buffers acid. Beta-alanine increases carnosine stores. More in the glossary → stores. This buffers acid and improves performance mainly in efforts lasting 1–4 minutes. The well-known tingling is harmless and can be reduced with smaller split doses (about 1.6 g) or sustained-release capsules. The position stand notes that research on strength effects is still lacking.
// In practice
- Useful for sports with hard efforts of 1–4 minutes, e.g. rowing, 400–1500 m running, combat sports.
- It works over weeks, not as a pre-workout. Timing doesn't matter.
- For regular hypertrophyHypertrophy (muscle growth) A muscle getting bigger, mainly through thicker muscle fibres. More in the glossary → training with 5–15 reps, the benefit is questionable.
// Limitations & open questions
Effects are moderate and smaller in fixed-distance performance tests than in time-to-exhaustion tests.