Does Beta-Alanine make Alpha-Athletes?

1. Does Beta-Alanine make Alpha-Athletes? Charlie Vail KINE 628

2. Beta-Alanine • Nonessential amino acid • Functions through carnosine • Along with L-histidine, synthesized by carnosinesynthetase in skeletal muscle cell to form carnosine • Hydrolyzed by carnosinesynthetase in blood (absent in skeletal muscle) • Considered rate-limiting factor in skeletal muscle carnosine concentrations

3. Beta-alanine Supplementation • Pre-workout • Generally with caffeine and creatine • Can be found in isolation and/or in multivitamins

4. Carnosine • Functions: • pH buffering* • Antioxidant • Ca++ channel regulator • Chelate Cu+ and increase Cu+ uptake • Potential therapy for nuerodegenerative, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases • Main premise for beta-alanine supplementation: • Buffering capacity of carnosine to help reduce fatigue and improve muscle function

5. Increasing Carnosine Concentrations in Muscle • β-alanine vs. Carnosine: • Harris et al.: I - 800mg β-alanine (90g), II - increasing β-alanine dose (146g), III - increasing L-carnosine doses (364g, = 143g β-alanine), and IV - Placebo (maltodextrin). 4 wks total. • Results: • I - 7.8 ± .36 • II – 11.04 ± 2.68 • III – 16.37 ± 3.03 • IV 1.87 - ± 1.37 • Highest increase in muscle carnosineconcentrations with carnosine supplementation followed by high, and then low doses of β-alanine.

6. Increasing Carnosine Concentrations in Muscle • β-alanine supplementation over time: • Hill et al.: • 4g/d – wk 1, 4.8g/d – wk 2, 5.6g/d – wk 3, & 6.4g/d – wks 4-10 • Significant increase after wk 2, 58.8% increase at week 4, 80.1% at 10, no significant difference after week 4. • Upper limit of Carnosine concentration around 4 weeks supplementation? • Cycle?

7. Beta-alanine and Performance • Power: • Derave et al.: 4 weeks 4.8g/d β-alanine supplementation. Trained college males. • No significant increases in performance with supplementation

8. Beta-alanine and Performance • Endurance: • Van Thienen et al.: Increasing from 2-4g/dayβ-alanine over 8 weeks. • 2 hours cycling, 50-100% intensity measuring power for last ten minutes • Supplementation increased peak power 11-15%, and mean power by 5-8%. • May be beneficial for long term and/or repeated bouts of high intensity performance

9. Beta-alanine and Performance • Body Composition: • Kern et al.: 4g/day β-alanine for 8 weeks. Wrestlers - HIIT 3d/wk & RT 2d/wk, Football Players - rpt sprints 3d/wk & RT 4d/wk. • No significant increases in body composition.

10. Beta-alanine and Performance • Strength/hypertrophy: • Potential to increase training volume (glycolysis vs ATP-PC) • Increase in training volume increases potential for hypertrophy • Increase in hypertrophy can lead to strength gains

11. Athletes vs. General Population • Power: • Sweeney et al.: 5 wks 4, 6g/d. No significant increase in peak power(similar to athletes). • Endurance: • Smith et al.: 6 wks 6, 3g/d. Significant decreases in time to exhaustion and increases in total work done (similar to athletes). • Body Composition: • Hill. al.: 10 wks 4 – 6.4g/d. No significant changes in body mass (similar to athletes). • Strength/hypertrophy: • Kendrick et. al.: 4 wks 6.4g/d. No significant increase in whole body strength.

12. Conclusions • Beta-alanine can increase muscle carnosine concentrations after 2 weeks of supplementation, reaching an upper limit around 4 weeks. 4-6g/day optimal supplementation. • Increased muscle carnosine has been shown to decrease neuromuscular fatigue, increase training volume, and increase buffer capacity. • However, many differing results leads to inconclusive findings on supplementation. • Similar results between athletes and general populations

13. Questions?