Learn more about Beta-Alanine
2,5 min read
Beta-Alanine is an amino acid that is needed to maintain the levels of carnosine in the muscles. Beta-Alanine combines with the amino acid Histidine in our muscle cells, and together they form Carnosine. We have plenty of Histidine in the cells, so it is not limiting; however, Beta-Alanine is limiting, which is why supplementing with Beta-Alanine helps in the creation of Carnosine in muscle cells.
How does Beta-Alanine help you?
The role of Carnosine is to neutralize lactic acid and maintain the correct pH balance in muscle cells. Supplementing with Beta-Alanine increases the levels of Carnosine, allowing the cells to manage and neutralize more of the acidic environment that arises during intense work, enabling you to perform a little better during threshold workouts and intervals where an acidic environment occurs.
What effect can Beta-Alanine have?
A larger Meta-Analysis compiled the effects of Beta-Alanine on sports performance, and the average improvement was 2.85% with an average intake of 179g. Participants took Beta-Alanine for a period ranging from 3 weeks up to 3 months. Various protocols show that it seems to not matter whether you consume everything over a shorter period or maintain it for a longer time, as long as the total intake is sufficiently high.
Performance increases ranged from -0.3% up to just over 10%. So some experienced no effect at all, or even a small negative effect, while some had a significant positive effect in percentage terms. A reasonable expectation is likely in the range of 1-5% performance increase for most during intervals lasting from 1 minute up to 8 minutes per interval. This seems to be where Beta-Alanine helps the most.
Dosage
Research has shown that a total intake of between 150-200g is needed to maximize levels of Carnosine in the cells, thereby providing optimal conditions for intense work. Once you have consumed this amount, a maintenance dose of 3-5g/week is sufficient to maintain optimal levels year-round. The breakdown rate is about 2% per week, which corresponds to approximately 4g per week. With this in mind, we have chosen to fill 200g of U Beta Alanine in a container, which is enough for optimal loading. Neither more nor less; when the container is empty, you are fully loaded.
Once you are maximally loaded, a maintenance dose of 3-5g/week is sufficient. This corresponds to, for example, 1 dose of U Intend (3g of Beta-Alanine per dose) per week to maintain the levels year-round so that you are always optimally ready for a great interval or threshold workout. If you are not using caffeine products like U Intend, simply take 1 scoop of U Beta-Alanine (5g) per week.
Summary
Beta-Alanine is one of "The Big 5". That is, one of the five supplements that science agrees enhance performance and are worth investing in if you want to perform. In addition to Beta-Alanine, there is Creatine, Caffeine, Bicarbonate, and Nitrate.
Take 5-6g of BA daily for a month and expect around a 5% extra performance development on intervals in the time span from 30s to 10min. That is classic 30/15, 40/20, 60/30, 4x4min, 4x8min intervals.