Reduced Dose of Beta-Alanine Is Sufficient to Maintain Performance in Repeated Sprints

Zandona, BA, Ramos, RA, de Oliveira, CdS, McAnulty, SR, Ferreira, LHB, Smolarek, AC, Enes, AAN, Urbinati, KMdSS, Aragon, AA, Schoenfeld, BJ, and de Souza Junior, TP. Reduced Dose of Beta-Alanine Is Sufficient to Maintain Performance in Repeated Sprints. J Strength Cond Res 36(6): 1636-1642, 2022-Beta-alanine (BA) supplementation has been shown to be effective in improving physical performance by increasing carnosine concentration. However, it is still necessary to know the effect of a maintenance dose on performance. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of a maintenance dose of BA supplementation on performance. Forty-four anaerobically trained men with 23.9 +/- 3.8 years of age, 176.0 +/- 0.05 cm height, 81.2 +/- 7.5 kg body mass, and 15.5 +/- 2.9% of body fat performed a cycle ergometer test consisting of 4 sprints of 30 s with 4 minutes of active recovery. The study comprised 3 phases: (a) presupplementation, (b) supplementation with 6.4 g center dot d(-1) BA or placebo, and (c) postsupplementation with a maintenance dose of 1.2 g center dot d(-1) of BA or interruption of supplementation. Data were analyzed using generalized estimated equations with a priori 0.05 level of significance. The placebo group and interruption group presented a lower power (7.28 +/- 0.66 and 7.71 +/- 0.42 W center dot kg(-1) vs. 8.04 +/- 0.84 and 9.25 +/- 1.18 W center dot kg(-1), respectively; p < 0.05) during the third sprint in postsupplementation, whereas the maintenance group maintained the required power (7.47 +/- 1.03 vs. 8.74 +/- 1.07 W center dot kg(-1); p > 0.05). The placebo group also presented higher percentage of fatigue (44.5% +/- 12.3 and 44.8% +/- 7.7 vs. 37.6 +/- 7.2%; p = 0.021) and higher subjective perception of exertion (8.92 +/- 0.90 vs. 8.00 +/- 1.60; p = 0.028). Therefore, the maintenance dose of 1.2 g center dot d(-1) BA was effective in maintaining performance, whereas a reduction in performance was observed after supplementation interruption.

Automated summary

The study found that a maintenance dose of 1.2g/d of beta-alanine was effective in maintaining sprint performance, while a decrease in performance was observed after supplementation interruption.