Beta-alanine boosts muscle during weight loss

Posted at 17:34 on Jul 20, 2011 by Muscle Blog

In previous studies, beta-alanine has been shown to boost exercise performance, delay fatigue as well as improve body composition.

Now, there's a new study out showing that beta-alanine can accelerate muscle growth during a period of weight loss.

I'll give you all the details in a moment.

First, here's a quick primer on how beta-alanine works...

One of the things that causes muscle fatigue during intense exercise is a buildup of hydrogen ions, which are released at an accelerated rate during exercise. When the level of hydrogen ions becomes too high, they interfere with muscle fibre contraction, which forces you to stop whatever you're doing.

To fight back against muscular fatigue, your muscles use something called carnosine. Think of carnosine as a "sponge" inside your muscle, soaking up hydrogen ions. The more carnosine inside the muscle, the more hydrogen ions it can soak up.

Studies show that beta alanine is a highly effective way to naturally boost carnosine levels in your muscles. In fact, beta alanine supplementation (4--6 grams per day) can increase muscle carnosine content by up to 80% after 10 weeks.

In short, taking beta alanine for several weeks will increase carnosine levels in your muscles. This means your muscles can work harder for for longer, which eventually results in bigger, stronger muscles.

In this latest study, researchers from Adams State College in Colorado looked at the effectiveness of beta-alanine supplementation in a group of trained collegiate wrestlers and American footballers. 

The aim of the study was to see how well beta-alanine works when it's combined with 8 weeks of high-intensity intervals and resistance training.

Each of the subjects (22 college wrestlers and 15 college American footballers) took either beta-alanine (4 grams per day) or the placebo in powdered capsule form. 

The men were tested before and after the 8-week study in a timed 300-yard shuttle run and the 90° flexed-arm hang. The flexed-arm hang is a test of upper body strength. It involves hanging from a bar with your arms at 90 degrees as long as possible. Body composition was also measured at the start and end of the study.

Much like previous research on the subject, subjects taking beta-alanine achieved better results on all tests compared to those using the placebo. 

• Performance improvements were greatest in the footballers, who knocked 1.1 seconds off their 300-yard shuttle time (versus 0.4 seconds in the placebo group). 
• They also increased their flexed-arm hang by a full 3 seconds, compared to less than half a second in the placebo group. 

Because the wrestlers were trying to lose weight in order to get into a lower weight bracket, both the placebo and the beta-alanine groups lost weight.

However, the beta-alanine group actually GAINED 1.1 pound of muscle, whereas the placebo group LOST almost the same amount.

Both groups of footballers gained weight. However, the supplement group gained an average of 2.1 pounds of muscle compared to 1.1 pounds in the placebo group.

Editor's Note: With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner, you can bet that many of the guys and girls gunning for the Olympics will be using beta-alanine to give them an edge in training. If you want to join them, Beta-Alanine [beta-alanine] is the latest addition to Maximuscle’s Cutting Edge range.

Reference
Kern BD, Robinson TL. Effects of β-alanine supplementation on performance and body composition in collegiate wrestlers and football players. J Strength Cond Res 25(7): 1804-1815, 2011

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