Most bodybuilders know about beta-alanine—it’s the staple pre-workout ingredient responsible for the “tingles.” And although we all know about the side effects of beta-alanine, what does it do? Beta-alanine is an amino acid that’s super effective for improving exercise performance. It raises muscle carnosine concentrations, which can help buffer muscles and increase the amount of work you can perform at high levels. But how much should you be taking for it to be effective? This article breaks down what you need to know about supplementing beta-alanine for bodybuilding—what it is, how it works, its benefits for bodybuilders, and the appropriate dose.
What Is Beta-Alanine?
Beta-alanine is a non-essential beta-amino acid that is naturally produced in the body.
But unlike most other amino acids used to build proteins, beta-alanine isn’t—it’s bonded to a β-carbon instead of an α-carbon, which means it serves a slightly different function. Rather than being incorporated into proteins, beta-alanine combines with another amino acid, L-histidine, to produce carnosine, a naturally occurring dipeptide stored within skeletal muscle.
Carnosine acts as an intramuscular proton buffer to maintain proper muscle pH 1. But that’s not it. Carnosine may help protect muscles against the harmful effects of free radicals produced during high-intensity exercise.
The accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during exercise contributes to muscle fatigue and exercise-induced muscle damage. Thanks to carnosine's free radical-scavenging properties, taking it can reduce levels of oxidative stress and prevent damage 2, 3. But because beta-alanine is the rate-limiting precursor to carnosine production, if you run low on beta-alanine, you can’t synthesize sufficient levels to buffer muscles and mitigate fatigue.
So, what do you do? You supplement. Supplementing beta-alanine can increase carnosine levels and may help to improve exercise performance during high-intensity exercise and boost strength and power 4.
How Does It Work?
Before diving into how beta-alanine works and why it’s beneficial for bodybuilders, you first need to understand what happens during exercise.
During high-intensity exercise, the primary energy pathway used is anaerobic glycolysis—glucose is broken down to produce ATP to fuel activity. But the breakdown of glucose results in a buildup of lactate and hydrogen ions (H+) in the muscles, which subsequently increases their pH.
Hydrogen ions are acidic, and accumulation causes the muscles to become overly acidic if not cleared away; it takes just four minutes for the muscles to reach their lowest pH and hydrogen ion accumulation to reach their maximum 5. As muscle acidity starts to increase, it interferes with contractibility, resulting in loss of function and decrements in overall performance.
But although some research suggests that increasing muscle acidity (H+ accumulation) isn’t the sole cause of fatigue during short-duration maximal work, it interferes with several metabolic processes, inevitably decreasing force production 6. If you don’t want hydrogen ion accumulation interfering with muscle contraction and performance, how do you prevent it? You increase carnosine levels—and that can be done by supplementing with beta-alanine. Beta-alanine combines with histidine to produce carnosine, which buffers acidity from muscles to prevent fatigue.
But because the amount of carnosine synthesized depends on beta-alanine availability, supplementing pre-workout elevates carnosine levels in type I and type II muscle fibers and prevent the onset of fatigue 7.
Benefits Of Beta-Alanine For Bodybuilders
If you’re looking for a way to maximize performance in the gym—and even out of it—adding some beta-alanine into your supplement stack might be your key. Here are some of the benefits of beta-alanine for bodybuilders:
Delays fatigue
As a bodybuilder, nothing says a buzzkill like tapping out mid-workout because your muscles have hit a wall.
When you’re training, you want to maximize muscle growth by pushing your muscles to their limits—and you can do that with beta-alanine. Because high-intensity exercise increases the accumulation of hydrogen ions, it can lead to faster acidification of muscles and thus more rapid fatigue.
But when you can increase carnosine concentrations by supplementing beta-alanine, you can increase the buffering capacity of muscles, work at a higher intensity for longer, and increase the time to exhaustion 8. A study published in Amino Acids found that 28-days of beta-alanine supplementation could delay the onset of neuromuscular fatigue and the ventilatory threshold at submaximal workloads and increase time to exhaustion during maximal cycle performance 9.
Preserves muscle mass
While a supplement like beta-alanine may maximize fat loss by helping to maintain intensity during things like HIIT and sprints, what about protecting against muscle loss that accompanies fat loss? Studies have shown that using beta-alanine in conjunction with HIIT can improve body composition by maintaining lean mass and boosting fat loss.
A study conducted at the University of Oklahoma found that active men supplementing with beta-alanine for six weeks combined with a HIIT protocol saw an increase in lean mass compared to the placebo 10.
Other studies show similar results with increases in muscle mass following an 8-week HIIT protocol with beta-alanine supplementation 11.
Enhances training volume
While you may be under the impression that beta-alanine is only suitable for endurance exercise, it offers something for those looking to gain muscle.
Increasing training volume over time is one of the most effective ways to maximize strength and muscle gains. You have to perform more reps, increase the number of sets, and move more weight—easier said than done. But beta-alanine can be helpful by delaying fatigue and increasing performance during lifts. A study published in Nutrition Research found that 30 days of beta-alanine supplementation at a dose of 4.5g/day improved resistance-training volume and perceptions of fatigue 12.
If you’re able to push out a few more reps or a couple more sets, it could help to facilitate greater muscular adaptations. It’s also been shown to increase power output for lifts equivalent to the individual’s maximal strength or when training at maximum power output 13. Supplementation appears to improve 1RM by increasing the load lifted.
How Much Beta-Alanine?
There’s much confusion regarding when and how much beta-alanine to supplement.
If you’re looking to achieve any performance benefits, the minimum dose you should take is around 3.2g per day, but supplementing up to 6.4g is suitable if you want to maximize effects. You can’t take 6g of beta-alanine for one day and expect stellar results. If you want to reach maximum muscle saturation, you need to be supplementing for longer-term.
This is based on studies that have found muscle-building benefits when taking 90 grams—and even up to 179 grams—over a 28-day period, which translates into roughly 3.2 to 6.4 grams per day 14. Because beta-alanine supplementation directly affects carnosine synthesis and skeletal muscle buffer capacity, getting enough to be effective is essential—but if you go overboard, you’re going to know. Dosages will vary between people, but studies agree that between 4 to 6g/day can increase muscle carnosine concentrations by up to 64 % after four weeks and up to 80 % after ten weeks 1. Muscle carnosine levels before supplementation and muscle fiber composition may influence the response. Exceeding 800mg in a single serving can cause side effects like paraesthesia—pins and needles or tingles. While it’s not harmful and usually subsides within 60 to 90 minutes of supplementation, it can be unpleasant or uncomfortable.
If you’re finding large doses give you serious tingles, separating your doses into smaller servings could help to reduce side effects. In Performance Lab Recover, you’re getting the best of everything to fast-track your recovery and maximize muscle growth—48g Karbolyn® carbohydrates, 20g Oryzatein® organic brown rice protein, 1600mg beta-alanine, and NutriGenesis® vitamins and minerals to support both mental and physical recovery.
It’s the smartest and most effective post-workout supplement using only research-backed ingredients.
Flavored and sweetened with organic cocoa, vanilla bean, cinnamon, coconut palm sugar, yacon root, monk fruit, and stevia, Recover is the cleanest, best-tasting post-workout drink.
References
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- Klebanov GI, Teselkin YuO, Babenkova IV, Lyubitsky OB, Rebrova OYu, Boldyrev AA, Vladimirov YuA. Effect of carnosine and its components on free-radical reactions. Membr Cell Biol. 1998;12(1):89-99.
- Kohen R, Yamamoto Y, Cundy KC, Ames BN. Antioxidant activity of carnosine, homocarnosine, and anserine present in muscle and brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 May;85(9):3175-9.
- Hoffman J, Ratamess NA, Ross R, Kang J, Magrelli J, Neese K, Faigenbaum AD, Wise JA. Beta-alanine and the hormonal response to exercise. Int J Sports Med. 2008 Dec;29(12):952-8.
- Osnes JB, Hermansen L. Acid-base balance after maximal exercise of short duration. J Appl Physiol. 1972 Jan;32(1):59-63.
- Spriet LL, Lindinger MI, McKelvie RS, Heigenhauser GJ, Jones NL. Muscle glycogenolysis and H+ concentration during maximal intermittent cycling. J Appl Physiol (1985). 1989 Jan;66(1):8-13.
- Hobson RM, Saunders B, Ball G, Harris RC, Sale C. Effects of β-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a meta-analysis. Amino Acids. 2012 Jul;43(1):25-37.
- Harris RC, Stellingwerff T. Effect of β-alanine supplementation on high-intensity exercise performance. Nestle Nutr Inst Workshop Ser. 2013;76:61-71.
- Stout JR, Cramer JT, Zoeller RF, et al. Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on the onset of neuromuscular fatigue and ventilatory threshold in women. Amino Acids. 2007;32(3):381-386.
- Smith AE, Walter AA, Graef JL, et al. Effects of beta-alanine supplementation and high-intensity interval training on endurance performance and body composition in men; a double-blind trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009;6:5.
- Kern BD, Robinson TL. Effects of β-alanine supplementation on performance and body composition in collegiate wrestlers and football players. J Strength Cond Res. 2011;25(7):1804-1815.
- Hoffman JR, Ratamess NA, Faigenbaum AD, et al. Short-duration beta-alanine supplementation increases training volume and reduces subjective feelings of fatigue in college football players. Nutr Res. 2008;28(1):31-35.
- Maté-Muñoz JL, Lougedo JH, Garnacho-Castaño MV, et al. Effects of β-alanine supplementation during a 5-week strength training program: a randomized, controlled study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018;15:19.
- Stout JR, Cramer JT, Mielke M, O'Kroy J, Torok DJ, Zoeller RF. Effects of twenty-eight days of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on the physical working capacity at neuromuscular fatigue threshold. J Strength Cond Res. 2006 Nov;20(4):928-31.
