Good nutrition is essential for athletes, but sometimes, they require an extra boost. Beta-alanine has been a helpful supplement for athletes who need to boost their performance. It deals with muscle acidosis, allowing athletes to sustain energy and strength for long periods and delaying fatigue. Since it is obtained from animal products, it is mostly essential for vegetarian athletes. This article will help athletes understand more about beta-alanine.
How Beta-Alanine Works
The main benefit of beta-alanine comes due to its connection with carnosine. Taking beta-alanine supplements offers better and more benefits than directly consuming carnosine, especially for HIIT. Hydrogen ions accumulate in the body muscles during exercise, minimizing the PH levels. This makes the muscle area more acidic, thus causing acidosis and leading to burnout during exercise. By maintaining PH stability, carnosine keeps muscles strong to withstand intensive workouts and enhance performance.
Role of Beta-Alanine in Endurance Sports
The role of beta-alanine might not seem so crucial in endurance sports because they depend on aerobic metabolism. Nonetheless, endurance athletes such as marathoners and triathletes can benefit a lot from beta-alanine supplements. It can help them sustain energy to succeed in intervals, late-race surges, and hill climbs. Today, marathons and triathlons are racing with higher intensity than ever, requiring participants to be fitter than before. They have to maintain speed through challenging terrain and race to finish. Beta-alanine supplements can help in such scenarios by delaying fatigue and allowing athletes to finish these races without succumbing to muscle fatigue.
Workouts That Benefit Most From Beta-Alanine
Beta alanine is mostly used during repeated short, high-intensity activities. Taking supplements when performing such activities can help.
Repeated high-intensity exercise– high-interval training like anaerobic capacity intervals can benefit from beta-alanine because it stabilizes the muscle’s PH levels, helping participants endure for long and adapt for improved training.
Race intensity workouts– beta-alanine helps in races that mimic intensity and surges. Triathletes sometimes include efforts that simulate a race finish.
Repetitive threshold workouts- maintaining a steady pace near the threshold is vital in endurance events.
Recommended Beta Alanine Dosage
The right amount of beta-alanine ranges between 3.2 to 6.4 grams. Taking the correct dose is essential since excess can lead to temporary beta alanine itch. However, you shouldn’t be worried about side effects as they last for minutes and can be resolved over time. You may also experience pressure in the head. However, you can minimize the side effects by dividing the dose into two rather than using a whole dose simultaneously. Taking the supplement consistently is essential to get the desired results.
Muscle fatigue and maintaining endurance are among the challenges faced by athletes. But with the help of beta-alanine supplements, a person will have the energy to endure high-intensity exercises and last for a long time without succumbing to fatigue. Although the side effects are harmless and do last for a long time, take the recommended dosage to minimize side effects.
