Why Beta-Alanine is a Must-Have in Your Pre Workout
Dec 21, 2023
Are you looking to elevate your workout and maximize results? Look no further than beta-alanine. This game-changing amino acid is the key to the increased performance that you’ve been looking for.
Let’s discuss what beta-alanine is, how it works, what the benefits are both inside and outside of your workout, how to take it, and any side effects it may have.
What is Beta-Alanine?
Defining Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid. Unlike most amino acids, it’s not used by your body to synthesize proteins. Instead, it’s a building block for carnosine. It’s synthesized in the liver and can be taken in through animal-based foods like beef and chicken.
The Role of Beta-Alanine in the Body
Beta-alanine helps in the production of carnosine. Carnosine is a molecule that is found in high concentrations in muscle tissue and is an essential part of increasing muscular strength and reducing muscular fatigue.
Beta-Alanine Benefits
Taking beta-alanine supplements has a myriad of benefits for your workouts:
- Increases muscle endurance
- Enhances performance in high-intensity exercises
- Delays muscle fatigue
- May aid in muscle growth over time
Even if you’re not an athlete, taking beta-alanine supplements can help with:
Studies Supporting Beta-Alanine Benefits
According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, four weeks of beta-alanine supplementation at about four to six grand daily significantly augments muscle carnosine concentrations. This improved exercise performance, with more pronounced effects in the time trials lasting one to four minutes.
Beta-alanine was also shown to lessen neuromuscular fatigue, particularly in older people. Preliminary evidence suggests that beta-alanine may improve tactical performance, as well.
What Does Beta-Alanine Do?
Beta-Alanine's Mechanism of Action
This is a breakdown of how carnosine works with the aid of beta-alanine:
- Glucose is broken down: glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose, which is the main source of fuel during high-intensity exercise
- Lactate is produced: As you exercise, your muscles break glucose down into lactic acid. This is converted into lactate, which produces hydrogen ions.
- Muscles become more acidic: The hydrogen ions reduce the pH levels in your muscles, making them more acidic.
- Fatigue sets in: Muscle acidity blocks glucose breakdown and reduces your muscles’ ability to contract. This causes fatigue.
- Carnosine buffer: Carnosine serves as a buffer against the acid, reducing the acidity in muscles during high-intensity exercise.
Since beta-alanine supplements increase carnosine levels, they help your muscles reduce their acid levels during exercise, lessening overall fatigue.
Beta-Alanine Benefits and Reduced Muscle Fatigue
Higher levels of muscle carnosine can speed up recovery. Beta-alanine increases muscle carnosine, preventing the avid build-up that contributes to soreness and fatigue. With quicker recovery comes more time to train.
How Much Beta-Alanine to Take
Recommended Dosage
When first starting beta-alanine, it requires a loading phase. To obtain optimal muscle-building results, scientists recommend a minimum daily dosage of 3.2 grams of beta-alanine for at least four weeks.
Studies prove that increasing beta-alanine intake to 179 grams over 28 days, which is an average of 6.4 grams a day, can significantly improve muscle performance.
Timing and Frequency of Intake
The most important best practice to remember when taking beta-alanine is to dose every day, even on days when you don’t work out. The concentration of muscle carnosine will build over time, making it essential that it be taken every day.
There are three ways that beta-alanine is usually taken:
- Part of a pre-workout or post-workout
- Stand-alone with single or multiple doses
- Combination of pre/post formulations and stand-alone products
Beta-Alanine Side Effects and Considerations
Known Side Effects
The only known side effect of beta-alanine supplements is paraesthesia. Paraesthesia is when you feel a tingling sensation that most often occurs on the face, chest, abdomen, and extremities. This side effect is harmless but can be uncomfortable, depending on the degree of the tingling.
Paraesthesia can be avoided by taking smaller doses of beta-alanine, using an extended-release formulation, or taking doses at least three hours apart.
Who Should Avoid Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine supplements may not be for everyone.
Talk to your doctor about using them if you:
- Are looking to give them to your child
- Have a particular disease or condition
- Are a woman who is pregnant or breastfeeding
Power Up Your Workout With Nutrition Faktory
Find the right beta-alanine supplements for you to maximize your workout and reduce muscle fatigue. Nutrition Faktory has an immense selection of high-quality supplements at competitive prices to guarantee that you crush your next workout. The boosted performance you’re looking for is just a click away.
Top Pre-Workouts with Beta-Alanine at Nutrition Faktory
Alchemy Labs Duality
This product is a pre-workout supplement designed to enhance workout performance. It focuses on increasing energy, improving pump, and enhancing focus during workouts. Its formulation includes ingredients like caffeine, beta-alanine, and nitric oxide boosters.
Inspired Nutraceuticals DVST8 Dark
DVST8 Dark is a pre-workout supplement offering intense energy, focus, and endurance for workouts. It contains a blend of stimulants and performance enhancers, including beta-alanine, to support high-intensity exercise sessions.
Top standalone beta-alanine products:
Titan Nutrition Beta-Alanine
Titan Nutrition's Beta-Alanine supplement is specifically formulated to increase muscular endurance and reduce fatigue. Beta-alanine, as its main ingredient, aids in improving exercise performance and supports longer, more effective workouts.
This product from Allmax Nutrition provides pure beta-alanine to support muscle carnosine levels. It's designed to increase endurance, strength, and delay muscle fatigue, making it suitable for athletes and fitness enthusiasts looking to enhance their training sessions.
Power Up Your Workout At Nutrition Faktory
Find the right Beta-Alanine supplements and other pre workouts for you to maximize your workout and build muscle. Nutrition Faktory has a massive selection of high-end supplements at affordable prices to ensure that your next workout is better than the last. The next step to the body you’re working for is just a click away.
