THE EFFECT OF b-ALANINE SUPPLEMENTATION
POWER PERFORMANCE DURING REPEATED
SPRINT ACTIVITY
KAITLIN M. SWEENEY,1 GLENN A. WRIGHT,1 A. GLENN BRICE,2 AND SCOTT T. DOBERSTEIN1
1
Exercise and Sport Science Department; and 2Biology Department, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin
ABSTRACT
Sweeney, KM, Wright, GA, Brice, AG, and Doberstein, ST. The
effect of b-alanine supplementation on power performance
during repeated sprint activity. J Strength Cond Res 24(1): 79–
87, 2010—The dipeptide carnosine has been shown to contribute
to the buffer capacity of hydrogen ions (H+) during intense
exercise. Increasing skeletal muscle carnosine levels through b-
alanine (BA) supplementation has been shown to maintain acid-base
balance, delay fatigue, and improve exercise performance. We
designed this study to examine the effect of 5 weeks of BA
supplementation on repeat high-intensity sprint performance.
Nineteen, physically active, college men were divided into 2 groups
(control [C], n = 10 or BA, n = 9). We performed double-blind
placebo-controlled study where sub- jects ingested 4 g per day
during the first week and 6 g per day over the next 4 weeks of a
placebo (rice flour) or a BA supple- ment. Subjects completed 2
sets of 5 5-second sprints with 45-second recovery separated by 2
minutes of active recovery. All tests were conducted on a non-
motorized treadmill against a resistance of 15% of the
participant’s body weight. We recorded horizontal power (HP) of
the running sprint. Post- exercise capillary blood samples were
analyzed for lactate to determine the metabolic demands. There were
no significant between-group differences (p . 0.05) in HPpeak or
HPmean for the repeat sprint protocol. No significant between-
group differences were found for performance decrement (%
fatigue) for HPpeak or HPmean. In addition, no significant
interactions were observed. Post-exercise blood lactate values were
similar pre and post supplementation in both groups. The results of
this study clearly indicate that 5 weeks of BA supplementation
provides no benefit for repeat sprint performance.
KEY WORDS carnosine, high-intensity exercise, buffer capacity,
fatigue
Human Performance Laboratory, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.
Address correspondence to Kaitlin M. Sweeney,
kaitlin.sweeney@gmail.com.
24(1)/79–87
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
© 2010 National Strength and Conditioning Association
ON
INTRODUCTION
T
consists of intermittent
he activity pattern of bouts
many offield-based
maximal or
near-
light-intensity recovery periods. The ability to
maintain this pattern of activity throughout an entire game or
match requires the rapid resynthesis of adenosine triphos-
phate (ATP). Rapid ATP resynthesis is primarily accom-
plished by the limited stores of phosphocreatine (PCr) and
fast glycolysis (27). Gaitanos et al. (11) suggested that com-
plete PCr resynthesis cannot occur within short recovery
periods, resulting in a progressive depletion of PCr and an
increased reliance on fast glycolysis during repeat sprint
exercise. The increased dependence on fast glycolysis also
implies an increase in hydrogen ion (H+) concentration
within the muscle, which decreases pH, slows ATP pro-
duction, and inevitably causes fatigue. In addition, increased
H+ may interfere with muscle contraction and may poten-
tially decrease power production (20). As a result, field-based
athletes in sports such as American football, soccer, and
field hockey may look for nutritional supplements to aid in
improving muscle buffer capacity to improve performance
during competition.
The intramuscular dipeptide carnosine is thought to
contribute between 7 and 10% to the total buffering capacity
in skeletal muscle of untrained subjects (18,23). Carnosine is
made up of 2 amino acids, b-alanine (BA), and histidine.
Histidine is found in plentiful amounts in muscle, which leads
many to suggest that the BA may be the rate-limiting sub-
strate for carnosine production in muscle (2). Studies where
subjects supplemented with doses of 3–6 g BA per day for
at least 4 weeks have shown to be an effective means of
increasing skeletal muscle carnosine levels (9,16,18). In-
creasing skeletal muscle carnosine levels through BA supple-
mentation delays fatigue and increases anaerobic exercise
performance (9,15,17,29), presumably by improving buffer
capacity.
Previous investigators observed that BA supplementation
improved anaerobic exercise performance (15,17,28); how-
ever, not all anaerobic exercises are limited by the same
metabolic factors. For example, it is suggested that fatigue
during repeat sprint exercise is caused by the rapid depletion
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Effect of b-Alanine Supplementation on Power Performance
of PCr stores in the muscle (12). At the same time, repeat
sprint exercise is known to produce moderate to high muscle
and blood lactate levels and a resulting decrease in muscle
pH (4,8,11), indicating the heavy use of fast glycolysis to
resynthesize ATP. Bishop et al. (5) found that there was
a strong relationship between power decrement and change
in plasma [H+] during a repeat sprint protocol consisting of
5 3 6-second sprints with a 24-second recovery. As a result of
this finding and the relationship between blood and muscle
pH (1), Bishop et al. (5) suggested that the ability for the
muscle to buffer H+ may be important for maintaining repeat
sprint performance. It is possible that repeat sprint exercise
performance may be improved by BA supplementation
because muscle buffer capacity seems to be important for
such performance (3); however, no studies have been per-
formed to investigate this hypothesis. Therefore, the purpose
of this study was to determine the efficacy of 5 weeks of
BA supplementation on repeated brief sprint performance.
METHODS
Experimental Approach to the Problem
This study was conducted over a 6-week period using a 2-
group, matched, double-blind design that was placebo
controlled. After 2 familiarization sessions of the repeated
sprint protocol used in the study, the participants were
assigned to 1 of 2 groups of 10 subjects: BA or placebo (C)
matched to their mean power performance during the
second familiarization of the sprint protocol. The C group
was used rather than a crossover design because the
washout time for BA is not at present known. Subjects
performed a repeated sprint protocol before and after 5
weeks of supplementation with either a BA or a placebo
similar in appearance, taste, and texture. It was
hypothesized that BA supplementation would allow sprint
performance (horizontal power produc- tion, HP; power
decrement, % fatigue) to be maintained through a greater
number of sprints than without BA.
Subjects
Twenty, physically active, college-aged men were recruited
as subjects in this investigation (descriptive characteristics
found in Table 1). Twelve subjects were National Collegiate
Athletic Association Division III football players involved in
the early phases of their off-season training program, which
included
TABLE 1. Participant characteristics (mean 6 SD).*
Height Body
Group nAge (y) (cm) mass (kg)
BA9 22.5 6 1.7 71.8 6 3.3 90.4 6 20.2
C10 22.7 6 1.3 70.9 6 2.6 87.9 6 8.7
*BA = b-alanine; C = control.
3–4 days of resistance training and 2 days of sprint training.
The remaining 8 subjects were involved with a recreational
strength training program where the focus was on muscle
hypertrophy and were regularly trained 3–4 days per week
for at least 6 months before beginning the study. One subject
in the BA group dropped out of the study during the week of
post-testing because of illness unrelated to the study.
Therefore, pre- and post-supplementation data for
this subject were not included in data analysis, leaving the
BA group with only 9 subjects. The research protocol was
approved by the university’s Institutional Review Board
before its implementation. Subjects were informed of the
experimental risks and signed an informed consent
document before participation in the study. The subjects
were not permitted to use any additional nutritional or
performance enhancement supplementation in the previous
8 weeks. We asked our subjects to maintain their normal
diet and eat a normal meal within 2–3 hours before each
exercise testing session. No other nutritional guidelines
were given.
Procedures
Supplementation. After pretesting, subjects ingested 2 capsules
of the BA supplement (Intra X cell; Athletics Edge
Nutrition, Miami, FL, USA) or placebo (rice flour) 3 times
per day during the first week. Daily intake of the
experimental supplement at this dosage supplied 4 g of
BA, 402 mg pro- prietary blend of N-acetylcysteine/g-lipoic
acid, and 15 mg of vitamin E. During the following 4
weeks, participants increased the dose to 6 g of BA or
placebo per day by ingesting 3 capsules, 3 times per day.
Subjects were asked to take the capsules with meals and
record the exact day and time of dose in a dosing journal.
Supplements were disbursed at the beginning of weeks 1
and 3.
Sprint Treadmill Testing. The testing protocol consisted of
2 familiarization sessions performed on nonconsecutive days.
The second of these sessions was performed 1 week before
the first of 2 experimental sessions. Experimental sessions
were separated by the 5-week supplementation period. The
2 experimental sessions consisted of a standardized warm-up
of 5 minutes on a motorized treadmill at a self-selected fast
walk or slow jog followed by 3 short 2- to 3-second bursts
on a non-motorized treadmill (Force Treadmill; Woodway
USA, Waukesha, WI, USA) against a resistance load equal
to 15% of the subject’s body weight. This resistance was
established through pilot work to find the highest load that
would ensure reaching peak power within the first 3 seconds
of a 5-second sprint. After the warm-up, subjects rested for
5 minutes before starting the sprint protocol.
The non-motorized treadmill consisted of a hard rubber
belt that was user driven. The load was produced by an
electromagnetic braking system that provided up to 68 kg of
resistance to the treadmill belt. The subject was attached to
a vertical strut by a belted tether system that contained a
load cell to measure horizontal force. Information from the
load
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Figure 1. Peak and mean HP output per sprint for the BA group (A) and C group (B) pre and post supplementation (mean values only, SD not shown for clarity). HP = horizontal power; BA = b-al
cell and the velocity of the treadmill belt were interfaced
with a computer and software that determined horizontal
force, velocity, power, work, and distance of each sprint at
50 Hz. These data were accumulated on a Microsoft Excel
spread- sheet and averaged to 0.5-second intervals.
Performance decrement (% fatigue) during the repeat sprint
protocol was calculated using recommendations made by
Glaister et al.
(13) and the performance decrement score devised by
Fitzsimons et al. (10): % fatigue = 100 2 ([total power
output/ideal power output] 3 100), where total power
output = the sum of the power output values for all
sprints and ideal power output = the number of sprints 3
highest power output of all sprints.
The repeat sprint protocol consisted of 2 sets of five 5-
second sprints with 45 seconds of passive recovery. A 2-
minute walking recovery at 1.5 mph on an adjacent
motorized treadmill separated the 2 sets of sprints. Subjects
Group Time HPpeak (W)
B Pre 1,089.1 6 168.4
A
Post 1,114.8 6 194.5
C Pre 1,101.1 6 153.2
Post 1,121.9 6 140.8
TABLE 2. HP for the BA and C groups pre and post supplementation (mean 6 SD).*
Journal
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were instructed to achieve maximal effort and maintain that
effort for the entire 5 seconds of every sprint. Strong verbal
encouragement was given to each participant. The test-retest
reliabilities (intraclass correlation, ICC) of this repeat sprint
protocol were r = 0.998 and r = 0.918 for mean power and
peak power performance, respectively.
Blood Lactate. Fingertip capillary blood samples were taken
before warm-up and 5 minutes after the last sprint. After
puncturing the skin of the fingertip, the first drop of blood
was wiped from the skin. The succeeding blood flow was
collected in a heparinized capillary tube. Twenty-five
microliters of blood was immediately removed from the
capillary tube and mixed with 50 ml of NaF Triton buffer,
which is used for red blood cell lyses and to prevent an
increase in lactate after the whole blood sample was added
to the buffer. Samples were immediately analyzed for
lactate using a Yellow Springs
Effect size HPmean (W) Effect size
0.15 885.3 6 139.0 0.06
876.3 6 136.9
0.14 888.3 6 116.2 0.07
880.2 6 115.7
Time p = 0.644 p = 0.000†
Group p = 0.849 p = 0.952
Time 3 group p = 0.962 p = 0.824

*HP = horizontal power; BA = b-alanine; C = control.

†p , 0.05.

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Effect of b-Alanine Supplementation on Power Performance

Figure 2. Individual response (lines) and group mean (bars) for average HPpeak and HPmean per sprint for the BA group (A, C) and control group (B, D) pre and post supplementation (mean values only

Instruments 1500 Sport lactate analyzer (Yellow Springs, OH,
USA). The test-retest reliability (ICC) of this method in our
laboratory has been shown to be r $ 0.953.
Statistical Analyses
Based on a similar repeat sprint study design (31), we
determined that 12 subjects would be necessary to achieve
a statistical power of 0.80 for peak power performance and
8 subjects would be necessary to achieve this level for mean
power performance (21). Because mean power is a more
representative measure of sprint performance, we decided
to recruit 10 subjects per group in this study.
Analysis of variance (2 3 2) with repeated measures on
one factor (time: pre vs. post) was performed to determine if
any

Group Time HPpeak (%) Effect size HPmean (%) Effect size
B Pre 10.0 6 3.7 0.05 8.8 6 3.8 0.03
A
Post 10.2 6 2.5 8.9 6 2.5
C Pre 10.1 6 3.4 0.12
8.4 6 8.6 0.43
Post 10.5 6 3.2 12.1 6 4.9
Time p = 0.613 p = 0.080
Group p = 0.858 p = 0.367
T ABLE 3. Performance decrement (% fatigue) for HP and velocity (V) for the BA and C groups pre and post
Time 3 group p = 0.887 p = 0.094
supplementation (mean 6 SD).*†
 *HP = horizontal power; BA = b-alanine; C = control.
†p # 0.05. No differences were identified.

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Figure 3. Individual response (lines) and group mean (bars) for power decrement (% fatigue) during the sprint protocol for the BA group (A, C) and C group (B, D) pre and post supplementation for
significant main effects or interactions were present between
time and between groups (BA and C) for analysis of HP, %
fatigue (performance decrement), and blood lactate. All data
are reported as mean 6 SD unless otherwise indicated. The
level of statistical significance was set at p # 0.05, with
meaningfulness of differences determined by the use of
effect sizes. Effect sizes were calculated by determining the
differ- ence between pretest and posttest means, divided by
the pretest SD, and interpreted according to a scale
previously proposed by Rhea (24).
RESULTS
Review of supplement dosing journals indicated that all
subjects met the required supplement dosage and demon-
strated no side effects other than a mild prickling sensation
in their neck and limbs due to the neural sensitivity from the
supplement. This side effect is considered to be normal and
typical of BA supplementation and dissipates with time.
Horizontal Power
Figure 1 shows the power output for peak (HPpeak) and
mean (HPmean) horizontal power for each sprint by
group.
th e TM
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No significant differences were identified for HPpeak by time,
group, or interaction of time 3 group (Table 2). We observed
a significant main effect in HPmean by time such that
there was a decrease in HPmean in both groups from pre- to
post- testing; however, there was no significant difference
between groups or time 3 group interaction (Table 2). Effect
sizes for HP in both groups were trivial, ranging from 0.06
to 0.15. Figure 2 shows that there was a fairly consistent
individual subject response to both the BA and C
supplementation.
Fatigue
The performance decrements (% fatigue) seen in the BA
group and C group pre and post supplementation are shown
in Table 3. No significant differences were seen in the
performance decrement for HPpeak or HPmean. Effect sizes
for HP in both groups were trivial to small, ranging from 0.03
to 0.43. Figure 3 shows a large variation in both HPpeak
and HPmean for the individual subject response in
performance decrement for both groups of subjects.
Lactate
Blood lactate response to the repeat sprint protocol is shown
in Figure 4. There were no significant differences observed by
VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 1 | JANUARY 2010 | 83
Effect of b-Alanine Supplementation on Power Performance
group (p = 0.562) or time (p = 0.809). There was also no
significant group 3 time interaction (p = 0.585).
DISCUSSION
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of 5 weeks
of BA supplementation on performance during repeated
brief all-out sprints. Results indicate that 6 g per day of BA
Figure 4. Lactate response to repeat sprint protocol pre and post supplementation. BA = b-alanine; C = control (mean 6 SD).
supplementation had no effect on HP or performance
decrement (% fatigue) during repeated sprints. The decrease
in HPmean from pre to posttesting in both groups may be
attributed to a change in pacing strategy during the sprint.
We observed that both groups produced a nonsignificant
increase in HPpeak after supplementation, which may
have led to earlier fatigue within each sprint, resulting in
a lower HPmean. The BA group increased HPpeak 2.4%,
whereas HPmean decreased 1.0%. Similarly, the C group
increased HPpeak 1.9%, which was accompanied by a 0.9%
decrease in HPmean. Although the small decrease in
HPmean produced a significant main effect by time, it is
unlikely that this decrease is practically significant for most
field sport athletes. The lack of a group 3 time interaction
indicates there was no difference in the improvement in
HPmean due to BA supplementation. One of the key
outcomes of a repeat sprint protocol is the measure of
performance decrement over the number of sprints. In
this study, we looked at the power decrease over ten 5-
second sprints with a 45-second recovery. To be able to
conclude that BA provides some positive ergogenic
proper- ties, supplementation with BA should improve
the perfor- mance decrement (smaller decrease in
power) for both HPpeak and HPmean. Our results
show that BA did not improve the performance
decrement; however, the results should be interpreted with
caution. As shown in Figure 3, the
individual pre- to post-supple-
mentation % fatigue responses
for both BA and C groups are
quite variable. Although the
method used to determine
performance decrement in this
study has been evaluated and
compared with other methods
for reliability and validity and
determined to be the most
reliable and valid method, it
has also been shown to have
a test-retest variability in fatigue
of about 30% (13).
The absence of an ergogenic
effect may be related to the
inability to increase muscle
carnosine levels by the dosing
strategy used in this study.
Beta- alanine is likely the rate-
limiting substrate and essential
supple- ment required to
increase car- nosine levels
within the muscle
tissue (2). Previous research has demonstrated that BA
supplementation can increase muscle carnosine levels and
contribute to the acid-base buffering capacity of the muscle
(8,12,14,15,18). For example, Harris et al. (16) found a 42%
increase in carnosine levels after supplementing with 3.2 g
per day of BA and a 64% increase with 6.4 g per day after
4 weeks of supplementation.
Active subjects show higher resting levels of carnosine in
their muscles than untrained individuals, especially if they
have a history of anaerobic training (30). Muscle carnosine
levels have been determined to be twice as high in com-
petitive bodybuilders as untrained individuals, possibly due
to changes associated with prolonged repetitive exposure to
low muscle pH, diet, or supplementation (30). The subjects
in our study would be classified as highly active with the
majority of their activity in anaerobic activities (strength
training), although none would be considered elite athletes.
Recently, Derave et al. (9) found that trained sprinters were
able to increase intramuscular carnosine 47% in the
and 37% in the gastrocnemius after 4 weeks of 2.4–4.8 g per
day of BA supplementation. Although an important limita-
tion of this study was our inability to measure carnosine
levels, the dosage and supplement periods used in our study
(6 g per day, 5 weeks) are equal to or in excess of previous
studies that have shown a significant increase in muscle
carnosine levels in both trained and untrained subjects.
Therefore, the lack of ergogenic benefits observed in the
present study is not likely attributed to an inappropriate
BA supplementation protocol.
An increase in carnosine levels and muscle buffer capacity
from BA would likely increase the ability to withstand and
maintain performance during high-intensity activity where
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fast glycolysis is an important energy system. An increased
reliance on fast glycolysis means a greater concentration of
H+ ions and drop in pH. In the present study, we did not
measure blood or muscle pH. However, sprint-type activity is
known to recruit high-threshold motor units during high
force production in muscles required in sprinting (25). The
fast-twitch fibers that make up the high-threshold motor
units are characterized by greater intramuscular acidosis
during their activation than slow-twitch fibers (32). There-
fore, during repeated all-out sprint exercise, the involvement
of fast glycolysis in fast-twitch fibers, as evidenced in our
study by moderately high blood lactate levels, indicates
a likelihood that the muscle is in a state of acidosis during
this repeat sprint protocol. As the pH of the muscle drops,
power output may be impaired due to muscular fatigue (9).
It is known that the fatiguing effects attributed to a
decreasing pH during intense exercise include inhibition of
rate-limiting enzymes involved with fast glycolysis
(phosphofructokinase and phosphorylase), decreased release
of Ca++ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and a decrease in
cross-bridge inter- actions in the muscle (22,26), leading to
a drop in HP.
The presumed increase in muscle carnosine levels asso-
ciated with BA supplementation used in this study should
have increased the ability to buffer H+ ions and maintain
muscle pH and sprint performance. However, it is possible
that the H+ produced may have exceeded the capacity of
carnosine to be an effective intramuscular buffer because
estimated that during intense exercise, muscle pH will drop
from 7.2 at rest to 6.5 or lower at fatigue (16). However, the
suggestion of exceeding the capacity of carnosine may be
somewhat controversial because there is disagreement to
the extent of the buffering capacity of carnosine. According
to Mannion et al. (23) carnosine may be of little importance
to pH maintenance by only contributing approximately
7% to the total muscle buffer capacity. However, findings by
Davey (7) suggest that carnosine can contribute as much as
40% to buffering capacity when the physiological pH is
between 6.5 and 7.5.
Although previous research has shown an improvement in
performance after BA supplementation (9,17,18,29), it might
be concluded from those studies that the ergogenic benefit
may be more related to the dominant energy system used
during the performance and as a result depend on the
duration of the maximal effort. For example, Hill et al. (18)
demonstrated a 16% increase in total work performed at
110% of maximum cycling power to exhaustion
(;150 seconds) after BA supplementation for 4 weeks. In
addition, Derave et al. (9) demonstrated that BA improved
perfor- mance of intermittent exercise bouts of isokinetic leg
exten- sions (5 bouts of 30 maximal repetitions with 1-
minute rest between bouts) where each bout lasted
approximately
45 seconds. The ergogenic benefits however were not
noticed until the last 2 sets of the intermittent protocol.
Stout et al. (29) demonstrated an increase in neuromuscular
fatigue threshold using an incremental cycling challenge that
th e TM
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used four to five 2-minute stages after BA supplementation of
1.6 g per day for 28 days. Although many previous studies
support the use of BA supplementation as a performance-
enhancing ergogenic aid for some types of anaerobic exer-
cise, this is the first study to investigate the effects of BA
supplementation on repeat sprint exercise performance.
Our findings of the inability of BA supplementation to
maintain HP during repeat sprint exercise in the present
study are consistent with other studies using all-out efforts
for less than 1 minute (9,19). For example, Hoffman et al.
(19) found no additional benefit of supplementing with BA
along with creatine compared with creatine alone when
performing two 30-second Wingate tests separated by 3
minutes of active recovery. In the same study (19), the
supplementation of BA did not improve the maintenance of
jumping power during a 20 consecutive jump test. In
addition, after 4 weeks of 4.8 g per day of BA (which
significantly increased intramuscular carnosine), Derave et al.
(9) found no change in performance time (average ;52
seconds) in a single 400-m sprint in trained sprinters.
These findings, along with the results of our study, suggest
that factors other than changes in pH may be more
important than the accumulation of H+ ions for producing
fatigue during repeated brief sprints with short recovery
periods. During a single bout (6 seconds) of high-intensity
exercise, use of PCr and fast glycolysis each account for
approximately half of the total energy needed; however,
during repeated sprints, a greater depletion of PCr is
observed than during a single maximal effort (9). The rate
of PCr resynthesis is influenced by the metabolic
environment of the muscle, H+ ion concentrations of the
muscle and blood, and ATP concentration within the
muscle (27). It has been demon- strated that short recovery
periods (30–180 seconds) may not provide adequate time to
restore PCr values to resting levels, thus leading to an
increased need for additional energy from fast glycolysis
(2,9). Indeed, Bogdanis et al. (6) reported that the halftime
for PCr resynthesis was 57 seconds, considerably longer than
the recovery period (45 seconds) used in the present
study. The incomplete resynthesis of PCr may explain the
relatively high levels of blood lactate observed in our study
but also suggest that changes in pH may not be the sole
explanation for muscle fatigue during our sprint protocol.
The availability of PCr may be the limiting factor in multiple
sprint performance (4,5,9). During repeated sprints, PCr may
only be partially restored if the recovery bouts are less
than 1–2 minutes long and may take more than 6 minutes to
fully recover (4,9). It is likely that the 45-second recovery
periods used in our study did not allow for sufficient PCr
resynthesis to maintain a considerable contribution to power
output beyond the first couple of sprints. Therefore, BA
supplementation may not have a large effect on repeated
sprint performance because the lack of PCr resynthesis may
have a greater effect on fatigue and decrease in performance
than the accumulation of H+. In support of this notion,
Bishop et al. (3) found that the physiochemical buffering
VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 1 | JANUARY 2010 | 85
Effect of b-Alanine Supplementation on Power Performance
in the muscle during a 5 3 6-second sprint protocol with
24-second recovery had no relationship to repeated sprint
ability. They suggest that the contribution from the
metabolic reactions that consume H+, the sarcolemmal
lactate/H+, and Na+/H+ exchange mechanisms;
capillarization; muscle blood flow; and changes in the
intracellular strong ion differ- ence may be a greater
influence than the physiochemical buffering in the muscle.
They also suggest that the individuals with the best repeated
sprint ability are likely the ones who produce fewer H+,
especially in the first few sprints (3).
In conclusion, it was determined that BA supplementation
does not have an ergogenic effect on repeated brief sprints.
The lack of PCr resynthesis associated with short recovery
periods may more likely explain the limiting factors for
performance.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
The ability to produce and maintain bouts of high-power
output during periods of multiple sprint work is important to
many field-based sports. Previous research using repeat high-
intensity sprint performance has attributed fatigue to the
availability and resynthesis of PCr. Phosphocreatine
depletion may be a greater cause of fatigue in this protocol than
acidosis, and as a result, any effects of BA were not
noticeable. Although this area requires more investigation,
the results of this study suggest that sports such as football,
soccer, lacrosse, and others with repeated sprint efforts
should probably not rely on BA supplementation for
performance enhancement.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the University of Wisconsin–
La Crosse Graduate Research Grant Program for assisting
with funding for this project. The authors would also like to
acknowledge Athletes Edge Nutrition, Miami, FL, for their
help in providing supplementation. The results of the
present study do not constitute endorsement of the product
by the authors or the National Strength and Conditioning
Association.
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