Beta Alanine can help you buffer that lactic acid that accumulates during high intensity exercise.
Beta Alanine can help you buffer that lactic acid that accumulates during high intensity exercise.
For the fighters out there, think back to the first time you rolled against a resisting opponent or the first time you did rather intense padwork. If you’re like most people, you were probably gasping for air only a minute into the session. I remember my first submission grappling class. I got a strange/unfamiliar feeling in the change room after the workout (wait, that sounded bad didn’t it?). Anyway, I packed up my gear, finished changing and headed out to my car. I got about 2 blocks from the gym when it hit me. I pulled the car into a nearby gas station, stepped out, went behind the dumpster in the back and just started throwing up.

What caused this reaction was an accumulation of lactic acid from my workout. Lactic acid is a bi-product of anaerobic metabolism that among other things, weakens the contractile strength of the muscles. For in-depth information on lactic acid and energy systems, click here.

Beta Alanine

How Beta Alanine Supplementation Benefits Fighters

It looks as though beta alanine has the potential to become the next big breakthrough supplement and in an industry where supplements constantly come and go – product longevity really means a lot.
The benefits of beta alanine are not from the beta alanine itself. Rather, the beneficial occurrences are from a dipeptide known as carnosine. Carnosine is formed through the combination of beta alanine and histidine (another amino acid).

Carnosine has been shown to effectively buffer lactic acid accumulation (discussed above), allowing you to train at a higher intensity for a longer period of time before fatigue sets in. Fighting, as we all know, is a high intensity sport so prolonging the inevitable rise in pH levels through beta alanine supplementation are fairly obvious.

The elevated levels of carnosine, triggered through beta alanine supplementation, have also been shown to enhance the maximum contractile speed of your muscle fibers. Faster and more efficient muscle contractions – sounds good doesn’t it?

If all this wasn’t enough, beta alanine supplementation may also lead to enhanced neural recovery between training sessions. It’s long been thought that the nervous system takes longer to fully recovery from intense workouts than your muscles do. This delayed neural recovery can be quite a hindrance as your muscles may be ready for the next training session but your nervous system isn’t.

It is speculated that the elevated carnosine levels, triggered through beta alanine supplementation, protect the nerve cells against oxidative damage. In other words, supplementing with beta alanine may help your nervous system to recover at the same rate as your muscles, in turn, allowing you to train more often.

You know what? I just convinced myself. Here I am writing an article on beta alanine supplementation without having tried it. Well, the research all seems pretty solid so I will personally test it out and post my results/experience.

Get Beta Alanine Here!

References

  • Avena RM, Bowen WJ. Effects of carnosine and anserine on muscle adenosine triphosphatases. J Biol Chem. 1969 Mar 25;244(6):1600-4. 66% increase in activity
  • Yun J, Parker CJ Jr. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1965 Oct 25;110(1):212-4. The effect of carnosine on myofibrillar ATPase activity. 60% increase in activity
  • David Barr, 2008. Beta Alanine for combat athletes. Raisethebarr.com
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4 COMMENTS

  2. […] motivating. On another note, I should mention that before going to Sityodtong, I popped a couple Beta-Alanine pills for the first time. I noticed a difference for sure. I still couldn’t complete all the […]

  3. what about the side effects of creatine. it basically puts water in your muscles and pumps them up. so why use it? it does have bad side effects. isn’t that why the FDA doesn’t sponsor it?

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