What does it do?
As discussed, ?²-alanine will convert to carnosine in skeletal muscle. Carnosine is a muscle buffer that will assist in tolerating a high amount of lactic acid in the muscle, thereby delaying fatigue. Lactic acid concentrations reflect the intensity of anaerobic (without the use of oxygen) exercise, and its accumulation within muscle will generally signal the beginning of fatigue. The conversion of ?²-alanine to carnosine will enhance the quality of a workout by buffering the accumulation of lactic acid and help you maintain exercise intensity. It will take approximately two weeks of supplementation (4 - 6g per day) to elevate muscle carnosine concentrations. Muscle carnosine concentrations will continue to increase as you continue using this supplement and will reach peak levels after about four weeks of use. This supplement is not expected to improve acute athletic performance, rather significant performance improvements will begin to be seen within two weeks of supplementation and often many athletes will not see results until four weeks of supplementation have elapsed (7, 8).
Research
Investigations on the ergogenic benefit of ?²-alanine supplementation have consistently reported positive results in both recreational and competitive athletes (1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13). Hoffman et al. examined the effect of two weeks of supplementation (4.5 g/day-1) prior to the onset of training camp in college football players (7). The performance testing which occurred following two weeks of supplementation revealed no ergogenic effect in sprint times or fatigue rates during performance of repeated line drills (an approximate 30 - 35sec shuttle run performed three times with 2-minute rest periods between each sprint). In addition, no significant differences were observed in peak power, mean power and total work in a 60-second Wingate anaerobic power test. However, a trend (p = 0.07) toward a reduced rate of fatigue was found in the football players consuming the supplement versus the placebo. As supplementation continued through training camp (a total of four weeks of supplementation), examination of the resistance training logs (performed during training camp) indicated a trend (p = 0.09) toward a higher (9.2 %) volume of training was seen (both bench press and squat combined) for the athletes supplementing with ?²-alanine compared to the placebo. In addition, subjective feelings of fatigue during camp were significantly lower in athletes using the supplement compared to the placebo.
A trend toward an improved fatigue rate in a 60-second maximal intensity bout of exercise provides support that ?²-alanine supplementation has an improved buffering capacity during prolonged bouts high-intensity exercise. Interestingly, Derave et al. reported that four weeks of ?²-alanine supplementation in 400m sprinters could delay fatigue in repeated isokinetic bouts (5 sets) of exercise, but not improve 400m race time (1). It appears that prolonged high-intensity exercise bouts (~60 seconds) benefit the most from improved buffering capacities brought about by increases in muscle carnosine concentrations. However, high-intensity exercise performed immediately following a prolonged bout of endurance exercise may also benefit from ?²-alanine supplementation. A recent study demonstrated that trained cyclists supplementing for eight weeks could improve their 30-second sprint performance following a 110-minute time trial (13).
Four weeks of ?²-alanine ingestion (4.8g per day) in experienced, resistance-trained athletes has been shown to increase the total number of repetitions performed in the squat exercise per workout (9.0 ?± 4.1 and 0.3 ?± 7.8, in the supplement and placebo groups, respectively) (8). In addition, a significant difference between the groups was also seen in ?? mean power. The greater volume of training did not correspond to any significant improvement in ?? squat strength (post - pre strength levels) following four weeks of supplementation between subjects supplementing with ?²-alanine (5.9 ?± 4.3kg) versus the placebo (3.9 ?± 4.1kg). The lack of significant strength improvement is consistent with other studies that have failed to show significant improvements in strength following ?²-alanine supplement durations lasting between 4 - 10 weeks (9, 10).
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