Beta Alanine

nobel252

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Does this stuff work. Should it be cycled. Does it cause insomnia. How many grams a day.
 
ambulldog

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yes, everything should be, not that im aware of, i use 3.2, it does cause some tingling in some people
 
BigBlackGuy

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Beta-alanine from Primordial

What is Beta-Alanine?

Beta Alanine is a naturally occurring Amino Acid in the human body that has been clinically proven to increase exercise performance and muscular endurance. Beta Alanine is a nearly tasteless powder that easily dissolves and mixes in water. At the maximum recommended dose, a bottle of Beta Alanine will last 31 days.

Beta Alanine allows the muscles to work longer and harder. This can lead to increased performance and improved body composition by allowing muscles to work at a higher volume, if you push them too.

How exactly does Beta-Alanine work?

If you are familiar with intense exercise, then you are familiar with the “burn” that accompanies the final reps of any given exercise. This feeling is from the increased muscular acidity from the burning of ATP and glucose for energy. (2) As the muscles become more acidic they lose their ability to contract, they seize up, and the exercise comes to a halt.

Beta-Alanine works by allowing the muscles to work harder and longer. Scientifically speaking, Beta-Alanine improves the intramyocellular buffer capacity by neutralizing the muscular acidity from lactic acid and hydrogen ions (H+) built up during intense exercise.

Research has established that Beta-Alanine works best at enhancing explosive “fast twitch” exercise performance during high intensity training, so be ready to push the envelope if you want to see the benefits of Beta-Alanine. (1-3) If your exercise program is lacking, or if you train like a wimp, then Beta-Alanine won’t help you.

How does Beta-Alanine buffer lactic acid? Is this safe?

Beta Alanine is known to increase carnosine concentrations in muscle tissue, and carnosine is known to act as a natural proton buffer in muscle tissue -- thus preventing intramyocellular acidosis. (1-3) Beta Alanine supplementation also appears to be the most efficient way to boost carnosine levels in muscle. In fact, oral supplementation of beta-alanine at 3.2 to 6.4gm/day has been shown increase carnosine concentration in human muscle tissue by 60-80%. (9,10)

There is evidence that persistent and long-term exposure to exercise may naturally increase carnosine concentrations in muscle, thus explaining why professional bodybuilders and elite level athletes maintain higher carnosine concentrations. (1) Therefore, increasing carnosine concentration in muscle tissue could be considered part of a natural adaptation or augmentation to resistance exercise.

How much can Beta-Alanine improve my performance?

Here is a brief review of several human studies on beta alanine -

In 2008, researchers examined 30 days of beta alanine supplementation (4.8 gm per day) on resistance exercise performance in eight resistance-trained men. (4) Their resistance exercise protocol consisted of 6 sets of 12 repetitions of the squat exercise at 70% of their one-repetition maximum (1-RM) with 1.5 minutes of rest between each set.

After 4 weeks, the beta-alanine group was able to perform 22% more total repetitions.

In another study, beta-alanine was given to trained sprinters for 4 weeks (2.4-3.6 gm per day). (12) In the beta-alanine group, knee extension power was significantly increased in each of the five bouts of 30 maximal contractions, whereas, in the placebo group, only the first two bouts were improved.

In a study performed on elderly individuals aging from 55-92 years, beta-alanine was supplemented at 2.4 gm per day. (13) After 90 days, physical working capacity was increased an astounding 28.6% in the beta-alanine group, while no change was found in the placebo group.

How does Beta-Alanine make Creatine & BCAA’s work better?

Yes, it appears that beta-alanine can enhance creatine’s ability to reduce body fat and build muscle in combination with resistance training. (7) Essentially, beta-alanine makes creatine work better.

This synergy was discovered by researchers in 2006, when 33 male subjects were randomly assigned to either a placebo, creatine, or creatine + beta-alanine group. After 10 weeks of weight training, the placebo group improved an average of 10lbs on bench press and squat strength, whereas both creatine and creatine + beta-alanine groups improved their average bench press by 25lbs and their squat strength by 55lbs. However, only the creatine + beta-alanine group had improvement in body composition [simultaneous muscle growth and fat reduction].

When beta-alanine was combined with BCAA’s it was found to reduce post workout muscle soreness from exercise, thus suggesting that beta-alanine and BCAA’s have synergistic effects on enhancing muscle recovery.(8) Making them best rated post workout supplements.

Note: Until further research is done, it’s unclear whether or not beta-alanine and creatine have synergistic effects on increasing muscular endurance when used together(5-6).

Does Beta-Alanine have any side effects?

Beta-alanine has been shown to be safe and effective for long-term use when used at the recommended dose. (3-8)

In some individuals, beta-alanine may cause a harmless “niacin-like” skin flush where the skin may become tingly and/or red for 15-20 minutes after consumption. (11) This symptom can be eliminated by spreading out each serving throughout the day, and/or consuming a serving of beta-alanine over a 60-90 minute period.
 
Mrodz

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Carnobolic is a beta-alanine alternative, especially for those people who are heavily bothered by the paresthesia sometimes caused. It is a harmless sensation but with some people it can be enough to be thrown off their "game" by it.

It's an L-carnosine supp
here's the write up on it and if you would like to try it out it's on nutraplanet at a very good price
http://www.athleticxtreme.com/arsenal/carnobolic/
 
sking6464

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i like beta alanine tingles, i feel like im coming down from a meth binge

of all the BA stuff iv tried, the powder from primordial is the strongest, 3.2 before the gym, n im fkn crawling
 
MidwestBeast

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i like beta alanine tingles, i feel like im coming down from a meth binge
Mmmmmm cold medicine and under the sink cleaners :D

Haha.

But yeah, I enjoy the tingles, too ;)

I find cycling keeps those tingles coming back strong, but it doesn't seem to have to be monitored as closely as stimulants for me when going on/off to keep them effective.
 
T-AD

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Tingles come and tingles go. They're just something that you get used to over time. Using a BA supp to increase endurance really is a good idea. For someone like me who doesn't respond to creatine, it's a good alternative. Where it generally lacks is in bioavailability. BA has to convert in order to be used by the body, and a good bit of it is lost in the process. As Mrodz mentioned above, a pure carnosine supplement is ideal because it doesn't need to go through much of anything to be used. Aside from the "no tingles" aspect of it, it's purely a step closer to being useful, and you are able to make much more use of a carnosine supplement than a BA one.
 
nattydisaster

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1.5g twice daily for me...the tingles make me agitated lol I find at 1.5g twice daily the tingles are much less than 3g all at once

I agree it should be cycled, but I think it should be taken every day when you are using it, not just WO days
 
BigBlackGuy

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1.5g twice daily for me...the tingles make me agitated lol I find at 1.5g twice daily the tingles are much less than 3g all at once

I agree it should be cycled, but I think it should be taken every day when you are using it, not just WO days
What's the reasoning behind that? Just curious, I've only taken beta-alanine from what is mixed in pre-workouts (so not on non-workout days).
 
Mrodz

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Well jumping in here

I've read that there is a sort of loading phase for BA that takes up to 3-4 weeks and afterwards doses can be halved, but the way I understand it is that if u only take it pre-workout your still haveing a good effect on the muscles but it's not what would be considered "maximum absorption" when u take it everyday. I think the norm is like half serving off days and full serving pre-workout. Some people supp it twice a day even
It's done to raise intramuscular carnosine levels.
anybody correct me if I'm wrong
specially since the question wasn't for me :)
 
bikeswimlive

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i like beta alanine tingles, i feel like im coming down from a meth binge

of all the BA stuff iv tried, the powder from primordial is the strongest, 3.2 before the gym, n im fkn crawling
Primordial's as well as Primaforce's BA really got me crawling. It has a good synergy with creatine as well.
 
Flaw

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I think we have a lot to yet learn about beta-alanine. I feel the effects immediately and I question the "loading" phase. What I don't like is the tingles and I don't just recieve them immediately after. Sometimes I'll get them up to 45 minutes after taking BA. Like they will kick in in the middle of my workout. I definetely notice a effect in my endurance in as little as 2 grams 1x a day. For myself I haven't noticed a difference dosing higher then that. I take 2 grams 1x a day pre-workout.
 
Eizbear

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I think we have a lot to yet learn about beta-alanine. I feel the effects immediately and I question the "loading" phase. What I don't like is the tingles and I don't just recieve them immediately after. Sometimes I'll get them up to 45 minutes after taking BA. Like they will kick in in the middle of my workout. I definetely notice a effect in my endurance in as little as 2 grams 1x a day. For myself I haven't noticed a difference dosing higher then that. I take 2 grams 1x a day pre-workout.
Have you taken only Beta-Alanine to make that assumption? That you feel the effect immediately that is..
 
nattydisaster

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Ive taken BA alone and you feel the tingles after 1 dose

I believe BA does offer good effects when taken pre WO only, but i believe when it is used daily is what maximum benefits are achieved
 
Flaw

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Have you taken only Beta-Alanine to make that assumption? That you feel the effect immediately that is..
Yes, bulk and caps I feel it immediately. If I combine BA with other amino's though the effect can vary.
 
AntonG42O

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first 4 weeks you should load: 1.6g four times a day

after 4 weeks: 1.6g twice a day

extremely effective especially if you play sports/fight
 

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