Mixed
Chronic β-alanine supplementation (3.2–6.4 g/day for 4+ weeks) significantly improves exercise capacity and performance, with the greatest benefit observed in high-intensity exercise lasting 1–10 minutes.
If you engage in high-intensity exercise lasting between 1 and 10 minutes (like rowing, swimming, or interval training), taking 3.2 to 6.4 grams of β-alanine daily for at least 4 weeks can improve your performance. The benefit is most pronounced in 'capacity' tests (going to exhaustion) rather than 'performance' tests (time trials with pacing). For very short sprints or long-distance aerobic events, this supplement is unlikely to help.
A significant overall effect size of 0.18 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.28) was shown. Meta-regression demonstrated that exercise duration significantly (p=0.004) moderated effect sizes... greater effect sizes for exercise capacity (0.4998 (95% CI 0.246 to 0.753)) versus performance (0.1078 (95% CI −0.201 to 0.416)).
Why this rating
Systematic review and meta-analysis of 40 studies with 1461 participants, using double-blinded, placebo-controlled designs.
Source
β-alanine supplementation to improve exercise capacity and performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Bryan Saunders et al. · British Journal of Sports Medicine · 2016
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