BACKGROUND: ß-Alanine aids exercise performance by increasing intracellular carnosine content. Added carnosine should buffer more H
^{ +}
produced from exercise and evoke a higher blood lactate concentration([BLa
^{ - }
]) before a person succumbs to fatigue.
OBJECTIVE: With a within-subjects design, we compared the effects of placebo (maltodextrin) andß-alanine administrations on [BLa
^{-}
] and average power (AP) values derived from repetitive bouts of lower body supramaximal activity.
METHODS: Over separate 30-day periods, sedentary subjects (n=10) ingested placebo, followed by ß-alanine (3 g ˙ day
^{-1}
), capsules. After each period, subjects performed two four-set leg press workouts. [BLa
^{-}
] values were measured before, and zero-, five-, ten, 15- and 20-minutes post-exercise. [BLa
^{-}
] data underwent a 2 × 6 ANOVA, with repeated measures per independent variable. AP values were compared with a 2× 4 ANCOVA, with repeated measures per independent variable.
RESULTS: AP and [BLa
^{-}
] results each included a two-way interaction. ß-alanine elicited higher set two and four AP values versus the corresponding placebo values. [BLa
^{-}
] values at zero-minutes post-exercise were significantly higher from ß-alanine, versus the placebo, treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Greater AP and [BLa
^{ - }
] values fromß-alanine suggest exercise likely was able to proceed to a greater extent without increasing intracellular acidosis due to a heightened buffer capacity.
