Beta-alanine for high-intensity athletes
How to improve endurance, buffer fatigue, and boost performance
Among the vast array of supplements marketed for athletic performance, beta-alanine has emerged as a popular choice across both recreational and competitive high-intensity athletes. You can find it featured in pre-workout blends, endurance-focused stacks, and standalone powders, and its appeal lies in the science-backed mechanism to increase time to exhaustion, as well as the relatively low side effect profile. Despite its growing popularity, questions still remain: Which athlete truly benefits? How effective is it under real-world conditions? And what should practitioners consider when recommending it to clients?
How it works
Beta-alanine is a non-proteogenic amino acid, meaning it is not incorporated into a complete protein, and plays a critical role in exercise physiology. Naturally synthesized in the liver and found in foods like poultry and meat, its primary function lies in serving as a precursor to carnosine, a dipeptide that buffers hydrogen ions (H+) in muscle cells during exercise. By increasing intramuscular carnosine concentration, beta-alanine helps athletes delay fatigue and sustain high-intensity efforts, making it a compelling ergogenic aid. By increasing intramuscular carnosine concentration, beta-alanine helps athletes delay fatigue and sustain high-intensity efforts, making it a compelling ergogenic aid.
During short bursts of high-intensity activity, the body relies heavily on anaerobic glycolysis to rapidly produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This process leads to a buildup of hydrogen ions, contributing to a decrease in muscle pH, commonly referred to as muscle acidosis. This acidic environment disrupts key processes involved in energy production and muscle contraction. It inhibits key enzymes and phosphocreatine resynthesis, ultimately impairing muscular force and shortening the time to fatigue. Elevated H+ levels are also associated with the ‘burning’ sensation that limits an athlete’s willingness or ability to sustain effort. Carnosine, synthesized from beta-alanine and histidine, helps buffer these hydrogen ions, thereby stabilizing pH within muscle tissue and preserving efficient muscle contraction function.
Through consistent supplementation, typically ranging from 3.2 to 6.4 grams per day, muscle carnosine levels can increase significantly, often by 40% to 80%, depending on the protocol and individual response. This buffering capacity translates to improved performance in high-intensity efforts lasting approximately 30 seconds to 10 minutes, a window in which hydrogen ion accumulation is most physiologically limiting.
Performance benefits
Beta-alanine’s ergogenic benefits have been consistently demonstrated in activities where acidosis is a limiting factor. For instance, supplementation has been shown to improve time to exhaustion (TTE), anaerobic power output, and total work performed across a range of sports and protocols. In competitive runners, a 6.5% increase in TTE was observed after 28 days of beta-alanine use, with only minimal gains seen in the placebo group (Marko et al., 2025). Similarly, elite cyclists completing a 7-day high-dose regimen improved their uphill time trial performance without adverse effects, underscoring its potential in both anaerobic and mixed-mode sports.
A recent meta-analysis found the most significant improvements in exercising lasting 4-10 minutes, where beta-alanine enhanced both maximal effort capacity and time-to-completion outcomes. These effects were consistent even at relatively short supplementation periods, provided dosing was maintained daily.
Limitations and safety
While beta-alanine is effective in buffering hydrogen ions during intense activity, its benefits are more limited in prolonged aerobic efforts or efforts lasting less than 30 seconds. Notably, research has shown minimal to no improvement in VO2max or longer-duration endurance tasks. Likewise, its impact on body composition remains unclear. Despite some isolated studies reporting gains in lean mass when combined with high-intensity training, the broader body of evidence does not support consistent changes in fat mass or overall body weight.
The most common side effect is paresthesia, a temporary tingling sensation typically felt in the face, arms, and torso. This is dose-dependent and can be minimized by using divided doses or sustained-release formulations. No serious health risks have been reported in healthy populations when dosing protocols are followed.
Practical applications for athletes and coaches
For athletic or performance-focused clients, beta-alanine offers a well-tolerated and evidence-backed way to enhance performance in high-intensity efforts. It is particularly well-suited for clients engaging in sports that involve sprinting, repeated intervals, or power endurance efforts, such as track athletes, CrossFit competitors, rowers, and cyclists. However, because benefits hinge on increased muscle carnosine levels over time, beta-alanine must be taken daily, not just pre-workout.
For general health clients or those focused on fat loss or long-distance endurance, beta-alanine may not offer significant benefit and is not worth the investment. However, for serious recreational or competitive athletes, it can extend time to fatigue, improve training quality, and help push performance ceilings, especially when paired with a well-structured program.
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References
Antonio, J., Pereira, F., Curtis, J., Rojas, J., & Evans, C. (2024). The Top 5 Can't-Miss Sport Supplements. Nutrients, 16(19), 3247. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16193247
Georgiou, G. D., Antoniou, K., Antoniou, S., Michelekaki, E. A., Zare, R., Ali Redha, A., Prokopidis, K., Christodoulides, E., & Clifford, T. (2024). Effect of Beta-Alanine Supplementation on Maximal Intensity Exercise in Trained Young Male Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 34(6), 397–412. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2024-0027
Marko, D., Snarr, R. L., Bahenský, P., Bunc, V., Krajcigr, M., & Malý, T. (2025). Beta-alanine supplementation improves time to exhaustion, but not aerobic capacity, in competitive middle- and long-distance runners. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2025.2521336
Pérez-Piñero, S., Ramos-Campo, D. J., López-Román, F. J., Ortolano, R., Torregrosa-García, A., Luque-Rubia, A. J., Ibáñez-Soroa, N., Andreu-Caravaca, L., & Ávila-Gandía, V. (2024). Effect of high-dose β-Alanine supplementation on uphill cycling performance in World Tour cyclists: A randomised controlled trial. PloS one, 19(9), e0309404. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309404
The combination of beta-alanine and creatine is highly beneficial for mixed-sport athletes. This is because these athletes, such as middle-distance runners, rowers, and those in team sports, need to excel in both endurance and short, powerful bursts of activity.
The magic of combining these two supplements lies in their synergistic effect. They tackle different but equally important aspects of performance. Beta-alanine helps you endure the sustained effort, while creatine gives you the explosive power for those critical moments when speed and strength are needed most. For an athlete who has to run a sustained pace for a mile and then sprint to the finish, or a rower who needs consistent power for thousands of metres and then an explosive final push, this one-two punch is incredibly valuable. It is a comprehensive approach that supports both the aerobic and anaerobic demands of these dynamic sports.