The effects of ß-alanine on body composition and performance measures in collegiate females

Background ß-alanine has ergogenic potential based on its relationship with carnosine. Carnosine is rapidly degraded into ß-alanine and histidine as soon as it enters the blood. So there is no advantage to using direct carnosine supplementation. Previous studies have demonstrated that taking ß-alanine orally is effective at increasing intramuscular carnosine levels. The resistance training athlete may experience a higher training volume. This proposed benefit would increase work capacity and decrease time to fatigue. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate recreationally active collegiate females, following an 8 week strength training program while consuming either ß-alanine (BA) or placebo (PL) for body composition and performance changes.