Next to caffeine and creatine, beta alanine is one of the most popular ingredients found in nearly all pre-workout supplements.

The effects of Beta Alanine can be felt almost instantly, a whole-body tingling sensation that can sometimes have you itching and rubbing away at parts of your body, particularly the face. Some people love it! Others hate it!

But this is what Beta-alanine is so widely known for.

In this blog we'll talk about the benefits, protocols and side effects.

Protocol

Source: https://www.ais.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/1001385/Beta-alanine-InfographicFINAL.pdf

Benefits

During high intensity exercise, acidic by-products build up in our muscle and blood. This causes fatigue and decreases our performance and can be described as a burning sensation in your muscles, like the feeling you get in your leg muscles after doing a wall sit for as long as you can.

Loading up our muscles with beta alanine can help clear this acidity from our muscles, delay fatigue and allow us to exercise for longer.

It can also help mentally dial in for a workout. When you feel the tingles, you feel like something is happening, your pre-workout has kicked in and you know it’s time to smash it!

Side-Effects

The tingling sensation you get after a dose of beta alanine is called paraesthesia. The intensity of this feeling depends on how much you take at one time. An 800-1200mg dose of beta alanine is considered a small dose and might not cause a lot of tingling. Anything over 3000 is considered a big dose and might be too uncomfortable for some to bear. Sensitive individuals may get some skin rashes. Try different doses to see what you can tolerate.

Other things you could try if you’re sensitive to beta alanine induced paraesthesia are sustained release beta alanine products such as our Thorne Beta Alanine-SR. You could also use a product like ATP’s Beta Alanine and split your dosage over the course of a day as shown in the loading protocol above.

Credit: Walid Abdo