Effects of Six Weeks of B-alanine Administration on VO2 max, Time to Exhaustion and Lactate Concentrations in Physical Education Students

Objectives: supplementation with b-alanine has been proposedto improve performance in some exercises such as cycling andrunning. also, it has been demonstrated that great deals ofproton ions are produced in the skeletal muscles during exercisethat result in acidosis, whereas b-alanine may reduce this effect.therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the effects of alaninesupplementation on vo2 max, time to exhaustion and lactateconcentrations in physical education male students.methods: thirty-nine male physical education studentsvolunteered for this study. participants were supplemented orallyfor 6 week with either b-alanine (5*400 mg/d) or placebo (5*400 mgdextrose/d), randomly. vo2 max and time to exhaustion (tte) witha continuous graded exercise test (gxt) on an electronically brakedcycle ergometer; and serum lactate and glucose concentrationswere measured before and after supplementation.results: supplementation with b-alanine showed a significantincrease in vo2 max (p < 0.05) and a significant decrease in tteand lactate concentrations (p < 0.05). a significant elevation inlactate concentrations and a non significant increase in tte wereobserved in placebo group. plasma glucose concentrations did notchange significantly in two groups after intervention.conclusion: it can be concluded that b-alanine supplementationcan reduce lactate concentrations during exercise and thus canimprove exercise performance in endurance athletes.