Do you feel the tingles? Beta-alanine is responsible for those (harmless) tingles you feel from many pre-workout formulas, including Ignite.
Beta-alanine has been shown over and over to increase muscular endurance as well as moderate to high intensity endurance like CrossFit, rowing and sprinting.
How's It Work?
Beta-alanine turns into the molecule carnosine after being ingested. Carnosine is stored in cells and acts as an acid buffer by being released in response to a drop in muscular pH.
Basically, it decreases cellular acidity from intense exercise.
Where's The Proof?
This meta analysis comprising of 15 studies showed a 10.49% increase in muscular endurance in exercises ranging from 60-240s.
After 12 weeks, amateur soccer players increased their sprinting performance by over 20% compared the the placebo group. During the study, only 2 out of 8 of the placebo group showed improvements while 8 out of the 9 participants in the beta-alanine group improved.
16 boxers were given beta-alanine daily for 10 weeks and found punching force was 20x higher and punch frequency was 4x higher than the placebo group at the end of 3min punching bag rounds.
How Do I Take It?
Like creatine, you can not take beta-alanine and expect an instant performance boost (although there is some stimulatory benefit taking it pre-workout, which is why it is found in Ignite). It takes time for the carnosine created by the beta-alanine to increase in your muscles.
The good thing is the benefits are lasting and stick around even if you are not able to take beta-alanine for some time. Carnosine has a clearance rate of only 2% every 2 weeks. So the longer you take beta-alanine, the more carnosine you build up and the longer you will benefit from it.
Original article - https://xwerks.com/blogs/xwerks/beta-alanine-performance-enhancing-tingles