The Study
Effects of Acute Beta-Alanine Supplementation on Anaerobic Performance in Trained Female Cyclists.
This study gave some athletes a supplement and saw if they felt less tired during biking sprints. It found they felt less tired, but didn’t bike any faster. So we can say the supplement might make you feel like you’re working less hard — but not that it makes you stronger or faster.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave female cyclists a small pill before they pedaled as hard as they could three times in a row. The pill didn’t make them pedal faster or stronger, but they said it felt easier.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 548 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though they felt less tired, they couldn’t pedal harder or longer — so the feeling didn’t help their actual performance in this test.
- 2After two sprints, cyclists felt less tired (RPE dropped) with beta-alanine, but their power, heart rate, and lactate levels were the same as with placebo.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of nutritional science and vitaminology
Year
2015
Authors
J. Glenn, Keyona Smith, N. Moyen, A. Binns, M. Gray
Related Content
Claims (6)
Taking beta-alanine supplements does not change anaerobic performance in female athletes.
Taking 1.6 grams of beta-alanine before intense cycling sprints does not change power output or fatigue during the sprints, but it lowers how hard the cyclists feel they are working after the first two sprints.
In trained female cyclists, a short-term dose of beta-alanine reduces the feeling of effort during lab tests but does not lead to faster race times because lab conditions prevent natural pacing strategies.
Taking 1.6 grams of beta-alanine before high-intensity cycling reduces how hard the exercise feels during and after short bursts of maximum effort, even though physical measures like power, heart rate, and lactate levels stay the same.
In trained female cyclists, taking beta-alanine shortly before exercise reduces the feeling of effort without changing lactate levels, heart rate, or power output.
In trained female cyclists, a single dose of beta-alanine lowers the feeling of effort during exercise even when no measurable changes occur in muscle chemistry or metabolism.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.