Muscle Carnosine as a Determinant of Rowing Performance

Chemical structure of
beta alanine (HMDB v2.5)

It is no news to SuppVersity students that beta-alanine supplementation has been found to elevate exercise performance. Thus it is not the result that supplementation of 5g beta-alanine per day increased muscle carnosine content and exercise performance vs. placebo, but rather the inclusion of pre-supplementation values and respective rowing performance in the analysis, which is of interest in a recent study by Baguet et.al. (Baguet. 2010).

Even before intervention muscle carnosine levels and exercise performance were correlated, so that the scientists conclude:

the positive correlation between baseline muscle carnosine levels and rowing performance and the positive correlation between changes in muscle carnosine and performance improvement suggest that muscle carnosine is a new determinant of rowing performance.

In view of the recently reported antagonism of beta-alanine and taurine and the importance of the latter for cardiovascular and metabolic health, over-consumption of beta-alanine is yet to be avoided. Unfortunately, a study investigating the optimal ratio of beta-alanine vs. taurine supplementation in athletes are yet lacking.