Creatine and ß-alanine are staples of the supplement world and are most commonly stacked together in pre-workout formulas.
Extensive research has shown their individual mechanisms of action and applications. However, very little research has been conducted examining the potential synergistic effects of combining these two powerhouses.
Today, The Research Desk takes a deeper look into the potential synergistic effects and application of combining these two staple ingredients.
DOI: 10.3390/nu17132074
Vitality Takeaway
This review does a nice job of briefly summarizing what we already know:
- Creatine supplementation helps increase intramuscular creatine stores, resulting in increased ATP resynthesis during short, high-intensity work (measured in seconds).
- ß-alanine serves as a precursor to carnosine, a crucial compound in combating intramuscular acidosis. Chronic supplementation with ß-alanine increases carnosine levels, resulting in improved buffering capacity and enhanced short-term (≤4 minutes) performance.
When looking into the research, the authors determined that seven studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. For creatine, most of these studies used a standard loading phase protocol (~20 g/day or 0.3 g/kg/day, divided into multiple doses over 5–7 days), followed by a maintenance dose (~5–10 g/day) or a body mass-adjusted dose (e.g., 0.1 g/kg/day). For ß-alanine, doses ranged from β-Alanine dosing ranged from 3.2 g/day to 6.4 g/day and were typically divided into multiple daily doses to enhance tolerance and minimize paresthesia.
Co-supplementation showed consistent synergistic effects during repeated and sustained high-intensity exercises.
Though creatine and ß-alanine supplementation were found to improve maximal strength, power, and body composition, there was no further consistent benefit from their combination.
Interestingly, this review also notes the lack of consistent findings showing their benefit to aerobic performance measures (lactate and ventilatory thresholds, time to exhaustion, and VO2max), suggesting their limited support for oxidative metabolism.
While this review is one of the first to examine the comparative effects of these two ingredients in combination and individually, it is admittedly small, making it difficult to draw full conclusions about the research. Nevertheless, this paper helps to narrow the scope of the co-supplementation of these two ingredients.
Vitality Application
As research regarding the application of these two ingredients continues, their true potential can be fully realized. While creatine has been touted as a strength, top-end power, and body composition supplement, more and more research is suggesting that it also benefits cognitive performance. Research on ß-alanine, on the other hand, consistently shows that supplementation helps sustain and prolong power output over singular and repeated high-intensity bouts.
This review suggests that their combination can help increase power output and then sustain it for repeated bouts or an extended period of time, benefiting individuals engaged in activities requiring repeated and prolonged explosive movements.
Recommendations:
Supplement with at least 0.066 g of creatine per pound of body weight daily.
Supplement with 6.4 g of ß-alanine daily for 4 weeks. After, supplement with at least 1.6 g daily.
Explore the Vitality Encyclopedia to learn more about these topics.
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