Creatine & Beta Alanine

Here's a study abstract about the effects of creatine & beta alanine on human body composition. Basically it does have better short term effects on body composition than taking either a placebo or creatine alone.
I'll paste it below.

Quote :

Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Aug;16(4):430-46.
Effect of creatine and beta-alanine supplementation on performance and endocrine responses in strength/power athletes.

Hoffman J, Ratamess N, Kang J, Mangine G, Faigenbaum A, Stout J.

Dept. of Health and Exercise Science, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ 08628, USA.

The effects of creatine and creatine plus beta-alanine on strength, power, body composition, and endocrine changes were examined during a 10-wk resistance training program in collegiate football players. Thirty-three male subjects were randomly assigned to either a placebo (P), creatine (C), or creatine plus beta-alanine (CA) group. During each testing session subjects were assessed for strength (maximum bench press and squat), power (Wingate anaerobic power test, 20-jump test), and body composition. Resting blood samples were analyzed for total testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone, IGF-1, and sex hormone binding globulin. Changes in lean body mass and percent body fat were greater (P < 0.05) in CA compared to C or P. Significantly greater strength improvements were seen in CA and C compared to P. Resting testosterone concentrations were elevated in C, however, no other significant endocrine changes were noted. Results of this study demonstrate the efficacy of creatine and creatine plus beta-alanine on strength performance. Creatine plus beta-alanine supplementation appeared to have the greatest effect on lean tissue accruement and body fat composition.

How soon before my workout should I take creatine? Is it a good idea to take creatine before my workout? If I take creatine before my workout, is it more effective to do anaerobic first and then cardio or does it matter?

With beta alanine, I've heard a lot of different ideas about the amount you should have. Some people say that if you get that tingling itching feeling you've had too much, while others say that its meant to do that and it just means its working.
The serving size on my container says 2g, but at 59kg, I just take 1g as I find 2g to be distracting from my lifting because it makes me scratch and fidget. At 1g I only get mild sensations.
Apparently your body gets more used to it and you can tolerate more, has anyone found this? Should I be building up to a higher dose, say 1.5g? I think 2g might always be too much for someone my size.

Beta alanine seems to have an effect building lean body mass when added as a supplement to a training program ( least in the short term - I haven't seen any longer term studies).
Most studies seem to have females around the 1.5-2g mark as in this study, but some studies split there intake with one study going as high as 800mg 4 times a day (so 3.2g) for women (such as this study - the dosage is not given in the abstract, but I discovered the dosage talked about by the author of the study here - scoot down to "Effects of Beta-Alanine in Women" for dosage details).

Mild tingling, fidgeting etc are common effects of beta alanine intake. I've not really seen any research that points to either slowly building up, loading at the start of a cycle or just taking a set dose? I've seen all suggested by various manufacturers & online, but without any real research to back it up. Personally I think longer cycles rather than loading would be a better option as loading might cause adverse effects (I tend to prefer that with creatine as well). If you get bad effects at higher doses then I'd suggest sticking to the lower dose, just plan on a longer cycle (say 12 weeks on instead of 8 for example).

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For creatine you can take it 20-30 minutes before a workout. Realistically it will not effect the workout as creatine slowly accumulates in the muscle. As long as you are taking it regularly it can be AM/PM, pre/post workout whenever. Most people stick to pre-post workout as you are supposed to take it with a simple sugar if you are taking creatine monohydrate (I suggest red/purple grape juice as it also contains tons of antioxidants & good nutrients, not just sugar)...so taking it around your workout means the simple sugar will get burnt as fuel after it has aided the creatine get into the body (that can be before/after weights or endurance exercise).

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Yes it is more effective to do weights before cardio. If you do cardio first then your glycogen stores are going to be pretty low by the time you hit the weights, so you'll not have a good session, but you can still burn fat doing cardio after a weight session (I'd have BCAAs or leucine between your weights & the cardio session just to stop excessive muscle breakdown during the cardio).

Pete wrote:

Here's a study abstract about the effects of creatine & beta alanine on human body composition. Basically it does have better short term effects on body composition than taking either a placebo or creatine alone.
I'll paste it below.

Quote :

Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Aug;16(4):430-46.
Effect of creatine and beta-alanine supplementation on performance and endocrine responses in strength/power athletes.

Hoffman J, Ratamess N, Kang J, Mangine G, Faigenbaum A, Stout J.

Dept. of Health and Exercise Science, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ 08628, USA.

The effects of creatine and creatine plus beta-alanine on strength, power, body composition, and endocrine changes were examined during a 10-wk resistance training program in collegiate football players. Thirty-three male subjects were randomly assigned to either a placebo (P), creatine (C), or creatine plus beta-alanine (CA) group. During each testing session subjects were assessed for strength (maximum bench press and squat), power (Wingate anaerobic power test, 20-jump test), and body composition. Resting blood samples were analyzed for total testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone, IGF-1, and sex hormone binding globulin. Changes in lean body mass and percent body fat were greater (P < 0.05) in CA compared to C or P. Significantly greater strength improvements were seen in CA and C compared to P. Resting testosterone concentrations were elevated in C, however, no other significant endocrine changes were noted. Results of this study demonstrate the efficacy of creatine and creatine plus beta-alanine on strength performance. Creatine plus beta-alanine supplementation appeared to have the greatest effect on lean tissue accruement and body fat composition.

uhm good info, thanks admin