β-Alanine for Kickboxing Anaerobic Performance
β-Alanine for Kickboxing Anaerobic Performance
NCT ID: NCT07319052 Phase: NA Status: COMPLETED Enrollment: 28 Completion: 2025-06-04
Conditions
Athletic Performance Enhancement (Kickboxing), Anaerobic Performance, Strength Endurance, Neuromuscular Power, Nutritional Supplementation (β-Alanine)
Interventions
β-Alanine, Rice Flour (Placebo)
Summary
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group trial will evaluate whether four weeks of β-alanine (BA) supplementation improves sport-specific anaerobic performance, neuromuscular power, and strength endurance in trained male kickboxers. β-Alanine is the rate-limiting precursor for skeletal muscle carnosine, an intramuscular buffer that can attenuate exercise-induced acidosis during repeated high-intensity efforts. Because kickboxing involves brief, repeated striking sequences with high glycolytic demand, BA may represent a practical, legal ergogenic aid for this population.
Twenty-eight adult male kickboxers will be randomized (stratified) to BA (6.4 g·day-¹) or placebo for 4 weeks while maintaining habitual training and diet. Assessments will occur at baseline and post-intervention under standardized laboratory conditions and time-of-day control. The primary outcome is the total time on the Kickboxing Anaerobic Speed Test (KASTtotal; five consecutive sets of a validated four-technique striking combination with 10-s passive recovery). Secondary outcomes include best single-set time (KASTbest), individual set times (KAST₁-₅), Performance Decrement Index (PDI), countermovement jump (CMJ) and squat jump (SJ) height, and upper-body strength endurance (maximal push-ups and pull-ups performed to strict standards). Timing is determined from 25-fps video with frame-level analysis; jump height is derived via a validated smartphone application.
Adverse events-particularly transient paresthesia-will be monitored throughout. The main analysis will use two-way repeated-measures ANOVA (group × time) with partial eta-squared to quantify effects; assumption checks and correction procedures will be applied as appropriate. BA will yield greater improvements than placebo in KASTtotal and upper-body strength endurance, with limited changes expected for jump performance.
Primary Outcome
Total Time on Kickboxing Anaerobic Speed Test (KASTtotal)