Razi University

Background and Objective: Wrestling is a high-intensity intermittent sport in which success depends on the ability to repeatedly perform explosive actions and maintain performance under fatigue. Beta-alanine supplementation can increase muscle carnosine concentration, thereby enhancing intramuscular buffering capacity and potentially improving performance during high-intensity exercise. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of four weeks of beta-alanine supplementation on wrestlers’ sport-specific performance in the Special Wrestling Fitness Test (SWFT) and Special Wrestling Performance Test (SWPT), performance decrement, heart rate recovery, rating of perceived exertion, and anthropometric indices. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 24 male wrestlers were randomly assigned to either a beta-alanine group (n=12) or a placebo group (n=12). The beta-alanine group consumed 6.4 g of beta-alanine daily for four weeks. Before and after the intervention, participants’ performance was assessed using the SWFT and SWPT. Performance decrement between the two SWPT rounds, one-minute heart rate recovery, rating of perceived exertion using the Borg 6–20 scale, and anthropometric indices including body mass, body mass index, and body fat percentage were also assessed. A 2×2 mixed-design analysis of variance was used for normally distributed variables, whereas the Wilcoxon signed-rank and Mann–Whitney U tests were used for rating of perceived exertion. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: A significant group × time interaction was observed for SWFT performance (p<0.001). In the beta-alanine group, the SWFT score increased from 27.08±1.93 to 28.75±1.91 throws (p<0.001), whereas no significant change was observed in the placebo group. A significant group × time interaction was also found for SWPT performance (p<0.001), with the beta-alanine group improving from 39.75±3.49 to 43.33±2.81 throws (p<0.001), while no significant change occurred in the placebo group. In contrast, beta-alanine supplementation had no significant effect on SWPT performance decrement, heart rate recovery following the SWFT or SWPT, rating of perceived exertion after either test, body mass, body mass index, or body fat percentage (p>0.05). Conclusion: Four weeks of daily supplementation with 6.4 g of beta-alanine improved wrestlers’ sport-specific performance in both the SWFT and SWPT but had no significant effect on performance decrement between rounds, heart rate recovery, rating of perceived exertion, or anthropometric indices. These findings suggest that beta-alanine may be considered a supportive nutritional strategy for enhancing the capacity to perform repeated high-intensity efforts in wrestling without inducing significant changes in body mass or body composition.