Since you use Beta alanine as performance enhancing agent, I would like to share my experiences with Taurine as an performance enahancing agent.
In my self-experimentation aiming at enhanced performance, I have taken different doses (between 2 – 5 gr) of Taurine at night. I have observed increased cardiovascular performance when running the next morning. And I have observed a dose dependent effect.
My maximal performance is improved when running at maximal speed the morning after having taken Taurine before bed. And that goes for all distances from 400 m to 10 k.
I have also noticed that after I having taken 2-5 gr Taurine before bed my heart rate goes down while doing slow ZON 2 running the next morning.
I find this interesting since Taurine is expressed particularly in the excitable tissues such as the heart, retina, brain and muscles. The intracellular concentration of taurine is commonly 5–50 mM and the plasma concentration of taurine is approximately 100 μM. When taurine is supplemented, the plasma taurine content usually reaches its peak within 1 h to 2.5 h of taurine intake. In an analysis on the pharmacokinetics of oral taurine supplementation (4 g) in healthy adults. These individuals, who had fasted overnight, showed a baseline taurine content in a range of 30 μmol to 60 μmol. Then, 1.5 h after taurine intake, the plasma taurine content increased to approximately 500 μmol. Plasma taurine content subsequently decreased to baseline level 6.5 h after taurine intake.
Since plasma taurine content subsequently decreases to baseline level 6.5 h after taurine intake, one explanation of my increased performance is that taurine might have been absorbed in the excitable tissues in the body (like in the heart and other muscles). This could explain the increased capacity for maximal performance when plasma levels are back to the normal levels. (something similar to creatine loading, yes a highly speculative thought)
I have also observed an improved cardiovascular performance if I take a smaller amount, 0,5 – 1,5gr of Taurine 45 minutes to 3 hours before running. One can speculate that this is an indication that there is both an effect on performance when loading cells (heart and other muscles) with taurine as well as an immidiate performance enhanced effect of having increased levels of Taurine in plasma. I would really like to see a study done on taurine loading.
One must take into consideration that people in different age groups respond differently to taurine. I am male 60 y old.
It is hard to generalize from my n(1) expriments. For instance, the observed effects could depend on my individual biology. And I could, for instance, have an undetected weakness in my heart or in mitochondria or other individual weaknesses that Taurine addresses.
