Betaine supplementation improved cycling sprint power

This study examined the effect of betaine on cycling sprint performance.

Sixteen untrained subjects (7 females and 9 males) completed three sprint tests, each consisting of four 12 sec efforts against 5.5% of body weight as resistance; efforts were separated by 2.5 min of cycling at zero resistance. Test one established baseline; test two and three were preceded by daily consumption of 591 ml of a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage as a placebo or a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage containing 0.42% betaine. A double blind random order crossover design and a three-week washout between trials were used. Average and maximum peak and mean power were analyzed with one-way repeated measures ANOVA and, where indicated, a Student Newman–Keuls; α was set at 0.05.

Compared to baseline, betaine ingestion increased average peak power (6.4%, p < 0.001), max peak power (5.7%, p < 0.001), average mean power (5.4%, p = 0.004), and max mean power (4.4%, p = 0.004) for all subjects combined. Compared to placebo, betaine ingestion significantly increased average peak power (3.4%, p = 0.026), max peak power max (3.8%, p = 0.007), average mean power (3.3%, p = 0.034), and max mean power (3.5%, p = 0.011) for all subjects combined. There were no differences between the placebo and baseline trials.

One week of betaine ingestion improved cycling sprint power in untrained males and females.

Czapla R, Swensen T, and Craig SAS. Effect of betaine on cycling sprint power. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2010;7(Suppl 1):P23