NCT07319052: BA-KAST

β-Alanine for Kickboxing Anaerobic Performance

Completed NA Last updated 12 January 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing β-Alanine in Athletic Performance Enhancement (Kickboxing) in 28 participants. Completed in 4 June 2025.

Timeline

30 April 2025

Primary endpoint
30 May 2025

4 June 2025

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Salih ÇABUK
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	quadruple
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	28
Start date	30 April 2025
Primary completion	30 May 2025
Estimated completion	4 June 2025
Sites	1 location across Turkey (Türkiye)

Drugs / interventions tested

• β-Alanine
• Rice Flour (Placebo)

Conditions studied

• Athletic Performance Enhancement (Kickboxing) — all drugs for Athletic Performance Enhancement (Kickboxing) →
• Anaerobic Performance — all drugs for Anaerobic Performance →
• Strength Endurance — all drugs for Strength Endurance →
• Neuromuscular Power — all drugs for Neuromuscular Power →

Sponsor

Salih ÇABUK

Who can join

Adults 18 to 35, male only, with Athletic Performance Enhancement (Kickboxing) or Anaerobic Performance. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

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.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Effects of β-alanine supplementation on kickboxing-specific anaerobic performance, neuromuscular power, and strength endurance: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
   Küçük FH, Gençoğlu C, Ateş O, Da Silva Duarte JDR, et al · · 2026 · PMID 42127019 · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0346898