Effect of 8-Week ß-Alanine Supplementation on CRP, IL-6, Body Composition, and Bio-Motor Abilities in Elite Male Basketball Players.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of 8-week ß-alanine supplementation on C-Reactive Protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), body composition, and bio-motor abilities in elite male basketball players. Twenty male basketball players (age: 23 + 0.6 years; body mass: 78.3 + 4.8 kg; height:185.3 + 5.4 cm, %BF, 15.2 ± 4.8) volunteered to participate in this study. They were divided into a ß-alanine group (BG, N = 10) and a placebo group (PG, N = 10). All players were preparing for university competitions and had played for over five years. Players used 6.4 g/d of ß-alanine in BG and maltodextrin in PG. The participants were involved in regular basketball training three months before the study. CRP, IL-6, body composition parameters, and bio-motor abilities were measured before starting the exercises and after completing the eight-week training period. The research findings showed a significant decrease in CRP and IL-6 and an increase in anaerobic peak power between the pre-test and post-test, as well as between BG and PG groups (p < 0.05). Although the other measured factors were a relative improvement compared to the pre-test and also compared to PG, these changes were not statistically significant (p < 0.05). Eight weeks of ß-alanine supplementation ameliorated increases in IL-6 and CRP associated with in-season physical stressors in collegiate basketball players. These changes in pro-inflammatory cytokines suggest that ß-alanine supplementation may be a useful nutritional strategy for immune regulation and can also improve anaerobic performance compared to PG.

Self-Esteem, Individual versus Team Sports.

On the basis of the integrative concept of self-esteem discussed in sport-related literature, various studies refer to its importance in the context of sports activities. Self-esteem is often understood as a personality trait because it tends to be durable and stable. No accurate description is available regarding the types of sports in which subjects participated. The main purpose of the research was to identify and compare the levels of self-esteem and self-confidence of athletes practicing individual and team sports. The self-esteem and self-confidence levels were measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg 1979) and the Self-Confidence Test (Romek, 2000). All participants were males. Subjects were divided into two categories: 40 for individual sports and 40 for team sports. There were two evaluation periods: P1, the beginning of the preparation period, and P2, the beginning of the competition period. There were statistically significant differences for P1 (p < 0.002) and P2 (p < 0.003). The differences between the average values of the two periods were 5.8 points and 3.8 points, both favorable to the group of athletes who practiced individual sports. There were significant differences between the individual and team athletes in self-esteem level. Individual athletes presented a higher level of self-esteem.