Bicarbonate: can it make your interval sessions better?

It was back in the early 1980s that the use of sodium bicarbonate as a performance supplement became popular. Research at that time showed that by helping to buffer the acidity produced in muscles during very intense exercise, pre-exercise bicarbonate was able to help stave off some of the fatiguing effects of high (lactic) acid accumulation, thereby enhancing performance in events lasting between 1-5 minutes^(1,2). 

Renewed interest in bicarbonate

After an initial surge of popularity, bicarbonate use fell out of favor because many athletes discovered that its use was often accompanied by unpleasant side effects such as nausea and gastric distress – severe enough in many cases to be counterproductive. This loss of popularity was no doubt aided by the emergence of the supplement creatine in the 1990s, which provided sprint, strength and high-intensity athletes with another nutritional tool for improving performance, and without the issue of side effects^(3,4).

In more recent years however, there’s been a renewed interest in bicarbonate supplementation. That’s because research has demonstrated that that with careful administration, many athletes may find that they can reap the benefits of bicarbonate without suffering the side effects. In particular, it seems that a staged intake (spreading the intake over a 90-minute period rather than consuming in one hit – see figure 1) is much better tolerated by the tummy. In addition, consuming the required amount (usually put at 0.3 grams per kilo of body weight – around 20 grams for a 70kg athlete) much earlier before exercise takes place also seems to reduce gastric distress without impacting on the potential benefits (see this article for an in-depth discussion)⁽⁵⁾.

Figure 1: Staged or stacked approach to bicarbonate ingestion