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Cited by 31Sports Performance and TrainingMuscle metabolism and nutritionThermoregulation and physiological responses

The reproducibility of 4-km time trial (TT) performance following individualised sodium bicarbonate supplementation: a randomised controlled trial in trained cyclists

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Gough, Lewis Anthony, Deb, Sanjoy Kumar, Sparks, Andy, McNaughton, Lars Robert·2017·Sports Medicine - Open
DOI 10.1186/s40798-017-0101-4PMC PMC5608656
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Abstract

Individual time to peak blood bicarbonate (HCO3 −) has demonstrated good to excellent reproducibility following ingestion of both 0.2 g kg−1 body mass (BM) and 0.3 g kg−1 BM sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), but the consistency of the time trial (TT) performance response using such an individualised NaHCO3 ingestion strategy remains unknown. This study therefore evaluated the reproducibility of 4-km TT performance following NaHCO3 ingestion individualised to time to peak blood bicarbonate. Eleven trained male cyclists completed five randomised treatments with prior ingestion of 0.2 g kg−1 (SBC2) or 0.3 g kg−1 BM (SBC3) NaHCO3, on two separate occasions each, or a control trial entailing no supplementation. Participants completed a 4-km cycling TT on a Velotron ergometer where time to complete, power and speed were measured, whilst acid-base blood parameters were also recorded (pH and blood bicarbonate concentration HCO3 −) and lactate [La−]. Alkalosis was achieved prior to exercise in both SBC2 and SBC3, as pH and HCO3 − were greater compared to baseline (p < 0.001), with no differences between treatments (p > 0.05). The reproducibility of the mean absolute change from baseline to peak in HCO3 − was good in SBC2 (r = 0.68) and excellent in SBC3 (r = 0.78). The performance responses following both SBC2 and SBC3 displayed excellent reproducibility (r range = 0.97 to 0.99). Results demonstrate excellent reproducibility of exercise performance following individualised NaHCO3 ingestion, which is due to the high reproducibility of blood acid-base variables with repeat administration of NaHCO3. Using a time to peak HCO3 - strategy seems to cause no dose-dependent effects on performance for exercise of this duration and intensity; therefore, athletes may consider smaller doses of NaHCO3 to mitigate gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort.

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  • Although 0.2 g/kg of sodium bicarbonate appears to be the minimum dose needed to improve exercise performance, there are still findings of gastrointestinal discomfort at this dose.

    “Although 0.2 g/kg of sodium bicarbonate appears to be the minimum dose needed to improve exercise performance, there are still findings of gastrointestinal discomfort at this dose (Gough et al., 2017).”

    From Acute enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate has negligible effect on anaerobic performance but affects metabolomics and attenuates the gastrointestinal response (2022) · cites this paper as Gough et al., 2017

    The Results (Effect of Treatment; page not provided) report faster 4-km time trials with 0.2 g/kg sodium bicarbonate than with the control treatment, and gastrointestinal discomfort was recorded at that dose. The study compared 0.2 with 0.3 g/kg but did not establish that 0.2 g/kg is the minimum effective dose. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  1. [8]Cohen J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioural science. New York: Routledge.

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Related

Authors
Gough, L. A., Deb, S. K., Sparks, A., & McNaughton, L. R.
Affiliations
Edge Hill University (GB)
Corresponding author
Gough, Lewis Anthony
ORCID
Venue
Sports Medicine - Open
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-09-21
Volume
3
Issue
1
Pages
34-34
ISSN
  • 2198-9761 (ISSN-L)
  • 2199-1170
DOI
10.1186/s40798-017-0101-4
PMC
PMC5608656
OpenAlex
W2757272007
Cited by
30
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
FWCI
2.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Sports Medicine - Open (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Edge Hill University Research Information Repository (Edge Hill University) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • BCU Open Access Repository (Birmingham City University) (acceptedVersion)
  • WestminsterResearch (University of Westminster) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Edge Hill University (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
Keywords
sodium bicarbonate supplementation, trained cyclists, blood bicarbonate, acid-base balance, alkalosis, lactate, exercise performance, dose dependence, gastrointestinal discomfort

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