Sodium Bicarbonate: an Unknown but Powerful Supplement

Sodium bicarbonate is a product that isn’t marketed nearly as much as many other supplements, but packs a real punch in terms of it performance-enhancing abilities.

However, right off the bat there are two things you should know:

1. Its uses are specific

2. There can be unpleasant (non-dangerous) side-effects if supplemented incorrectly

So, my aim with this article is to break down everything you need to know, including:

1. How sodium bicarbonate boosts performance

2. What specific sports & activities sodium bicarbonate helps

3. How much sodium bicarbonate you should take

4. When to take sodium bicarbonate

5. How to take sodium bicarbonate

6. Potential side effects of sodium bicarbonate & how to mitigate them

7. Sodium bicarbonate in combination with other supplements

The original source for all information below is the ISSN’s position stand on sodium bicarbonate and exercise performance.

As always, if you have questions left unanswered, feel free to email me at info@fitnesssimplified.org or comment below.

What is sodium bicarbonate?

Sodium bicarbonate is more commonly known as baking soda.

Its main effect is acting as a strong base, the opposite of an acid.

Sodium Bicarbonate Structure

How does sodium bicarbonate boost performance?

There are three main energy systems within our body.

One of which, anaerobic glycolysis, results in a build up of acid inside our muscles as it is used.

This build up of acid can prevent further energy production and further muscle contraction.

This leads to the common “burn” feeling associated with exercise and can result in muscular failure (the inability to continue work).

If it weren’t for this build up of acid inside the muscle, the muscle would be able to continue doing work.

So, any agent that can buffer or neutralize or buffer this acid build up can theoretically improve performance.

Sodium bicarbonate is an agent that has been shown to have these performance enhancing benefits, and quite potent benefits at that.

What sodium bicarbonate specifically helps with

The biggest benefit of sodium bicarbonate is in activities where fatigue is reached somewhere between 30 seconds and 12 minutes.

This can include a wide variety of activities, such as:

• 10 reps or more of a weight lifting set

• Circuit training

• Steady state running

• Swimming

• Cycling

• etc.

It has also been show to greatly help intermittent bouts of high intensity between longer bouts of lower intensity movement, which is common in sports such as:

• Soccer

• Basketball

• Wrestling

• Jiu Jitsu

• Interval training

• etc.

How much sodium bicarbonate to take

The dose of sodium bicarbonate you need to boost performance is between 0.2 - 0.5 grams per kilogram body mass.

So, divide your bodyweight in pounds by 2.2.

This converts pounds to kilograms.

Then, multiply that number by 0.2 for the lower end and 0.5 for the higher end.

I strongly recommend you start with 0.2 grams per kilogram when you are first trying sodium bicarbonate.

Some people tolerate the higher dose well, but there is also a higher prevalence of side-effects at higher doses that you may want to avoid (more on these later).

The vast majority of the benefits are seen when taken at a dose of 0.3 grams per kilogram, so you may never need to go above that.

When to take sodium bicarbonate

Both single-dose and multi-day supplementation protocols have been tested.

For single-day protocols, take your sodium bicarbonate 60-180 minutes before the onset of exercise.

You want it to be fully digested before you start exercising to ensure you avoid the side-effects.

Multi-day protocols are commonly used as a means to guarantee avoidance of side-effects on competition day if you are using the supplement for a race, meet, or game.

Here, dosing is usually at 0.4-0.5 grams per kilogram per day, but split up into 2 or 3 doses per day.

This usually lasts for 3-7 days prior to competition day.

Then, on competition day, no sodium bicarbonate is taken; relying on the previous 3-7 days to provide the benefit.

It has also been shown that long-term use of sodium bicarbonate before exercise sessions can result in greater adaptations than without it, including increased power output and increased time to fatigue.

How to take sodium bicarbonate

There are two ways to take sodium bicarbonate

First is by simply mixing it with water.

The second is taking it as a capsule.

Mixing it with water can be much cheaper, but it can come with a taste that you may want to do without.

Side-effects associated with sodium bicarbonate

The side-effects of sodium bicarbonate may include nausea, vomiting, gas, and abdominal pain.

It’s worth noting, though, that these are non-dangerous. They can simply be uncomfortable and hamper exercise performance.

The most effective ways to avoid these side effects are to take smaller doses, wait a sufficient amount of time to train after taking sodium bicarbonate, and using multi-day protocols when necesary.

Sodium bicarbonate in combination with other supplements

Many times, supplements with performance boosting abilities are tested in combination with each other to see if they have any additive benefits.

With sodium bicarbonate, two have shown this to be true:

• Beta-alanine

• Creatine

If you’ve read my article on beta-alanine, you’d know that beta-alanine provides the exact same effect: it acts as an acid buffer to anaerobic glycolysis.

It just provides a different buffer for the acid.

When relevant activities are tested, sodium bicarbonate and beta-alanine together perform better than either supplement alone.

Creatine supplementation benefits a different energy system (the creatine-phosphate system), but it benefits an energy system nonetheless.

Creatine’s main benefits come for activities lasting 0-15 seconds in duration.

So, you can imagine that once you get past the point of creatine helping, the benefits of sodium bicarbonate set in.

Similar to beta-alanine, creatine and sodium bicarbonate supplementation together has been shown to improve performance greater than either one alone.

Conclusion & Summary

To summarize all that was discussed, here’s a quick guide for sodium bicarbonate supplementation:

• 0.2-0.3 g / kg

• 60-180 minutes before exercise

• taken as a capsule or mixed with water

As always, if you have questions left unanswered, feel free to email me at info@fitnesssimplified.org or comment below!