What if runners could use something as simple as baking soda to counteract the lactic acid build-up that slows them down? Sodium bicarbonate is indeed thought to help athletes perform better. But does the science support it? Here's what the research reveals. Remember, if you need more help with an injury, you're welcome to consult one of our physios online via video call.
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Why would sodium bicarbonate help runners?
Lactic acid builds up in our blood and our muscles when we exercise – especially at higher intensities and for more than a few seconds. The increased acidity in our muscle cells decreases their ability to convert stored energy into kinetic energy, and this affects athletic performance.
This is seen as a natural “brake” to prevent us from over-exerting ourselves, but athletes in various sports would obviously fancy “disabling” that brake from time to time.
The alkaline nature of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) – or, more informally, bicarbonate of soda or baking soda – is thought to counter the negative effects of the lactic acid build-up.
However, sodium bicarbonate also has some effects on our digestive systems that could hamper performance, so it’s not as simple as chugging a glassful of the stuff before competing in sport.
Of course, the people in the white lab coats would want to know whether it’s actually beneficial to take sodium bicarbonate for enhanced sports performance and if so, how much and when? So, let’s take a look at the research.
Does it actually help?
The short answer is that sodium bicarbonate does indeed help to increase athletic performance, but not in all cases. Whether it helps depends on various factors, such as the duration of the exercise and the type of energy that our bodies (mostly) burn during that exercise.
There are three main ways for our bodies to produce energy during exercise. In most cases it’s not only one that is used – it’s usually a mix, with one being predominant depending on the type and duration of exercise.
The phosphagen system – mostly used for very short, high-intensity anaerobic exercise (8-10 sec of maximum effort), e.g. jumping, throwing, short sprints, and weightlifting. It uses stored adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine, which are readily available in the muscles but quickly depleted.
The glycolytic system – mostly used for short-duration, medium- to high-intensity anaerobic exercise (30 sec to 2 min), e.g. 100-metre swimming and 400-metre sprints. It breaks down glucose and glycogen anaerobically (without oxygen) into pyruvate, which can be converted to lactate if oxygen availability is limited.
The oxidative system – mostly used for medium- to long duration, low- to medium intensity (aerobic) exercise, e.g. endurance running, rowing, and cycling. This process requires oxygen and uses carbohydrates, fats, and occasionally proteins as fuel.
In 2020, a group of researchers based in Madrid, Spain, gathered the previous decade’s worth of research into how supplementation with sodium bicarbonate affects these energy systems. After having weeded out the poor-quality studies, they were left with 17 good studies, and they analysed their results.
They found that:
sodium bicarbonate improves energy production for the first two (so, the anaerobic) energy systems, and especially the glycolytic system.
but there were no significant benefits for the oxidative/aerobic system.
This is not surprising, given that lactic acid is a byproduct of glucose or glycogen being converted into kinetic energy.
In 2021, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) did a similar review of the research and issued a comprehensive “Position Stand: Sodium Bicarbonate and Exercise Performance”.
Broadly in line with the 2020 study, they said that the benefits of sodium bicarbonate are mostly found in high-intensity bouts of exercise of between 30 seconds and 12 minutes. This is seen in “muscular endurance activities, various combat sports, including boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, and wrestling, and in high-intensity cycling, running, swimming, and rowing”.
However, they added that a portion of the performance enhancing effect of sodium bicarbonate seems to be placebo-driven, i.e. it’s all (or at least partly) in the mind.
Side effects of sodium bicarbonate
Negative side effects of (too much) sodium bicarbonate include stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, and bloating. It is obvious how these symptoms can spoil your 800-metre race or interval training session.
Looking at the various pieces of research, the following measures are recommended to counter these side effects:
Do not take more than 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight per day if you are taking a single dose (see below). So, someone weighing 75 kg would take a maximum of about 22 grams.
Take the sodium bicarbonate in a gelatine-based capsule rather than dissolving it in water or as a tablet – this releases it more gradually into the digestive system.
Take it together with a high-carb meal.
Experiment first with how long before having to perform you should take it so that the negative side effects don’t kick in during the event. The ISSN recommends about three hours.
Take it over multiple days before the event rather than on the day of the event (see below).
My recommendation
👍 Supplementing with sodium bicarbonate might help athletes who need speed and/or power for events longer than very short sprint distances but shorter than, say, a 5K-footrace.
🤔 But we don’t know by how much this improves performance, so it’s difficult to weigh up the potential benefits against the risk of negative side effects.
👎 And sodium bicarbonate for endurance runners and athletes in other endurance sports doesn’t seem to make sense anyway.
How much sodium bicarbonate to take and when
Single dose before exercise / an event
Less than 0.2 grams per kilogram of body weight seems to have no discernible positive effect, whereas 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight seems ideal. More than that, and the risk of negative side effects starts to kick in.
Recommendations for when to take it range from 60 minutes to 180 minutes before the exercise or competition. Experiment beforehand to see what works best for you.
Multiple-day dosage
The ISSN suggests the following multi-day protocol:
daily, for three to seven days before the event,
dosage of 0.4 or 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per day,
split into separate doses of 0.1 or 0.2 grams, to be taken with meals.
Most sodium bicarbonate capsules on the market are marketed as dietary supplements, as opposed to for sports performance. These typically come in 0.65-gram capsules, which is a lot of capsules to gobble down if a 75-kg athlete wants to take 22 grams per day.
I found one brand on Amazon with 1.3-gram (1300 mg) capsules, which is a bit better, so I’ve linked to that one below. And if you’d rather take it in powder format, dissolved in water, I’ve linked to an option there as well. (Sodium bicarbonate also comes in tablet and liquid form, but I did not find any in dosages that are useful for the dosages recommended above.)
Adding beta-alanine into the mix
Research has shown that supplementing with both sodium bicarbonate and beta-alanine, an amino acid that occurs naturally in our bodies, improves performance more then supplementing with either of these on its own. See our article on beta-alanine for better sports performance for more detail.
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About the Author
Maryke Louw is a chartered physiotherapist with more than 20 years' experience and a Master’s Degree in Sports Injury Management. Follow her on LinkedIn and ResearchGate.