Oral vs topical sodium bicarbonate for recovery after muscle damage 💥

Lotions vs supplements.

Effect of Oral and Topical Sodium Bicarbonate on Functional Recovery and Soccer-Specific Performance After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Study Details

This new study recruited 24 football players who were assigned to either…

💊 Oral sodium bicarbonate (0.3 g/kg)

🧴 Topical bicarb lotion (0.9 g/kg)

👉 Placebo

Supplements were used immediately following muscle damage and on 3-days post-muscle damage prior to football specific testing ⚽️

Functional performance was also assessed during the 3-day recovery period including measures of…

💥 Muscle soreness

⤴️ Vertical jump height

💪 Maximal voluntary isometric contraction

Here is what they found ⬇️

Key Findings

Neither oral nor topical bicarb accelerated indices of recovery ❌

But, decline in soccer-specific performance from baseline to 3-days post was attenuated for oral bicarb 🔍

…with significant effects for the Illinois agility test and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2 📈

Conclusion

Sodium bicarbonate does not accelerate muscle recovery after muscle damage ❌

But it may rescue some sports specific performance indicators and could be therefore considered as a recovery strategy for condensed competition windows ✅

Reference

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41228456/

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