Acute Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation Enhances 10-km Outdoor Track Running Performance in Recreational Female Runners
Study Details
This randomised, double-blind crossover study examined whether acute sodium bicarbonate improved outdoor 10-km running performance in 21 recreational female runners 🔍
Participants completed two 10-km outdoor track time trials after sodium bicarbonate or placebo 🏃
Sodium bicarbonate was consumed at 0.3 g/kg body mass, compared with 0.03 g/kg salt as placebo 🧂
Both treatments were taken alongside a standardised carbohydrate-rich meal providing 1.5 g/kg carbohydrate 🍚
Supplementation and the meal were consumed 90 min before running ⏱️
Key Findings
📈 Blood bicarbonate increased from 22.2 → 27.7 mmol/L with sodium bicarbonate, while blood pH increased from 7.42 → 7.47
🏃 10-km completion time was significantly faster with sodium bicarbonate: 3046.1 vs 3078.4 seconds
🩸 Blood lactate was also higher after sodium bicarbonate at rest and throughout exercise, consistent with greater extracellular buffering and glycolytic contribution
🤢 Importantly, GI symptoms did not differ between conditions, suggesting the protocol was well tolerated
🩸 Trials were completed during the same phase of the menstrual cycle, helping reduce within-participant hormonal variability
💡 The study extends bicarbonate research beyond short, high-intensity exercise by showing a benefit during a prolonged endurance event performed under field conditions
⚠️ The sample was relatively small and limited to recreational female runners, so the findings should not automatically be generalised to elite athletes or other populations
Conclusion
For runners, 0.3 g/kg sodium bicarbonate taken with a carbohydrate-rich pre-race meal 90 min before exercise may be a practical way to improve 10-km performance without necessarily increasing GI symptoms ✅
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42926128/
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