Ergogenic Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate on Resistance Exercise: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Abstract

Varovic, D, Grgic, J, Schoenfeld, BJ, and Vuk, S. Ergogenic effects of sodium bicarbonate on resistance exercise: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Strength Cond Res 37(8): 1600–1608, 2023—This study explored the effects of sodium bicarbonate ingestion on muscular endurance, power, and velocity in resistance exercise. Nineteen resistance-trained men ingested either 0.3 g·kg−1 of sodium bicarbonate or 0.21 g·kg−1 of placebo (sodium chloride) 180–60 minutes before exercise. The exercise protocol involved performing 3 sets with 70% of 1 repetition maximum to muscular failure in the bench press and biceps curl exercises. Analyzed outcomes included the number of repetitions performed in every set and throughout all 3 sets. In addition, power and velocity of the repetitions were explored by matching the number of repetitions between the sodium bicarbonate and placebo trials. In the bench press exercise, sodium bicarbonate increased the following: (a) the number of repetitions performed in the third set (g: 0.30; p = 0.046), (b) the total number of repetitions performed throughout all 3 sets (g: 0.23; p = 0.04), (c) peak power in the second set (g: 0.19; p = 0.03), and (d) mean power (g: 0.23; p = 0.03) and mean velocity (g: 0.30; p = 0.02) in the third set. We did not find a significant difference between the conditions for any of the analyzed outcomes in the biceps curl exercise. Results indicate that sodium bicarbonate ingestion elicits an ergogenic effect on muscular endurance, power, and velocity in the bench press exercise. Given that ergogenic effects were observed only in the second and third sets, these data suggest that sodium bicarbonate acts by attenuating the suppressive effects of acidosis on muscle contractility.