Short-term co-ingestion of creatine and sodium bicarbonate improves anaerobic performance in trained taekwondo athletes

Abstract

Background Creatine (CR) and sodium bicarbonate (SB) alone improve anaerobic performance. However, the ergogenic effects of CR and SB co-ingestion on taekwondo anaerobic performance remains unknown. Methods Forty trained taekwondo athletes (21 ± 1 y.; 180.5 ± 7.3 cm; 72.7 ± 8.6 kg) were randomized to: (i) CR and SB (CR + SB; 20 g of CR+ 0.5 g·kg− 1·d− 1 of SB), (ii) CR, (iii) SB, (iv) placebo (PLA), or (v) control (CON) for 5 days. Before and after supplementation, participants completed 3 bouts of a Taekwondo Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test (TAIKT) to determine changes in peak power (PP), mean power (MP), and fatigue index (FI). Blood lactate (BL) was measured before, immediately following, and 3 min post-TAIKT. Results PP and MP increased over time (P < 0.05) following CR + SB, CR, and SB ingestion, with no changes in the PLA or CON groups. There was a greater increase over time in MP following CR + SB (Absolute Δ: 1.15 ± 0.28 W∙kg67) compared to CR (Absolute Δ: 0.43 ± 0.33 W∙kg67; P < 0.001) and SB (Absolute Δ: 0.73 ± 0.24 W∙kg67; P = 0.03). There were no significant time and condition effect for FI (P > 0.05). BL increased following exercise across all groups; however, CR + SB and SB post-exercise BL was lower compared to CR, PLA, and CON (P < 0.05). Conclusion Short-term CR and SB alone enhance TAIKT performance in trained taekwondo athletes. Co-ingestion of CR and SB augments MP compared to CR and SB alone, with similar PP improvements.

International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: sodium bicarbonate and exercise performance

“…The effects of different sodium bicarbonate ingestion protocols to maximize the ergogenic effects while minimizing the incidence and severity of side-effects have also been examined [38,46,47,55,75,77,99,121]. Studies have also investigated the interaction of sodium bicarbonate with other ergogenic aids, such as beta-alanine, caffeine, and creatine (Table 2) [126,127,[129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147]. The purpose of this position stand was to: (1) critically evaluate and summarize the scientific literature on the ergogenic effects of sodium bicarbonate; (2) provide recommendations for the use of sodium bicarbonate as an ergogenic aid; and (3) suggest key topics for future research on sodium bicarbonate supplementation.…”

Effects of Combined Creatine and Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation on Soccer-Specific Performance in Elite Soccer Players: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Additionally, Duke and Steele [32] mentioned that PCr depletion could be a potential cause that affects myofilament properties by impairing calcium release through the sarcoplasmic reticulum in skeletal muscles. In relation to this, Sarshin et al [9] reported that creatine supplementation could increase calcium re-uptake in the sarcoplasmic reticulum to enhance myofibrillar cross-bridge cycling and force development. Moreover, because creatine can remove H+ ions generated during high-intensity exercise owing to increased PCr storage, it can also act as an intracellular buffer [33].…”

“…As described earlier, creatine and sodium bicarbonate can contribute to improving athletic performance through different mechanisms in intracellular and extracellular environment [11,12,17,18]. Considering that both creatine and sodium bicarbonate could theoretically function as a cellular buffer and have the physiological mechanisms that PCr hydrolysis consumes a H+ ion and buffer acidosis [9,11,15], it is believed that synergistic effect could be expected by combining these two supplements. Recently, Sarshin et al [9] reported that CSB supplementation enhanced peak power and mean power in Taekwondo athletes.…”

“…Creatine is naturally occurring non-protein amino acid found in red meat and seafood [9], which is among the most popular ergogenic aid for athletes [10]. Creatine supplementation increases intramuscular creatine concentrations and phosphocreatine (PCr) stores, improving the capacity of the phosphagen system to supply adenosine triphosphate (ATP) under anaerobic conditions, which has been shown to enhance components of physical performance in soccer players [11][12][13].…”

“…Considering that both creatine and sodium bicarbonate could theoretically function as a cellular buffer and have the physiological mechanisms that PCr hydrolysis consumes a H+ ion and buffer acidosis [9,11,15], it is believed that synergistic effect could be expected by combining these two supplements. Recently, Sarshin et al [9] reported that CSB supplementation enhanced peak power and mean power in Taekwondo athletes. Barber et al [19] showed that CSB supplementation in trained men improved peak and mean power and attenuated peak power decline.…”