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On Wednesday, Outside Online posted an important story by Alex Hutchinson titled “Why Top Olympic Athletes Use Baking Soda to Boost Performance,” explaining the rise in the use of a specially-formulated system that uses baking soda to augment distance performance in running and cycling.
The story follows up on Hutchinson’s February 2023 story on the Swedish Maurten Bicarb System, explaining how this product alleviates the devastating side effects of ingesting sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda.
What’s especially interesting is a new study, published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology on 28 July – “The effect of sodium bicarbonate mini-tablets ingested in a carbohydrate hydrogel system on 40 km cycling time trial performance and metabolism in trained male cyclists” – which showed:
“The present study suggests that ingesting [Maurten] NaHCO3 mini-tablets in a carbohydrate hydrogel can enhance 40 km [time trial] performance in trained male cyclists, with minimal [gastro-intestinal symptoms]. This ingestion strategy could therefore be considered by cyclists looking for a performance enhancing ergogenic aid.”
The positive impact of baking soda has been known since the 1980s, but has always come with a physical cost, often inducting nausea, gas, cramps, vomiting or diarrhea or other such problems. As such, it has not had wide use.
Maurten’s breakthrough has been to create a system in which a pre-measured baking soda component is combined with a hydrogel – water-based – packet, and the two are mixed in a provided bowl. The formulation reduces the gastro-intestinal issues to a minimum, but allows retention of the baking soda’s performance advantages. Says the manufacturer:
“The Bicarb System cracks the code to deliver the smoothest, most effective bicarb experience ever.”
The study was conducted at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, England, with the 14 participants – all trained cyclists, ages 28-58 – visiting five times, and included an indoor cycling training time trial of 40 km (24.9 miles), and then two indoor performance time trials of the same distance. The tests were of randomized, double-blind, crossover design, and showed:
● “This is the first study to observe, that ingestion of 0.3 g kg-1 of NaHCO3 supplementation in the form of mini-tablets in a CHO hydrogel (Maurten Bicarb System) improves 40 km TT cycling performance by 1.42%.”
and
● “The performance enhancement in 40 km TT cycling performance following NaHCO3 ingestion is likely due to an increased blood buffering capacity, with reduced relative oxygen cost suggesting improved gross efficiency.”
This was an important finding in that baking soda use had previously been thought to be a benefit for shorter-duration efforts, perhaps up to 10 minutes. Moreover, the performance of those on the Maurten formula was better than those on placebo at 10, 20, 30 and 40 km, with minimal or no gastro-intestinal impact.
For cycling, the improvement by using the Maurten system would be about a minute over an hour of racing.
From a track & field perspective, what would a 1.42% reduction mean (only men’s events are shown as the test was made only on men)?
● A men’s 1:44.0 time in the 800 m would be reduced to 1:42.5.
● A men’s 3:30.0 time in the 1,500 m would be reduced to 3:27.0.
● A men’s 13:00.0 time in the 5,000 m would be reduced to 12:48.9.
Game-changer. But at a cost, of course. The Maurten Bicarb System is shown for sale at $70 U.S. for four servings.
Hutchinson writes, however, that the test was made with the Maurten system against a placebo, so other forms of baking soda could also be used, but there are those gastro-intestinal effects to consider, as well as questions on dosage and timing. But, Hutchinson writes:
“In Paris, I watched another batch of newly crowned champions swear by it: triathlete Alex Yee [GBR], mile superstar Faith Kipyegon [KEN], along with [Uganda’s Joshua] Cheptegei, [Britain’s Keely] Hodgkinson, and others. But before we anoint baking soda as the new caffeine, we’re going to need more studies.”
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