Sodium bicarbonate ingestion improves performance in interval swimming.

In an effort to determine the effects of bicarbonate (NaHCO3) ingestion on exercise performance, ten male college swimmers were studied during five different trials. Each trial consisted of five 91.4 m (100-yd) front crawl swims with a two-minute rest interval between each bout. The trials consisted of two NaHCO3 treatments, two placebo trials and one test with no-drink. One hour before the onset of swimming, the subjects were given 300 ml of citric acid flavored solution containing either 17 mmol of NaCl (placebo) or 2.9 mmol of NaHCO3.kg-1 body weight (experimental), or received no drink (no-drink). Performance times for each 91.4 m swim were recorded. Blood samples were obtained before and one hr after treatment, two min after warmup, and two min after the final 91.4 m sprint. Blood pH, lactate, standard bicarbonate (SBC) and base excess (BE) were measured. No differences were found for performance or the blood measurements between the placebo and no-drink trials. Bicarbonate feedings, on the other hand, produced a significant (P less than 0.05) improvement in performance on the fourth and fifth swimming sprints. Blood lactate, pH, SBC and BE were significantly higher (P less than 0.05) at post-exercise in NaHCO3 treatments. These data are in agreement with previous findings that during repeated bouts of exercise pre-exercise administration of NaHCO3 improves performance, possibly by facilitating the efflux of hydrogen ions from working muscles and thereby delaying the onset of fatigue.