Table 2.

Practical framework for the ingestion of sodium bicarbonate during repeated bout effort sporting events

Recovery time frame between exercise bouts	Recommendation	Recommended scenarios for use	Sports that could benefit	References	Future research directions
0–30 min	SB unlikely to be effective as acid base balance cannot recover in time, although some benefits have been observed with three bouts of exercise (*)	During half-time to improve second half performance Qualification rounds separated by a short rest period	Team sports (football/soccer, rugby) BMX cycling	Pruscino et al. (2008), Mero et al. (2013), Pierce et al. (1992), Thomas et al. (2022), Zabala et al. (2008), Peinado et al. (2019), Thomas et al. (2023)	Individualised time-to-peak alkalosis ingestion strategy may provide more consistent benefits and a stronger recovery profile of acid–base balance
30–90 min	0.2–0.3 g kg−1 BM SB either prior to or post the initial bout of exercise standardised or individual time-to-peak ingestion timing (***)	Heat and final events whereby only a short recovery is available Training whereby repeated bouts are completed within a short time frame	Cycling (primarily track), swimming, sprint skiing	Gough et al. (2018), Gough et al. (2017a, b), Gough et al. (2019a), Gough et al. (2019b), Gurton et al. (2021a, b)	Pre- versus post-exercise ingestion of SB Investigations into ecologically valid sporting scenarios
90+ min	Promise for SB to work, but research lacking (*)	Heat and final events whereby a longer recovery is available Training whereby repeated bouts are completed on the same day	Some swimming events, rugby 7’s	N/A	Studies examining longer time frames of recovery are required as none to date have gone past 90 min recovery for a single SB dose
During exercise/a competition event	Initial and “top-up” doses may be effective for endurance-based exercise, with SB ingestion also prior to exercise (**)	Grand Tour stage races (3–4 h). Use a pre-exercise dose and then top-up halfway through	Endurance cycling or running events	Dalle et al. (2019), Dalle et al. (2021)	Due to minimal scientific evidence, further studies investigating a range of sports are required

The table has been constructed based on the evidence in the area and the expertise within the authorship group in both research and applied experiences with an end goal to be used a practical point of reference for practitioners and athletes within their given sports

BM body mass; SB sodium bicarbonate

Symbols denote level of empirical evidence for the efficacy of SB: * little-to-none despite extensive research, or more research required before conclusions can be made, ** might be beneficial in specific circumstances, *** high likelihood of performance benefits