Table 1.
A summary of studies conducted in the mid 1980’s that reported an ergogenic effect of 0.3 g kg−1 sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) supplementation on performance tasks lasting approximately −7 min
| Study | Subject characteristics | Task | Control | NaHCO3 | Improvement (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkes et al. ‘83 [36] | University track athletes | 800-m foot race | 2:05.8 ± 2.1 (min:s) | 2:02.9 ± 1.9 (min:s) | ~2 % |
| Costill et al. ‘84 [40] | VO2max: 4.8 L min−1 (3.12–6.33) | 5, 1-min cycling bouts (125 % VO2max; 5th bout to exhaustion) | 113.5 ± 12.4 s | 160.8 ± 19.1 s | ~42 % |
| McKenzie et al. ‘86 [38] | VO2max: 3.83 ± 0.61 L min−1 | 6, 60-s cycling bouts (125 % VO2max; 6th bout to exhaustion) | 74.7 ± 17.6 s | 106 ± 6.9 s | ~30 % |
| Gao et al. ‘86 [37] | Well-trained college swimmers (VO2max: 4.3 ± 0.1 L min−1) | 5, 100-yd freestyle swim | 4th bout: ~1.65 m s−1
5th bout: ~1.64 m s−1 |
4th bout: ~1.62 m s−1
5th bout: ~1.61 m s−1 |
~2 % ~2 % |
| Goldfinch et al. ‘88 [39] | Male athletes | 400-m foot race | 58.46 ± 2.49 s | 56.94 ± 2.25 s | ~3 % |
Subject characteristics are represented to the level of detail provided in the original published studies. All values in the (%) improvement column were significantly different from control (p < 0.05)