What the science says: bicarb improves time to exhaustion

Sodium bicarbonate (bicarb) has one of the strongest evidence bases in sports nutrition, particularly for high-intensity endurance performance. Its benefits are well established in the lab and in real-world races.

What the science shows

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, well-trained cyclists completed prolonged high-intensity cycling after ingesting either 0.3g/kg of sodium bicarbonate or a placebo. The results were clear: athletes lasted around 10% longer at race-intensity workloads after taking sodium bicarbonate.

Time to exhaustion results:

  • Bicarbonate: 49.5 minutes
  • Placebo: 45.0 minutes

This improvement occurred during sustained efforts at 110% of the individual's anaerobic threshold, the kind of effort you exert in a 10km running race, or a 40km cycling time trial.

How bicarbonate works:

High-intensity exercise leads to an accumulation of hydrogen ions, increasing acidity within the muscles and contributing to fatigue. Sodium bicarbonate acts as an extracellular buffer, neutralising these hydrogen ions and slowing the drop in pH.

By improving buffering capacity, bicarbonate allows athletes to:

  • Tolerate higher intensities
  • Maintain pace for longer
  • Push deeper before fatigue sets in

The study also showed elevated blood pH and bicarbonate levels throughout exercise, matching the physiological explaination behind the performance gain.

Applying this to race day

This study shows that bicarbonate supplementation improves tolerance of prolonged high-intensity effort, a critical factor in endurance events where sustained power output wins medals.

FLYCARB’s BICARRB is designed to deliver this buffering effect without the gastrointestinal distress traditionally associated with sodium bicarbonate. That means athletes can use it with more confidence in both training and racing, and actually access the performance benefits demonstrated in the research.

Read the full study: PLOS ONE – Influence of Sodium Bicarbonate on High-Intensity Endurance Cycling Performance

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