Quoted post said:Originally posted by Shibumi
We had a recent thread on sodium phosphate loading, but what about sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)?
I understand that it works differently, by 'buffering' lactic acid, and as such is only useful in short events. I thought I would try some before a 4km track event, and knocked 8 seconds off my PB.
Recommendations seem to indicate about 0.3g/kg body weight, 1 to 2 hours before the event. This equates to about 4.5 level teaspoons in my case (I think). I have never 'supplemented' before, but this sounded reasonably natural. I use baking soda to brush my teeth, and as an antacid (for indigestion), although here the rate is 1 teaspoon. I think the stomach naturally produces bicarb. to combat excess acid, so I see bicarb loading as just topping up my natural levels. I have some questions though:
1. How do you take the stuff? Mixing it into a drink of water is like drinking saline solution - it tastes disgusting. If I was to take it in a glass of fruit juice, would the acid negate some of the benefits?
2. What about the sodium level - can this cause problems when we are all meant to be following low-sodium diets?
3. Anybody had any side-effects? The common ones that you may get are stomach cramping and diarrhoea. I felt slightly sick for 30 minutes, but was fine by the race.
Hi,
Here's another link - www.brianmac.demon.co.uk - lookup sodium bicarb. The creator of the website is a coach for amateur runners so I don't believe he would recommend loading up on sodium bicarb if it was doping. Also -
* bicarb isn't proscribed by the USCF rules (if you're outside the US you should check to see what drugs your governing body prohibits)
* while some drugs are not outlawed by the USCF and perhaps ought to be - I think that the benchmark should be whether the drug could harm or even kill you. if you overdo it on the bicarb, it might be pretty unpleasant for you but its not going to kill you, cause a stroke/seizure, cause osteoporosis after long term use etc etc. Some people might argue that the reason that bicarb loading is wrong is not the risk of harm but that it gives you an unfair advantage over other racers. But there are lots of things that give some racers an advantage over other cyclists and are not considered unfair eg you hire a personal coach at $50 per month, you have a better bicycle, you lose weight, you regularly do interval training, better genetics etc etc. So just because something gives you an advantage does not mean you shouldn't
do it or that its unfair on other cyclists.
Interesting that you saw a definite improvement in your times.
SR
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