Research
Mixed
Acute sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) supplementation (0.3-0.5 g/kg) enhances performance during high-intensity exercise and may augment chronic training adaptations (e.g., mitochondrial mass) when combined with interval training.
If you are doing short, intense sprints, taking sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) at a dose of 0.3-0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight before exercise might slightly improve your power output. Be aware that it can cause stomach upset, so individual tolerance varies.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
a recent meta-analysis finding that a dose of 0.3–0.5 g/kg body mass improved mean power output by 1.7 % (±2.0 %) during short high-intensity exercise
Why this rating
Supported by meta-analysis and mechanistic studies, though individual responses vary.
Source
Physiological and Health-Related Adaptations to Low-Volume Interval Training: Influences of Nutrition and Sex
Martin J. Gibala et al. · Sports Medicine · 2014
DOI 10.1007/s40279-014-0259-6
narrative_reviewCited 215×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Low-volume sprint interval training (SIT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) elicit similar physiological and health-related adaptations (e.g., VO2max, mitochondrial content) to high-volume moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) despite significantly lower time commitment and total work volume.Good
- Women may exhibit attenuated metabolic adaptations to Sprint Interval Training (SIT) compared to men, specifically regarding improvements in insulin sensitivity, potentially due to lower muscle glycogen breakdown and lactate accumulation during sprints.Moderate
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