European Journal of
Eur J App| Physiol (1986) 55:524--529
The effect of sodium bicarbonate and sodium citrate ingestion on
anaerobic power during intermittent exercise
M. Parry-Billings and D. P. M. MacLaren
Department of Sport and Recreation Studies, Liverpool Polytechnic, Byrom Street Liverpool L3 3AF, Great Britain
Summary. The effect of sodium bicarbonate and
sodium citrate ingestion on cycling performance
in three 30 s Wingate Anaerobic Tests separated by
6 min recovery periods has been studied using 6
male subjects. Subjects ingested either sodium bi-
carbonate (B), sodium bicarbonate plus sodium
citrate (BC), sodium citrate (C) or sodium chlo-
ride (P) 2.5h prior to exercise in a dose of
0.3 g kg -1 body weight. Pre-exercise blood pH
was 7.44+0.06, 7.42_+0.05, 7.41+0.05 and
7.38+0.04 in the C, BC, B and P conditions re-
spectively. Mean and peak power output were sig-
nificantly reduced by successive Wingate tests but
not significantly affected by the treatments. Per-
formance in the second and third tests was high-
est following C, BC and B ingestion. The total
work done in the 3 tests was 103%, 102% and
101% of that achieved in the P condition after C,
BC and B ingestion respectively. The increased al-
kali reserve recorded subsequent to bicarbonate
and citrate treatment reduced mean post-exercise
acidosis, although pH was significantly higher
only in the C condition (p <0.05) compared to P
after each exercise bout. No significant differ-
ences in plasma lactate concentration were re-
corded at any time. Citrate ingestion appears to
be most effective in elevating blood pH and
[HCO~-], and in enhancing performance in short-
term intermittent exercise. This study demon-
strates that alkali ingestion results in significant
shifts in the acid-base balance of the blood and
has a small, but non-significant, effect on anae-
robic power and capacity as measured in a series
of 3 Wingate Anaerobic Tests.
Offprint requests to: D. P. M. MacLaren at the above address
Applied
Physiology
and Occupational Physiology
9 Springer-Varlag 1986
Key words: Bicarbonate -- Citrate -- Intermittent
exercise -- Wingate Anaerobic Test -- Anaerobic
power and capacity
Introduction
In short-term, all-out exercise anaerobic glycoly-
sis is the most important energy system, produc-
ing the largest proportion of ATP. This depend-
ance on a high rate of glycolysis results in a large
lactic acid production and a concomitant fall in
blood and muscle pH. An increase in hydrogen
ion (H +) concentration has been suggested as the
major cause of fatigue in this type of exercise, H +
ions having their effect mainly through the inhibi-
tion of key glycolytic enzymes particularly phos-
phofructokinase (Danforth 1965; Sutton et al.
1981). In addition, a low pH adversely affects the
contractile mechanism. Calcium ion binding to
troponin and release from the sarcoplasmic reti-
culum is inhibited at reduced pH, resulting in im-
paired tension (Donaldson and Hermansen 1978;
Fabiato and Fabiato 1978). Thus much evidence
supports pH as a critical limiting factor.
The action of the body's buffer systems is to
combat any shifts in acid-base balance. The bicar-
bonate ion (HCO~-) is the major blood buffer and
so the administration of sodium bicarbonate
should enhance the body's capacity for prevent-
ing a decline in pH, hence delaying the onset of
fatigue. Recently, "bicarbonate loading" has re-
ceived considerable attention. Previous studies
using sodium bicarbonate administration have
presented variable results. Several studies claimed
that a prior alkalotic state had no effect on per-
formance (Johnson and Black 1953; Margaria et
M. Parry-Billings and D. P. M. MacLaren: Effect of bicarbonate and citrate ingestion on anaerobic power
al. 1971; P o u l a s et al. 1974; K i n d e r m a n n et al.
1977). I n c o n t r a s t m a n y w o r k e r s h a v e r e p o r t e d t h e
b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t s o f i n d u c e d a l k a l o s i s ( J o n e s et al.
1977; S u t t o n et al. 1981; M a c L a r e n a n d M o r g a n
1985). T h e s e s i g n i f i c a n t i m p r o v e m e n t s h a v e b e e n
s h o w n in e x e r c i s e o f 2 - - 5 r a i n d u r a t i o n . W i t h a n
e x e r c i s e p e r i o d o f 30 s o f i n t e n s e w o r k o n l y m i n o r
i n c r e a s e s in t o t a l w o r k h a v e b e e n a c h i e v e d ( I n b a r
et al. 1983; M c C a r t n e y et al. 1983). T h e r e f o r e it
can be assumed bicarbonate loading enhances
a n a e r o b i c " c a p a c i t y " , w h i l s t its e f f e c t o n s h o r t -
term anaerobic "power" remains questionable.
I n t e r m i t t e n t w o r k h a s b e e n s h o w n to i n d u c e a
m o r e a c i d i c e n v i r o n m e n t t h a n is a c h i e v e d d u r i n g
c o n t i n u o u s w o r k ( H e r m a n s e n a n d O s n e s 1972),
t h u s p r o v i d i n g a m o r e s e v e r e t e s t to t h e p r o c e d u r e
o f b i c a r b o n a t e l o a d i n g . C o s t i l l et al. (1984)
showed endurance time in the last exercise bout
i n c r e a s e d 42%, w h i l s t W i j n e n et al. (1984) re-
ported only a small increase after HCO3 treat-
ment. These studies only considered performance
in t h e l a s t " o p e n - e n d e d " e x e r c i s e b o u t .
This study aims to:
1. E x a m i n e t h e e f f e c t s o f b i c a r b o n a t e l o a d i n g
d u r i n g i n t e r m i t t e n t e x e r c i s e , its e f f e c t o n t h e
p e r f o r m a n c e in e a c h w o r k p e r i o d a n d o n a c i d -
base parameters during exercise and recovery.
2. R e s o l v e t h e a p p a r e n t u n c e r t a i n t y as t o w h e t h e r
b i c a r b o n a t e l o a d i n g is b e n e f i c i a l t o s u p r a m a x i -
m a l e x e r c i s e o f s h o r t (30 s) d u r a t i o n .
3. N o t e t h e e f f e c t s o f s o d i u m c i t r a t e i n g e s t i o n o n
the same exercise protocol.
Materials and methods
Six male subjects volunteered to take part in the study. All
subjects were active, highly motivated and experienced with
the Wingate anaerobic test protocol.
The subjects performed an exercise test after drinking so-
lutions of either sodium bicarbonate (B), sodium citrate (C), a
sodium bicarbonate plus sodium citrate mixture (BC), or so-
dium chloride, the placebo treatment (P) using a blind cross-
over procedure. The doses were 0.3 g kg-~ body weight and
were ingested in a flavoured soup (Powell and Scholefield
Ltd., Liverpool, England, GB) during a 5--10 min period 2.5 h
prior to commencing exercise. (A time course study had pre-
viously shown blood bicarbonate to be significantly elevated
after this time.) The order of testing was randomly deter-
mined.
Exercise was performed on a cycle ergometer (Monark
864, Sweden), using a basket arrangement with weights for ap-
plying the test load. The saddle height was adjusted so that
when the leg was fully extended in the pedal there was flexion
of approximately 15 ~ at the knee, and feet were fitted into toe-
clips. A standardized warm-up was performed which involved
a 3 min ride at a low load, interespersed with three 5 s sprints
at the Wingate test load. This was followed by a 6 min rest
period before 3 Wingate tests were performed with 6 rain re-
525
A B C D E F
0 lO 19o
VIM~,(mi.)
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of study's protocol. A -
F = Blood samples; n = I n g e s t i o n period; N=Warm-up;
9 = Wingate Anaerobic Test
covery between each (Fig. 1). In all recovery periods subjects
were encouraged to cycle slowly.
The Wingate anaerobic test involved a 30 s all-out sprint,
during which time the subjects were encouraged to maintain
maximum effort and instructed to avoid pacing. The subjects
pedalled against a load suggested by Dotan and Bar-Or (1983)
using a rolling start. Pedal revolutions were detected photoop-
tically, by a light sensitive diode. Power output was calculated
for each second of the test by a computer package (Bayley and
.Reilly 1984). The following indices were also calculated:
1. Mean Power, the average power over the 30 s test (W and
Wkg -I)
2. Peak Power, the highest power output during any 5 s period
(W and W k g - 1).
Blood samples from fingerpricks were obtained prior to
ingestion, 3 min post warm-up, 3 min after each Wingate test,
and also 30 rain after the final Wingate test (Fig. 1).
Two 20 gl samples were taken and mixed directly with
cold perchloric acid before being centrifuged and the superna-
tant frozen for later analysis for plasma lactic acid. Lactate
was determined using an enzymatic assay (Gutmann and Wah-
lefield 1974). A single 100 ~tl sample was taken in a heparin-
ized capillary tube and analysed immediately for blood pH
and carbon dioxide partial pressure (Pco,), using a blood mi-
cro-system (BMS 3 Mk 2, Radiometer, Copenhagen) and a di-
gital acid-base analyser (PHM 72, Radiometer, Copenhagen).
Blood bicarbonate values were determined using the Siggaard-
Anderson Alignment Nomogram (Siggaard-Anderson 1971).
The statistical analysis employed for the blood variables
involved an analysis of covariance, with mean resting values
for each treatment used as the covariate; F ratios were consid-
ered significant at the 5% level. In addition pair-wise compari-
sons between mean values for the different treatments were
carried out using the Tukey Minimum Significant Difference
test. Performance data were analysed using a 3-way analysis of
variance to determine if differences in performance existed at
each exercise period between treatments. The correlation be-
tween mean power (watts) and subject body weight was calcu-
lated and a 3-way analysis of variance was subsequently car-
ried out with tile effect of body weight removed to provide a
more sensitive test. The average w,ork done in all 3 exercise
periods with each treatment was determined and the differ-
ences between means were analysed using paired t tests for
related samples. Furthermore, paired t tests were employed on
the successive Wingate tests for each treatment to note if there
were any changes in mean and peak power output.
Results
A p a t t e r n e m e r g e d w i t h r e g a r d to b o t h m e a n
p o w e r a n d p e a k p o w e r v a l u e s in so f a r as s i g n i f i -