The benefits of baking soda are not well known to many people, which is not very alarming either due to the thousands of supplements that are available to lose weight, gain strength or endurance, or prevent aging.
First of all, let’s go with a bit of theory.
When we train, glycolysis (necessary to generate energy) produces a residue known as lactic acid (sound true?). The accumulation of this acid causes the muscle’s Ph to decrease (it makes it more acidic), lowering it from 7.0 to 6.4.
This lowering of the Ph (calm that I finished with the theory) inhibits an enzyme (phosphofructokinase), producing fatigue. That is when that muscle-burning sensation begins, and you see that no matter how much you want, the muscle no longer responds to you as it should.
And this is when the benefits of sodium bicarbonate come in, a powerful alkalizing agent that, taken before training, allows to raise the Ph of the blood and muscles. In this way, we start the training with a slightly high Ph, avoiding that it drops too low during the session. This would help maintain the initial rhythm of movement for a more extended period.
This supplement would be ideal for short-term activities such as races from 400 to 1,500 m or 100 to 400 m meters swimming.
The recommended dose of sodium bicarbonate is 0.2, and 0.3 grams per kilo of body weight divided into three or four doses, ingested 60 to 90 minutes before your training session.
Anyway, as always, when you start taking a supplement, you should gradually adopt the dose, as it can cause slight gastrointestinal discomfort. If so, just drink plenty of water to alleviate or avoid these negative effects.
However, although it never hurts to say, not many cases of these types of side effects have been recorded.
So friends, you know, if you want to perform at a good pace for longer, baking soda can be a good ally. Although also, remember that there are training methods that help you manage/tolerate lactic acid naturally.
