Can Supplementing with Baking Soda Boost Workouts Performance?

While baking soda is widely known for its culinary and cleaning uses, you may be surprised to hear that it also has potential benefits for athletic performance. Baking soda is an alkaline salt composed of sodium and bicarbonate ions, also known as sodium bicarbonate. Some evidence shows it may enhance endurance and reduce fatigue, especially during long and high-intensity exercise.

What is baking soda?

Baking soda (NaHCO3), sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate soda, is a common alkaline household product. It’s widely used for cooking as a leavening agent, cleaning to scrub surfaces and deodorizing refrigerators, relieving heartburn, and even as a natural toothpaste.

Beyond these known household uses, baking soda is sometimes used as a pre-workout supplement that may help increase athletic performance and reduce muscle fatigue.

In fact, the International Olympic Committee considers that this dietary supplement may improve sports performance, especially for high-intensity exercises in trained individuals.

Can baking soda boost workout performance?

Evidence shows baking soda's potential role in enhancing athletic performance, implying it may help boost endurance and power output during high-intensity exercise.

However, the quality of this evidence remains a subject of debate; many studies have mixed results, some showing positive effects on endurance and power output, and others limited or even no effects.

More research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms behind the effects of sodium bicarbonate on our bodies during exercise. However, some physiological considerations and findings from human studies may help understand how baking soda is related to suggested benefits.

pH levels and muscle fatigue: a deep dive

First, to understand the role of baking soda in exercise and muscle fatigue, we must understand the concept of pH and its impact on our body during exercise. The pH scale is a way to measure the acidity or alkalinity of a substance or a solution, and it goes from 0 (highly acidic) to 14 (highly alkaline). The neutral pH value on the scale is 7.

For physiological functions, our blood needs to maintain a slightly alkaline pH, around 7.40, but other places, such as our stomach, need to be highly acidic, with a pH of 1 to 3. Our body's pH is strictly regulated, mainly by our kidneys and lungs, to keep a tight acid-base balance for constant blood and other tissue pH.

During anaerobic exercises such as HIIT, biking, and sprinting, the body's acid-base balance may be disrupted due to lactic acid production. The accumulation of lactic acid in our muscles is thought to lead to a well-known burning sensation. This happens because, during short and intense workouts such as HIIT, our body demands more oxygen than is available in muscle tissue and has to turn to anaerobic reactions (not requiring oxygen) for energy production.

These anaerobic reactions generate ATP (our body's 'energy currency') via glycolysis without oxygen and produce a byproduct, lactic acid. Lactic acid buildup in the muscles lowers their pH, creating an acidic environment that is thought to be partially responsible for muscle damage and fatigue-related symptoms, such as soreness and pain.

By helping reduce acidosis during exercise, baking soda may help reduce post-workout muscle fatigue.

How effective is baking soda for high-intensity workouts?

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, sodium bicarbonate may improve performance in single- and multiple-bout exercises such as cycling, running, swimming, and rowing and combat sports, including boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, and wrestling, in both men and women.

Since baking soda is an alkaline substance, it may help neutralize the excess lactic acid that builds up in our body during anaerobic exercise, potentially improving muscle function and delaying fatigue in high-intensity sports.

A 2023 randomized, double-blind study that included 12 recreationally trained cyclists found that 0.3 grams of baking soda per kg of body mass, in solution or capsule form, may help improve time-to-exhaustion (TTE) cycling performance. It’s worth noting that this study mainly explored whether the positive expectations of receiving supplements in solution or capsule form could influence exercise performance. Researchers concluded that the high expectations among participants who received the solution could have led to increased effort during cycling, resulting in improved performance rather than the supplementation itself.

In another 2023 randomized, double-blind study, 19 resistance-trained men were randomly assigned sodium bicarbonate or a placebo before performing three sets of bench press and biceps curl exercises to failure. The total repetitions of bench press exercises in the baking soda supplementation group were higher than in the placebo group. However, no differences were observed between these groups during the biceps curls exercise.

In 2021, the International Society of Sports Nutrition published its position in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and suggested that supplementation with sodium bicarbonate for high-intensity training may improve performance in muscle endurance activities lasting between 30 seconds and 12 minutes.

A meta-analysis published in 2021 revealed that baking soda pre-workout supplementation may enhance endurance exercise performance in sessions lasting from 45 seconds to eight  minutes.

However, a 2019 systematic review found inconsistent results about using baking soda for pre-workout supplementation, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions, so its effectiveness remains controversial.

It’s worth noting that individual factors such as exercise type, intensity, and duration can influence how baking soda may work, thus more research is needed.

Proper dosage and timing for optimal results

Various clinical trials have evaluated different dosages for single- or multiple-day exercise protocols. According to the ISSN, the minimal single dose that was observed to improve performance is 0.2 grams of sodium bicarbonate per kg of body weight. For better results, 0.3 grams per kg may be an optimal single-dose supplementation for professional athletes.

For example, for a person of 80 kg (around 176 lb), a single dose of 0.3 g per kg would be 24 grams of baking soda. Such high single doses may lead to GI discomfort or indigestion due to stomach pH changes.

Multiple-day protocols for professional athletes have also shown beneficial effects, with a total sodium bicarbonate dose of 0.4 or 0.5 grams per kg of body weight per day. However, this should be divided into smaller dosages ingested during the day to avoid digestive discomfort.

The ISSN also evaluated supplementation timing and, as general guidance, suggested that sodium bicarbonate be taken 60–180 minutes before exercise for best results.

Potential side effects and how to avoid them

While usually safe in small doses, there are some potential side effects of baking soda to consider, such as digestive discomfort. These side effects are dose-dependent, meaning that the more you take, the worse the side effects could be.

Some of the most common sodium bicarbonate side effects include gastrointestinal issues, such as diarrhea, bloating, nausea, and abdominal pain.

Another aspect to consider is this supplement’s sodium content. If you are sensitive to sodium or have to limit your sodium intake, it is best to consult with your healthcare provider about taking baking soda. In addition, high sodium intake due to sodium bicarbonate over a longer period of time could lead to increased blood pressure. If you have concerns about your blood pressure, consult a healthcare professional before using baking soda pre-workout supplements.

To reduce baking soda side effects, some good strategies include:

• Taking the supplement with a meal rich in carbohydrates
• Spreading your doses throughout the day
• Taking the supplement 180 minutes before exercise
• Taking enteric-coated capsules, which are easier on the stomach

Is baking soda safe for everyone?

With some exceptions, baking soda is generally safe to use as a food additive and should not cause any adverse effects in adults when used in small amounts.

However, if taken in large amounts, it can be dangerous, so consulting with your healthcare provider about its supplementation and keeping it away from children is essential.

Final word

There is no denying that sodium bicarbonate is a natural and affordable ingredient that has gained popularity as a potential pre-workout supplement. Thanks to its alkaline nature, baking soda may help neutralize lactic acid and counteract its effects when it accumulates during intense exercise.

Some evidence shows that this may help boost endurance and performance in professional athletes, and it seems particularly beneficial for anaerobic high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It’s worth noting that this may not work for everyone.

However, more research is needed to fully understand its mechanisms and the optimal dosage for athletic performance. Before incorporating it into your training regimen, it's essential to consult with a healthcare professional or sports nutritionist.

Article history

Our experts strive to provide up to date information and update articles when new information becomes available

September 13, 2024

Fact checked by Linas Černiauskas, PhD Candidate

September 13, 2024

Updated by Eva De Angelis

April 19, 2023

Written by Jennifer Dutton, NASM-CNC