Sodium Bicarbonate: The Coach-Facing Protocol Reference

Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda — the same compound in a kitchen cabinet, though products marketed to athletes are typically pharmaceutical-grade and dosed more precisely than a kitchen spoon allows. Taken orally before exercise, it raises the alkalinity of the blood.

That matters because high-intensity exercise produces hydrogen ions as a byproduct of anaerobic energy production, and the buildup of those ions is one of the mechanisms behind the burning, heavy-legged sensation that shows up in an all-out effort lasting one to a few minutes. Sodium bicarbonate increases the blood's…

It is one of the few supplements with a genuinely long, consistent research history in exercise physiology — decades of trials, not a recent marketing trend. That puts it in a different category than most products marketed to high school athletes. Bicarbonate's evidence base is real. The question for your team is…

The following describes what has been studied in the sports science literature — it is not a recommendation for you to implement, dose, or coach directly. Present this as "the researched protocol" if a family or athlete asks what the science actually says, and pair it immediately with the framing below.

For adult athletes, individual dosing decisions belong with your RD or physician. This is not appropriate for minors without direct medical guidance, given the GI risk profile discussed below and the added complexity of dosing decisions in a still-developing body.

The dosing range most commonly studied is 0.2 to 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight, taken as a single dose approximately 60 to 180 minutes before competition, with timing individualized to gut tolerance. Some protocols instead spread the same total dose across several smaller doses over the hours before…