Bicarbonate is the latest discovery when it comes to improving cyclists’ performance thanks to its ability to reduce the burning sensation in the legs that we feel when we exert ourselves to the limit. Some nutrition brands already include this product in their offer.
It seems incredible that a substance that we usually find in our kitchens is now postulated as a useful aid when it comes to improving sports performance. We are talking about sodium bicarbonate, a salt traditionally used to combat stomach acidity after heavy meals as well as in baking.
This same ability to neutralize acidity is what brings sporting benefits when it enters the bloodstream, since this substance is also capable of reducing the acidity in the muscles caused by the excess lactic acid that is produced when we perform high-intensity efforts and that, often, the cyclist perceives as a burning sensation in the muscles that ends up forcing him to reduce that intensity so that the muscles can recycle that lactic acid by obtaining energy from the resulting lactate.
By reducing the acidity of the muscles with bicarbonate, this burning sensation is reduced so that we can maintain such high intensities for a little longer, perhaps long enough to resist that devastating attack or to be the one to break the group at a given moment.
However, the use of bicarbonate as is has a drawback, the stomach discomfort it causes in the form of gas and other gastric problems that can turn the supposed advantages into a torment.
Nutritional brands have already taken action to achieve an effective product. The first of these is Maurten, whose products are used, among other elite athletes, by the Jumbo-Visma cyclists.
Maurten has created its Bicarb System line in which bicarbonate is encapsulated in a gel similar to that of its energy gels so that it is released more slowly in the body and passes through the stomach without causing problems.
Source: www.brujulabike.com