SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2020
Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation on Muscular Strength and Endurance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Does caffeine intake enhance physical and physiological performance in swimmers? a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Creatine Supplementation on the Performance, Physiological Response, and Body Composition Among Swimmers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Sports medicine - open · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Acute and Chronic Performance Enhancement in Rowing: A Network Meta-analytical Approach on the Effects of Nutrition and Training.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Extracellular Buffering Supplements to Improve Exercise Capacity and Performance: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of sodium bicarbonate supplementation on exercise performance: an umbrella review.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Acute Co-Ingestion of Caffeine and Sodium Bicarbonate on Muscular Endurance Performance.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Association between nutrient patterns and muscle mass, fat mass, and BMI among Iranian adolescents: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Revisiting the need for innovative oral hydration technologies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Reducing the Risk of Unintentional Doping From Supplements: A Practical Guide for Athletes and Support Teams.Translational sports medicine · 2026Review
- Lactic acidosis: implications for human exercise performance.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Review
- An investigation into how the timing of nutritional supplements affects the recovery from post-exercise fatigue: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Pre-Exercise Caffeine and Sodium Bicarbonate: Their Effects on Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull Performance in a Crossover, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effects of Resistance Exercise with and without Blood Flow Restriction on Acute Hemodynamic Responses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Review
- Correlation between strength/endurance of paraspinal muscles and sagittal parameters in patients with degenerative spinal deformity.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- The Effect of Resistance Training on Bone Mineral Density in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Guidelines for performing systematic reviews in sports science.Biology of sport · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe effects of sodium bicarbonate on muscular strength and muscular endurance are commonly acknowledged as unclear due to the contrasting evidence on the topic.
objectiveTo conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies exploring the acute effects of sodium bicarbonate supplementation on muscular strength and endurance.
methodsA search for studies was performed using five databases. Meta-analyses of standardized mean differences (SMDs) were performed using a random-effects model to determine the effects of sodium bicarbonate supplementation on muscular strength (assessed by changes in peak force [N], peak torque [N m], or maximum load lifted [kg]) and muscular endurance (assessed by changes in the number of repetitions performed, isokinetic total work, or time to maintain isometric force production). Subgroup meta-analyses were conducted for the muscular endurance of small vs. large muscle groups and muscular strength tested in a rested vs. fatigued state. A random-effects meta-regression analysis was used to explore possible trends in the effects of: (a) timing of sodium bicarbonate ingestion; and (b) acute increase in blood bicarbonate concentration (from baseline to pre-exercise), on muscular endurance and muscular strength.
resultsThirteen studies explored the effects of sodium bicarbonate on muscular endurance and 11 on muscular strength. Sodium bicarbonate supplementation was found to be ergogenic for muscular endurance (SMD = 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15, 0.59; p = 0.001). The performance-enhancing effects of sodium bicarbonate were significant for both small (SMD = 0.31; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.59; p = 0.025) and large muscle groups (SMD = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.66; p = 0.003). Sodium bicarbonate ingestion was not found to enhance muscular strength (SMD = - 0.03; 95% CI: - 0.18, 0.12; p = 0.725). No significant effects were found regardless of whether the testing was carried out in a rested (SMD = 0.02; 95% CI: - 0.09, 0.13; p = 0.694) or fatigued (SMD = - 0.16; 95% CI: - 0.59, 0.28; p = 0.483) state. No significant linear trends in the effects of timing of sodium bicarbonate ingestion or acute increase in blood bicarbonate concentrations on muscular endurance or muscular strength were found.
conclusionsOverall, sodium bicarbonate supplementation acutely improves muscular endurance of small and large muscle groups, but no significant ergogenic effect on muscular strength was found.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.