So much for sodium bicarbonate… Cycling discovers the final frontier

So much for baking soda. Cycling discovered it in the early 2000s, but now its use in groups would become widespread. This is what Jana Camphens, nutritionist at Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, Biniam Girmay’s team says in Sporza’s columns. “The bicarbonate”, she explains, “allows you to delay the moment in which the muscles go into acidosis, that is, when the lactic acid weighs them down”. Sodium bicarbonate is the main ingredient in a supplement manufactured by the Swedish specialist company Maurten. The benefits of baking soda were discovered more than 40 years ago, but its use often caused stomach upset in runners. “In the past, cyclists had to take 20 to 25 pills, which caused a lot of stomach and intestinal discomfort. However, the manufacturer has released a new variant, in gel form, and cyclists respond much better.”

“It is one of the few supplements” adds Camphens, completely safe and absolutely doping free. He has no negative effects on the health of the runners ”. The gel is taken together in microtablets of the same supplement. The intake, according to what Maurten writes on her website, is not totally risk-free: the intake of sodium bicarbonate can lead to water retention and weight gain. A high daily or weekly intake can lead to an increase in blood pressure. The Bicarb System should be ingested 1.5–2 hours before strenuous exercise. Hiring cannot take place more than two-three times a week.

What is baking soda used for?

“When you attack” explains the Intermarché doctor, “lactate and hydrogen ions are produced. It is the latter that cause a feeling of acidification in the muscles. Bicarbonate buffers the production of ions: in this way the period of resistance to effort can be prolonged. It has benefits on short and explosive efforts, but it can also have an effect several times in a race, because, for example, with its use the body begins to recover after a medium-long climb”. One of the most advanced teams in the use of Maurten gel is, needless to say, Wout Van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma. Among its most frequent users also the Belgian Lotte Kopecky. But also the Pogacar UAE riders would start using it. Outside of cycling, speed skater Nils Van der Poel, trail runner Kilian Jornet and middle distance runner Joshua Cheptegei use it.