Effect of oral administration of sodium bicarbonate on surface EMG activity during repeated cycling sprints

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of oral administration of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) on surface electromyogram (SEMG) activity from the vastus lateralis (VL) during repeated cycling sprints (RCS). Subjects performed two RCS tests (ten 10-s sprints) interspersed with both 30-s and 360-s recovery periods 1 h after oral administration of either NaHCO3 (RCSAlk) or CaCO3 (RCSPla) in a random counterbalanced order. Recovery periods of 360 s were set before the 5th and 9th sprints. The rate of decrease in plasma HCO3- concentration during RCS was significantly greater in RCSAlk than in RCSPla, but the rates of decline in blood pH during the two RCS tests were similar. There was no difference between change in plasma lactate concentration in RCSAlk and that in RCSPla. Performance during RCSAlk was similar to that during RCSPla. There were no differences in oxygen uptake immediately before each cycling sprint (preVO2) and in SEMG activity between RCSAlk and RCSPla. In conclusion, oral administration of NaHCO3 did not affect SEMG activity from the VL. This suggests that the muscle recruitment strategy during RCS is not determined by only intramuscular pH.