Sodium Phosphate Loading Improves Cycling Performance
Sodium phosphate acts as an acid buffer in human tissue. Increased muscular acidity is associated with fatigue during high-intensity exercise. Thus, some endurance athletes have practiced pre-race sodium phosphate loading in hopes of improving their competitive performance. But definitive proof of its effectiveness is lacking. A new study from Loughborough University provides the best evidence yet that sodium phosphate loading is indeed effective.
Six trained male cyclists took part in the study, which had a double blind, randomized, crossover design. The subjects completed an initial 10-mile cycling time trial under laboratory conditions and then ingested either 1 gram of tribasic dodecahydrate sodium phosphate or lactose placebo four times daily for 6 days prior to performing a second time trial under laboratory conditions. Two weeks later, the time trial was completed one last time, with thosee cyclists having received sodium phosphate initially switching to the placebo for 6 days and those cyclists having received the placebo switching to sodium phosphate.
Compared to placebo, sodium phosphate improved mean power output during the time trial by 9.8 percent on average and improved time to completion by an average of 3 percent among the six study participants. The results of the study will be published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. |
