Prevalence, implementation, and barriers of sodium bicarbonate supplementation in team sports

Sodium bicarbonate (SB) ingestion has empirical evidence supporting its efficacy for improving team sport performance. It is currently unclear, however, if SB is incorporated into nutritional regimes by practitioners. This study aimed to investigate existing prevalence, implementation, and barriers of SB supplementation in team sports. A cross-sectional, observational design was employed. In total, 66 practitioners (professional experience: 7 ± 5 years) based in UK or USA responded to an online survey. Most practitioners (n = 60; 91%) were aware of SB being used as an ergogenic aid, which was predominately attributed to reputable sources (e.g., scientific literature: n = 35; 58%). Prevalence rates were low (n = 20; 33%), with a significant difference between the frequency of responses for practitioners who use SB (χ2 = 6.667, p = 0.010). Concerns about gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects after SB was the most common barrier to use (n = 27; 65%), with a significant difference between the frequency of responses (χ2 = 43.875, p < 0.001) compared to factors like budget. SB is frequently prescribed as a 0.2–0.3 g//kg body mass dose (n = 12, 60%), whilst traditional administration approaches are used more commonly (n = 10; 50%) than novel forms such as topical muscle lotion (n = 4; 20%). A translational gap exists between science and real-world practice, with negative connotations about GI side-effects preventing UK and USA based practitioners from using SB with team sports. Future work should educate practitioners on enteric and hydrogel mini-tablet designed SB that alleviate GI side-effects.