Sodium Citrate

Sodium Citrate Purpose

Researchers have investigated the performance of sodium citrate in high-intensity exercises, but fewer studies have explored its role in weight-bearing exercises.

Methods

Twenty fitness challenge athletes, aged 24–32 years, volunteered to participate in this crossover, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

Initially, researchers administered a placebo to ten athletes and instructed them to complete a fitness challenge involving chin-ups, squat jumps, dips, etc.

Another group of ten athletes received supplementation a dosage of 0.5g/kg body mass three hours before undertaking the fitness challenges.

2 days later, researchers repeated the same procedures, with the supplement and placebo groups switching in a cross-over design.

Athletes and assessors were blinded to the experimental condition (placebo vs. verum). Lactate levels were measured five minutes after exercise.

Researchers compared the athletes’ performance on each item of the fitness challenge as well as their lactate levels.

Researchers contrasted the differences between the means of the measured variables using a dependent t-test.

Results

Supplementing sodium citrate substantially improved athletes’ performance in all six fitness challenge items (p < 0.05, 0.69<Cohen’s d < 2.52, moderate to large).

In addition, lactate levels registered after the fitness challenge were lower in the citrate sodium supplementation vs. placebo condition (p=0.001, Cohen’s d=0.63, moderate).

Conclusion Sodium Citrate Study

Acute supplementation may help fitness challengers postpone muscular fatigue and increase performance, potentially via the prevention of lactate accumulation.