Dr. Dan Troha, MD | Troha Performance Medicine

187 bpm. Highest heart rate I’ve ever recorded. But the interesting part was how my legs felt.

I took bicarb about 90 minutes before this treadmill interval session. It was still hard and I was breathless and needed the recovery between reps. But the leg burn that usually makes me back off just wasn’t there.

Bicarb helps buffer acidity during hard exercise and can delay fatigue. My theory is that my legs held on longer, which let me push harder. That doesn’t prove I reached my true max, but it’s an interesting possibility.

I especially love @bicarb.shop Bicarb 3.0 for these sessions.

Pro tip: you may not need the full serving. You can trial half to assess tolerance, and it might still give most of the performance benefit.

And please test it in training, not for the first time on race day. It can be rough on your stomach, and the sodium load is substantial. This is not something to casually add when you’ve been told to limit sodium.

The goal isn’t a higher heart rate. It’s getting more out of the workout.

#running #sodiumbicarbonate #endurancetraining #performancemedicine