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Dont forget that cyclists are not the only group of athletes who can benefit from bicarbonate supplementation. Strength trainees who spend hours in the gym and train at high intensities will also benefit!

I know that most of you are into resistance not endurance training. So, before I even get into the discussion of the experimental procedures and the results of the latest study from the Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine at the Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, I would like to point you to an older SuppVersity article which indicates that bicarbonate supplementation is able to Up Your Squat (+27%) & Bench Press (+6%) Within 60 Min" (read more).

Now that youve hopefully put away your prejudices against "that endurance supplement", lets get to the previously mentioned study by Florian Egger, Tim Meyer, Ulf Such, and Anne Hecksteden (thanks to Conrad P. Earnest for bringing this to my attention).
To investigate the effects of BICA supplementation on performance during prolonged, high-intensity cycling to exhaustion in well-trained athletes, the scientists from the Saarland University recruited 6 male and 5 female "well-trained" cyclists (mean ± SD: age 24±8 y, BMI 21.3±1.7, VO2peak 67.3±9.8 ml/kg/min - the VO2peak value tells you that they were fit ;-).

In a double-blind, randomized cross-over design, the subjects underwent two stepwise incremental exercise tests and two constant load tests (with two phases) on an electrically braked cycle ergometer (Excalibur Sport, Lode, Groningen, The Netherlands).

Figure 1: Schematic representation of the general design.Time interval between tests is specified in days (d). Data are presented as means ± standard deviation respectively, with minimum (min) and maximum (max) values (Egger. 2014).

As the overview of the study design in Figure 1 tells you, each test type was completed twice. Once after the ingestion of 0.3 g/kg sodium bicarbonate (yes, thats roughly 24g for someone who weighs 80g and should not be consumed too fast, because otherwise it may trigger diarrhea) or a placebo supplement in form of 4 g sodium chloride that was chosen to make sure that any benefits that were observed were due to the natrium, not the bicarbonate content of sodium bicarbonate.
Both the plain salt and the sodium bicarbonate were solved in 0.7 l water. The outcome measures were simple: Only if the subjects were able to pedal significantly longer until they were exhausted in the standardized constant load test, sodium bicarbonate could be considered to have practically relevant performance enhancing effects (maximum performance in the stepwise incremental exercise test, i.e. maximal workload and VO2peak were used as secondary outcomes).

Figure 2: Blood lactate (BLa) concentrations after ingestion (post drink) and during constant load tests (mean ± SD) for the BICA and placebo trials (Egger. 2014)

The other parameters the scientists measured, i.e. the blood lactate [BLa], pH, and bicarbonate concentration, were merely used determine the mechanisms for the potential improvements in exercise performance.

Speaking of auxiliary measures, if you take a look at Figure 2 you will see that the blood pH dropped significantly right after the ingestion of the bicarbonate supplement and remained "low" throughout the trial and afterwards. An observation that does not come unexpected. Previous trials have after all shown that its the ability of bicarbonate to blunt the high-intensity exercise related perturbations in both blood and muscle acid-base that keeps the maximal work rate up and leads to performance increases compared to placebo supplements.
These performance decrements are caused by the accumulation of hydrogen ions (H+) in the myoplasm and their detrimental effects on myofilament interaction, glycolytic flux and sarcoplasmatic reticulum function. As Egger et al. point out

"[t]he ability of the body to prevent or delay these force limiting processes is determined by the capacity of its intrinsic buffering systems, which counteract the accumulation of H+ both inside and outside the cell," (Egger. 2014)

which explains why the benefits of both beta alanine (which increases the intra-cellular buffering capacity) and bicarbonate are most pronounced in athletes competing in high intensity sports.

Figure 3: Time to exhaustion and maximal workload (total) and maximal workload at the individual anaerobic threshold (IAT) during the bicarbonate and placebo trials (Egger. 2014).

Apropos ergogenic effects: I already gave it away in the headline. The consumption of the bicarbonate supplement lead to immediate increases in the time to exhaustion with 49.5 ±11.5 min being the maximum in the bicarbonate and 45.0±9.5 min being the maximum in the placebo condition.

The maximal workload in the stepwise incremental tests (BICA: 341±66 W; placebo: 339±67 W) and workload at IAT (BICA: 234±5.5 W; placebo 233±5.7 W), on the other hand, did not differ significantly.
References:

• Egger F, Meyer T, Such U, Hecksteden A. "Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate on High-Intensity Endurance Performance in Cyclists: A Double-Blind, Randomized Cross-Over Trial". PLoS ONE 9.12 (2014): e114729.
• Hobson, Ruth M., et al. "Effects of ?-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a meta-analysis." Amino acids 43.1 (2012): 25-37.

Its one thing to make strength and mass gains, its a whole different story to make them last - if possible, for the rest of your life! Study suggests: Training intense, may help.

Thank God for the Internet. Otherwise we would hardly be able to get our hands on papers that are written by Iranian scientists and published in the Turkish Journal of Sport and Exercise; and that, my dear (mostly) American friends, would be a real pity!

"Effect of acute detraining following two types of resistance training on strength performance and body composition in trained athletes" - thats the title of a paper that was published late last year but popped up in the major databases, only recently. In spite of the delay, the results Vahid Tadibi and his colleagues from the Razi University, the  University of Kordestan and the Islamic Azad University present in this 5-pages paper are unquestionably well worth being covered.
In view of the limited evidence available for the effect of detraining on strength training with different intensity and volume, Tadibi et al. set out to

"determine the influences of short term detraining after two kinds of resistance training on strength performance and body composition in trained athletes."  (Tadibi. 2013)

To this ends, the Iranian researchers recruited 30 healthy men students recruited from
Razi University of Kermanshah. The subjects were divided into two experimental groups as follows:

• group (I) who performed resistance training with low intensity and high volume (GRI: n=15), weight 73.7±10.3 kg, height 174.5±7.5 m and age 24.7±1.4 years old and 
• group (II) who performed low volume and high intensity (GRII: n=25), weight 63.2±6.2, height 175.8±5.5 and age 25.4±1 (years old). 

The participants attended physical education classes for six weeks/three times a week, with duration of 45-60 min each session. Each training session involved three phases in both groups and lasted 50–60minutes:

• warm up, specific or related training and cool down. 

Warm up and cool down phases were similar in both groups included 7 min running with intensity sufficient to raise breath rate, 3 min stretching training.
The actual intervention, i.e. the specific training part consisted of fast-paced circuit training workouts with 60 to 90 seconds rest between the following exercises:

• Figure 1: Graphical overview of the two training regimen

  bench press, 
• squat, 
• biceps curls, 
• triceps extensions, 
• shoulder press

What? No, I have no idea, if they forgot to list the back exercises, or if the subjects actually didnt do any. What I do know, though is that the

"[s]ubjects performed 12– 15 maximal repetitions/set (55–60% 1RM) in group I, low intensity and high volume (LIHV protocol), and 5 maximal repetitions/set (85–90% 1RM) in the group II, low volume and high intensity (HILV protocol)" (Tadibi. 2013)

In order to establish optimal progression the "1RM was retested in the end of every week so that resistance could be adjusted properly" (Tadibi. 2013).

TRAINING ? DETRAINING ? RESULTS?

Apropos progress, you will probably remember that the actual intention of the researchers was not to compare the muscle and strength gains during the six-week training program, but their persistence. Accordingly, the all-important question was what would happen, when the subjects resumed their normal active, but not necessarily resistance trained lifestyle after a 2-week lay-off of any type of systematic (training stoppage).

Figure 1: Relative changes in max strength (left) and body comp (right) from pre- to post-detraining (Tadibi. 2013)

Well, you can see the results of this type of realistic 6-weeks on 2-weeks of regimen in Figure 1 - a result based on which you should be able to confirm the following conclusions:

• Contrary to what common wisdom would predict, the low intensity, high volume (LIHV) and the high intensity, low volume (HILV) regimen produce statistically identical strength gains over the course of the six-weeks training phased (not shown in Figure 1)
• The gains on the high intensity, low volume (HILV) regimen were - albeit not significantly - but visibly more persistent than those that were brought about by the high volume low intensity regimen.
• The high volume training turned out to have significant fat burning effects of the initially significant relative reduction in body fat % of 18% (from  12.15% to 9.73 in LIHV vs.   11.91% to 10.59% in the HILV group), there were yet only 7% left after 2 weeks of detraining (the BF% went back up from 9.73±3.12% to 11.27±3.37%).

As the researchers point out, this result may look different, if the study population was older or sick. In less-conditioned individuals (Hakkinen. 1994), which is - in my humble opinion - a very important hint for both, the young and old SuppVersity readers, as it confirms (once again), that the optimal training routine is a very individual thing and cannot be cookie cut based on a single study.
References:

• Häkkinen, K. "Neuromuscular adaptation during strength training, aging, detraining, and immobilization." Critical Reviews in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 6 (1994): 161-161.
• Tadibi, Vahid, et al. "Effect of acute detraining following two types of resistance training on strength performance and body composition in trained athletes." (2013).

Post-Workout High Isoleucine AA+CHO Decreases Glucose Spikes, But Impairs Musclular Glyocogen Resynthesis - Reason Enough to Skip Amino Acids?

If you put any faith into the promises of the supplement industry, amino acid supplements are the solution to all your problems - including those you havent even known about, yet. Against that background its always interesting if scientists study the real world effects of amino acid supplements in a realistic scenario like after strenuous exercise.

In their latest study Wang and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin and the Shanghai Research Institute of Sports Science did just that: They studied the effects isoleucine and four additional amino acids, on blood glucose homeostasis and glycogen synthesis after strenuous exercise.
As the scientists point out, the results of their study "could provide a practical and safe means of increasing the rate of muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise and enhancing the rate of recovery" (Wang. 2015).

Table 1:  Subjects’ characteristics (Wang. 2015).

Ten healthy active adults volunteered for the study. All subjects were accustomed to cycling for prolonged periods of 3–5 h during an exercise session. The ,aximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) was measured in all subjects on a cycle ergometer by using a TrueOne 2400 metabolic measurement system (ParvoMedics, Sandy, Utah) to verify adequate aerobic fitness levels (results see Table 1).

Figure 1: Basically the AA supplement contained almost exclusively isoleucine. It was administered in the dosage shown above and at twice that amount in the LAA and HAA trials (Wang. 2015)

"Two to three days after the VO2max test, the subjects reported to the laboratory to perform a practice ride to familiarize them with the laboratory environment and the experimental protocol. The practice ride was also used to adjust and verify appropriate workloads for the experimental trials. The practice rides simulated the protocol ride but without blood samples or muscle biopsies being taken. The ride consisted of cycling at 70 % VO2max for 2 h, which was followed by five 1-min sprints at 85 % VO2max. The sprints were separated by 1 min cycling at 45 % VO2max. During the first 15 min of each hour, oxygen uptake was measured for 5 min to verify workload.

Water (250 mL) was provided every 20 min of exercise. Heart rate (HR) was monitored and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) on a Borg-scale (ranging from 6 to 20) were collected every 30 min of exercise. The practice ride and each of the following three experimental trials were separated by a minimum of 7 days and maximum of 12 days" (Wang. 2015).

The actual tests consisted of cycling on an ergometer to deplete muscle glycogen. Blood sampling and a muscle biopsy were performed immediately on cessation of exercise. After the muscle biopsy, subjects were given the first of two supplement doses. More specifically they received either...

• 1.2 g carbohydrate/kg body weight (CHO), 1.2 g carbohydrate/kg body weight plus 6.5 g AA (CHO/LAA) or 
• the same carbohydrate supplement plus 6.5g (CHO/LAA) or 13 g AA (CHO/HAA) 

immediately after the first muscle biopsy and at 120 min of recovery. The carbohydrate base consisted of simple dextrose dissolved at a ratio of 100g/296 mL in an orange flavored drink (SUN-DEX, Fisher Healthcare, Houston, Texas). The additional amino acids contained 0.046 g cystine 2HCl, 0.023 g methionine, 0.045 g valine, 6.342 g Isoleucine, and 0.044 g leucine per person, or twice that amount in the CHO/HAA trial. The amino acids were simply added to the dextrose drink.

Why would you even believe that there may be benefits from AA supplementation?

As Wang et al. point out, "this amino acid mixture was selected as it was previously reported to be more effective in lowering the blood glucose response to a glucose challenge than isoleucine alone" (Wang. 2015) by Bernard et al. (2011).

Figure 2: Blood glucose AUC during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged with either glucose (CHO), glucose plus a 5-amino acid mixture (CHO-AA-1), glucose plus a 5-amino acid mixture with increased leucine concentration (CHO-AA-2), or placebo (PLA). Blood was taken from the tail immediately before the gavage and 15, 30, 60, and 120 min afterward (Bernard. 2011).

The three test beverages were similar in color, taste, and texture to allow a double-blinded and counter-balanced study design. All test drinks were randomly assigned and dispensed by a laboratory technician who was not involved in the data collection.

Figure 3: Blood glucose postexercise and during the 4-h recovery. Treatments were with CHO (circle), CHO/LAA (triangle), and CHO/HAA (filled circle) supplements provided immediately after and 2 h after exercise. Values are mean ± SE. CHO/HAA vs. CHO (*p < 0.05). CHO/LAA vs. CHO (# p < 0.05) - left; Blood glucose area under the curve (AUC) during the 4-h recovery. Treatments were CHO, CHO/LAA, and CHO/HAA supplements provided immediately after and 2 h after exercise. AUC was calculated with baseline (pre). Values are mean ± SE. CHO/HAA vs. CHO (*p < 0.05). CHO/LAA vs. CHO (# p < 0.05) - right (Wang. 2015).

As the data in Figure 3 indicates,There was a similar effect in humans as it has previously been observed in rodents. An effect of which you as a SuppVersity reader know that it is probably mostly ascribable to isoleucine (see "The Glucose-Repartitioning Effects of Isoleucine" | more).

Figure 4: Total muscle glycogen storage in the vastus lateralis during the 4-h recovery from intense cycling. Treatments were CHO, CHO/LAA, and CHO/HAA supplements provided immediately after and 2 h after exercise. Values are mean ± SE. CHO/HAA vs. CHO (*p < 0.05 | Wang. 2015)

What is a bit disappointing is the fact that the decrease in blood glucose did not come with an increase in glycogen storage.

As the data in Figure 4 shows, the exact opposite was the case. After 4h of recovery the muscle glycogen levels were not higher, but lower in the amino acid supplemented trials.

For diabetics this wouldnt be a problem. For athletes its yet clearly a disadvantage that the 4-g recovery glycogen levels were lower and significantly lower in the low and high dose amino acid supplement trials.

Eventually this result is surprising because specifically in the high amino acid group (a) the insulin levels, (b) the AS160, a protein that controls insulin mediated glucose uptake, (c) the mTOR & p-AKT levels, (d) the "exercise hormon" levels of serum irisin  and (e) the levels of glycogen synthase which stores carbs in forms of glycogen in the high dose AA trials were significantly elevated.
References:

• Armstrong, Jane L., et al. "Regulation of glycogen synthesis by amino acids in cultured human muscle cells." Journal of biological Chemistry 276.2 (2001): 952-956.
• Bernard, Jeffrey R., et al. "An amino acid mixture improves glucose tolerance and insulin signaling in Sprague-Dawley rats." American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism 300.4 (2011): E752-E760.
• Doi, Masako, et al. "Isoleucine, a potent plasma glucose-lowering amino acid, stimulates glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes." Biochemical and biophysical research communications 312.4 (2003): 1111-1117. 
• Ivy, John L., et al. "Early postexercise muscle glycogen recovery is enhanced with a carbohydrate-protein supplement." Journal of Applied Physiology 93.4 (2002): 1337-1344.
• Ivy, J. L., et al. "Post exercise carbohydrate–protein supplementation: phosphorylation of muscle proteins involved in glycogen synthesis and protein translation." Amino acids 35.1 (2008): 89-97.
• Morifuji, Masashi, et al. "Dietary whey protein increases liver and skeletal muscle glycogen levels in exercise-trained rats." British journal of nutrition 93.04 (2005): 439-445.
• Morifuji, Masashi, et al. "Post-exercise carbohydrate plus whey protein hydrolysates supplementation increases skeletal muscle glycogen level in rats." Amino acids 38.4 (2010): 1109-1115.
• Wang, Bei, et al. "Amino acid mixture acutely improves the glucose tolerance of healthy overweight adults." Nutrition Research 32.1 (2012): 30-38.
• Zawadzki, K. M., B. B. Yaspelkis, and J. L. Ivy. "Carbohydrate-protein complex increases the rate of muscle glycogen storage after exercise." J Appl Physiol 72.5 (1992): 1854-9.

Remember: If anything fructose from beverages (including juices), yet not fructose from whole fruit is a problem. In fact eating whole fruits will decrease your blood lipids and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) inflammation markers.

Fructose is bad for you, right? Right. According to the latest study from the University of Newcastle, the consumption of only one drink containing containing 50 g of either fructose or glucose or sucrose dissolved in water will have detrimental effects on the #1 indicator of whole body inflammation, which is high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

Much to the researchers surprise, though, the same amount of fructose had significant beneficial effects on the plasma lipid levels of the healthy male and female adults (n = 14) between the ages of 18-60 years who were recruited by advertisement and underwent study procedures at the Nutraceuticals Research Group Clinic rooms at the University of Newcastle in Australia.
Since the exclusion criteria were: diagnosed hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, currently on fructose/sugar restricted diet, vegan diet or weight loss program, undergone any surgical procedure for obesity, pregnant or lactating mother, taking lipid-lowering or anti-inflammatory drugs and BMI >30kg/m², the results may well be different in "sicker" individuals, but for the guys and gals who drank the three 50g "sugar" solutions on three different occasions after an overnight fast, the "negative effects" of fructose were far from being conclusive.

Figure 1: Changes in hs-CRP, HDL and LDL in response to the ingestion of the test drinks (Jameel. 2014).

Even if you belong to the ever-increasing numbers of brainwashed fructose haters who believe that fructose and not a general overconsumption of energy was to blame for the obesity epidemic, you will have to admit that the data in Figure 1 leaves the significance of concomitant increases in hs-CRP and significant improvements in the HDL/LDL ratio, as the scientists phrase it, "to be delineated when considering health effects of feeding fructose-rich diets" (Jameel. 2014).
Well, yes, but (a) its only an acute response and (b) while increased levels of hs-CRP have been found to be associated with heart disease (Rifai. 2001; Danesh. 2004), the same can be said for a high LDL/HDL ratio (Fernandez. 2008).

Figure 2: CRP-dependent risk levels for cardiovascular disease according to the American Hear Association.

If we also take into consideration that the baseline hs-CRP level of the subjects was 1.5mg/L and thus low to mid-range for the average Westerner (depending on his or her ethnicity | Albert. 2004), an increase of 10% to a maximal value of 1.65mg/L would not bring them to critical heights of which the Farmingham study says that they start at 3mg/L for Westerners (Wilson. 2005). Thats not ana optimal level, but considering the fact that we are talking about "average Joes and Janes" who probably dont work out, eat whatever they like and give a damn about their sleep hygiene (all three factors have previously been linked to elevated hs-CRP levels) thats not astonishing and has absolutely nothing to do with the ingestion of 50g of fructose.

Furthermore, a comparison of the predictive value of different risk markers for cardiovascular disease by Folsom, et al. (2006) indicates that the hs-CRP values did not add to the prognostic value of the standard risk factors which are age, race, sex, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, diabetes and - you guessed it - total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, which increased by almost 7% while the amount of LDL dropped by maximally 6%. Thus the LDL/HDL ratio decreased from 1.84 to 1.62. Thats a 12% decrease that would be health relevant if the subjects LDL/HDL ratio was not far away from the danger-zone (>5 | see Manninen. 1992), already. Similarly, the total cholesterol to HDL ratio dropped by -1.97 but wasnt in the danger zone before, either.
References:

• Danesh, John, et al. "C-reactive protein and other circulating markers of inflammation in the prediction of coronary heart disease." New England Journal of Medicine 350.14 (2004): 1387-1397. 
• Fernandez, Maria Luz, and Densie Webb. "The LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio as a valuable tool to evaluate coronary heart disease risk." Journal of the American College of Nutrition 27.1 (2008): 1-5.
• Folsom, Aaron R., et al. "An assessment of incremental coronary risk prediction using C-reactive protein and other novel risk markers: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study." Archives of internal medicine 166.13 (2006): 1368-1373. 
• Hermsdorff, Helen Hermana M., et al. "Research Fruit and vegetable consumption and proinflammatory gene expression from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in young adults: a translational study." (2010).
• Jameel, Faizan, et al. "Acute effects of feeding fructose, glucose and sucrose on blood lipid levels and systemic inflammation." Lipids in Health and Disease 13.1 (2014): 195.
• Manninen, Vesa, et al. "Joint effects of serum triglyceride and LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol concentrations on coronary heart disease risk in the Helsinki Heart Study. Implications for treatment." Circulation 85.1 (1992): 37-45.
• Oliveira, A., F. Rodriguez-Artalejo, and C. Lopes. "The association of fruits, vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and fibre intake with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: sex and body mass index interactions." European journal of clinical nutrition 63.11 (2009): 1345-1352. 
• Ravn-Haren, Gitte, et al. "Intake of whole apples or clear apple juice has contrasting effects on plasma lipids in healthy volunteers." European journal of nutrition 52.8 (2013): 1875-1889.
• Rifai, Nader, and Paul M. Ridker. "High-sensitivity C-reactive protein: a novel and promising marker of coronary heart disease." Clinical chemistry 47.3 (2001): 403-411.
• Wilson, Peter WF, et al. "C-reactive protein and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women from the Framingham Heart Study." Archives of internal medicine 165.21 (2005): 2473-2478.