The gender dependent influence of sodium bicarbonate supplementation on anaerobic power and specific performance in female and male wrestlers

The aim of this study was the assessment of progressive low-dose sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO(3)) supplementation on the anaerobic indices in two bouts of Wingate tests (WT) separated by wrestling-specific performance test and assessing the gender differences in response. Fifty-one (18 F) wrestlers completed a randomized trial of either a NaHCO(3) (up to 100 mg·kg(−1)) or a placebo for 10 days. Before and after treatment, athletes completed an exercise protocol that comprised, in sequence, the first WT(1), dummy throw test (DT), and second WT(2). The number of completed throws increased significantly in males from 19.3 ± 2.6 NaHCO(3pre) to 21.7 ± 2.9 NaHCO(3post). ΔWT(2)-WT(1) improved particularly in the midsection of 30-s WT on NaHCO(3). However, no significant differences were found in peak power (PP), power drop (PD) and average power (AP) (analyzed separately for each WT), and ΔWT(2)-WT(1) in PP and PD. Interaction with gender was significant for AP, PP and PD, every second of WT(1) and WT(2), as well as DT test. In conclusion, our study suggests that the response to NaHCO(3) may be gender-specific and progressive low-dose NaHCO(3) supplementation allows the advantageous strengthening of wrestling-specific performance in males. It can also lead to maintenance of high anaerobic power mainly in the midsection of the 30-s Wingate test.