Sodium citrate and upper-body sprint performance in trained wrestlers
What it found
Sodium citrate did not improve peak or average power output across four sprint tests in 11 trained wrestlers.
It did lower how hard the exercise felt and changed some blood markers.
What they found
Studies in people
Power output unchanged
Peak power and average power stayed about the same whether the wrestlers took sodium citrate or the dummy pill. This was true across all four sprint tests.
Lower perceived effort
The wrestlers rated the exercise as feeling less hard when they took sodium citrate compared to the dummy pill.
Blood chemistry changes
Sodium citrate raised blood pH and bicarbonate levels before and after the tests. Blood lactate was also higher after the first test when they took the supplement.
Plasma volume maintained
The liquid part of the blood dropped more when wrestlers took the dummy pill than when they took sodium citrate.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that sodium citrate changes blood chemistry, limits drops in plasma volume, raises blood lactate and lowers perceived effort in trained wrestlers.
- They note that these changes do not lead to better power output during repeated sprint tests meant to mimic a competition day.
How it was done
Wrestling matches cause a large build-up of acid in the body. The researchers wanted to see if taking sodium citrate could help wrestlers keep up their power across several matches in one day.
Eleven trained wrestlers took either sodium citrate at 900 mg per kg of body weight or a dummy pill over 17 hours. They then completed four six-minute upper-body sprint tests with 30-minute rest breaks between each one. Each wrestler tried both the real supplement and the dummy pill on separate occasions.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This trial only looked at trained male wrestlers doing short upper-body sprints. It cannot show what sodium citrate does for other people or other types of exercise.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Tartu, Estonia
The paper
- Title
- Dietary sodium citrate supplementation does not improve upper-body anaerobic performance in trained wrestlers in simulated competition-day conditions
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Aedma M, Timpmann S, Ööpik V (2015). Dietary sodium citrate supplementation does not improve upper-body anaerobic performance in trained wrestlers in simulated competition-day conditions. European journal of applied physiology. doi:10.1007/s00421-014-3025-4PubMed 25327884DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error