Using Baking Soda to train through Lactic Acid burn? (Read 1774 times)

This thread is evidence that runners will try the craziest crap in the pursuit of getting faster. My heart is warmed.

Still, this seems much more tame than giving up one testicle.

With your body's desire to stay in a relative PH balance, would taking apple cider vinegar somehow inhibit your body from generating lactic acid? (again, there is probably another obvious answer to this)

No. You will just pee out the excess acetic acid (from the vinegar) fairly quickly.

What if youre dehydrated?

Then you will die. You continue to make urine even when dehydrated. When severely dehydrated, your kidneys may shut down. Then you have bigger problems...

Why, thank you. I try to be both logical and lateral while maintaining a stiff upper lip.

Frostbite?

I've always wondered about that expression. I can open a can of sardines, no problem. But where does one find these canned worms??

I hate to open up this can of worms, but lactic acid doesn't cause the burn. That's a myth.

I used the term lactic acid (lactate) for simplicity. I believe that it is the excess buildup of hydrogen ions that causes the burn. Lactate is generated by the muscles and used as a fuel. The actual physiology is complicated, and I don't quite understand it very well myself. Lactate Shuttle theory and all.. That wasn't the purpose of why I asked about this baking soda myth. The real question should be, does consuming a Base improve the lactate system? Or something along those lines.

IThe actual physiology is complicated, and I don't quite understand it very well myself.

I have a great link on this, on the office computer though and not here. Basically LA isn't directly usable by the body, it needs to be oxidized to pyruvate first. ATP produced via anaerobic glycolysis (sp) is done without oxygen, but it takes oxygen to converte the lactate back to usable fuel. Paradoxally, it takes about twice the oxygen to produce the same amount of ATP anaerobically than aerobically. Which is why you're better off building those aerobic slow twitchers which produce cheap energy. Without oxygen, your muscles could produce energy for about 90 seconds, so you have 90 seconds worth for 'free' and anything else you tax beyond your aerobic capacity comes at the cost of extra oxygen.