Short-term co-ingestion of creatine and sodium bicarbonate improves anaerobic performance in trained taekwondo athletes

Background: Creatine (CR) and sodium bicarbonate (SB) alone improve anaerobic performance. However, the ergogenic effects of CR and SB co-ingestion on taekwondo anaerobic performance remains unknown. Methods: Forty trained taekwondo athletes (21 +/- 1 y.; 180.5 +/- 7.3 cm; 72.7 +/- 8.6 kg) were randomized to: (i) CR and SB (CR + SB; 20 g of CR+ 0.5 g center dot kg(- 1)center dot d(- 1) of SB), (ii) CR, (iii) SB, (iv) placebo (PLA), or (v) control (CON) for 5 days. Before and after supplementation, participants completed 3 bouts of a Taekwondo Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test (TAIKT) to determine changes in peak power (PP), mean power (MP), and fatigue index (FI). Blood lactate (BL) was measured before, immediately following, and 3 min post-TAIKT. Results: PP and MP increased over time (P < 0.05) following CR + SB, CR, and SB ingestion, with no changes in the PLA or CON groups. There was a greater increase over time in MP following CR + SB (Absolute Delta: 1.15 +/- 0.28 W center dot kg(67)) compared to CR (Absolute Delta: 0.43 +/- 0.33 W center dot kg(67); P < 0.001) and SB (Absolute Delta: 0.73 +/- 0.24 W center dot kg(67); P = 0.03). There were no significant time and condition effect for FI (P > 0.05). BL increased following exercise across all groups; however, CR + SB and SB post-exercise BL was lower compared to CR, PLA, and CON (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Short-term CR and SB alone enhance TAIKT performance in trained taekwondo athletes. Co-ingestion of CR and SB augments MP compared to CR and SB alone, with similar PP improvements.