Effects of sodium bicarbonate ingestion on hyperventilation and recovery of blood pH after a short-term intense exercise

To determine the relationship between hyperventilation and recovery of blood pH during recovery from a heavy exercise, short-term intense exercise (STIE) tests were performed after human subjects ingested 0.3 g.kg(-1) body mass of either NaHCO3 (Alk) or CaCO3 (Pla). Ventilation (VE)-CO2 output (VCO2) slopes during recovery following STIE were significantly lower in Alk than in Pla, indicating that hyperventilation is attenuated under the alkalotic condition. However, this reduction of the slope was the result of unchanged VE and a small increase in VCO2. A significant correlation between VE and blood pH was found during recovery in both conditions. While there was no difference between the VE-pH slopes in the two conditions, VE at the same pH was higher in Alk than in Pla. Furthermore, the values of pH during recovery in both conditions increased toward the preexercise levels of each condition. Thus, although VE-VCO2 slope was decreased under the alkalotic condition, this could not be explained by the ventilatory depression attributed to increase in blood pH. We speculate that hyperventilation after the end of STIE is determined by the VE-pH relationship that was set before STIE or the intensity of the exercise performed.