On February 14, Grant Fisher stepped off the track at Boston University, having just shattered the world record for the indoor 5,000 meters. It wasn’t entirely unexpected. The 27-year-old American distance runner had been in peak form, already breaking the 3,000-meter world record just six days prior in New York City.
He also benefited from cutting-edge track surfaces and Nike’s advanced running spikes, which are equipped with energy-returning carbon plates and high-tech foams.
Yet when asked about his recent streak of record-breaking performances, Fisher cited an unexpectedly simple factor—one likely sitting in your kitchen pantry.
He had started taking baking soda.
“I think it makes an impact,” Fisher told reporters. “Even if it’s just 0.1%, that’s still huge. And if it’s just mental, I’ll take that too.”
Baking soda: The new secret weapon
Fisher is among many elite runners embracing sodium bicarbonate—called “bicarb” in athletic circles—as a legal performance enhancer.
The use of a specialized bicarbonate supplement, developed by Swedish company Maurten, has become so widespread that at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, two-thirds of medalists in events ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters were using it. At the 2024 Olympics, Maurten reported that over two-thirds of all running medalists had incorporated it into their regimens, with some events seeing every finalist using the supplement.
The impact of sodium bicarbonate was evident in February when a series of world records fell rapidly across distances from 1,500 meters to the half-marathon. While advancements in footwear, track surfaces, and recovery science have all contributed to this surge in performance, bicarbonate has emerged as an overlooked but potent contributor.
Mississippi State University head track coach Chris Woods believes that world records will continue to tumble, even forecasting a once-unthinkable milestone: a woman breaking the four-minute barrier in the mile.
“I genuinely believe we’ll see a woman run sub-4 in our lifetime,” Woods said.
How bicarbonate works
During intense exercise, hydrogen ions build up in muscles, increasing acidity and leading to fatigue and the burning sensation athletes experience during extreme exertion. As a base, sodium bicarbonate acts as a buffer, neutralizing acidity and delaying muscle fatigue.
Baking soda supplementation is completely legal under World Anti-Doping Agency regulations, and even World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, acknowledges its effectiveness as a performance supplement.
However, there has historically been one major downside: gastrointestinal distress. Athletes trying to harness its benefits often suffer from nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, making it a high-risk option before races.
“It didn’t work well in the past because a significant number of athletes couldn’t even make it to the starting line without severe stomach issues,” said Steve Magness, a coach and former elite runner.
Fisher himself had heard countless horror stories about the side effects, which kept him from experimenting with bicarbonate until after the Olympic cycle. But once he did, he found that his stomach tolerated it just fine.
Maurten’s game-changing innovation
Maurten has revolutionized bicarbonate supplementation by developing a hydrogel-based delivery system. Their technology encases sodium bicarbonate in a gel-like substance, allowing it to bypass the stomach and dissolve in the intestine, significantly reducing the risk of nausea or other digestive issues.
This innovation has made bicarbonate a viable option for more athletes.
The company gained credibility when marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge used its products to set multiple world records. Other elite athletes, including Olympic 800-meter champion Keely Hodgkinson, have followed suit.
The benefits of bicarbonate were traditionally thought to be most effective for short races lasting up to 10 minutes. However, a recent European Journal of Applied Physiology study challenged that notion. Researchers at Edge Hill University in the UK found that when male cyclists took Maurten’s bicarbonate product during a 40-kilometer trial—close to a marathon distance—they experienced a 1.4% performance boost with minimal side effects. Over an hour of racing, this translated to nearly a one-minute improvement.
“This was small but significant,” said lead researcher Eli Spencer Shannon. “What was especially interesting was that athletes could push harder without increasing heart rate or oxygen consumption, which suggests increased muscle contractility.”
Bicarbonate’s growing adoption among top runners
Not all world record holders use bicarbonate. American Yared Nuguse, who briefly held the indoor mile record in February before Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke it days later, has dismissed it due to its taste.
However, many of his competitors, including 800-meter world champion Marco Arop, have embraced it.
Two days before last summer’s Olympic semifinal in the men’s 800 meters, Arop approached Woods in France and stated his intent to try bicarbonate. Knowing that many of his rivals had been using it successfully, he didn’t want to be left behind.
“This was the pinnacle of our sport,” Woods recalled. “He didn’t want to leave anything to chance. He wanted it even if it was just a 1% advantage.”
Arop ultimately secured a silver medal in the fourth-fastest 800-meter ever run, missing gold by just 0.01 seconds to Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi—who, according to Maurten, was also using their bicarbonate supplement. With Wanyonyi coming within 0.2 seconds of the 800-meter world record, it may be only a matter of time before that mark also falls.
The future of performance enhancement
While bicarbonate contributes to the rapid evolution of running times, it’s just one piece of a broader puzzle. The sport is experiencing a “golden era,” as Woods put it, thanks to various factors: revolutionary shoe technology, improved track surfaces, enhanced coaching strategies, and unprecedented access to training data.
Today’s “shoe war” drives brands to develop more efficient footwear, packed with super-light foams and carbon-fiber plates designed to maximize energy return. Meanwhile, indoor tracks—particularly the famed Boston University facility—have been optimized with wider, banked corners and wooden understructures that provide extra bounce, effectively acting as trampolines for runners.
Social media and global connectivity have also transformed the landscape. Athletes can now study training techniques from across the world, pushing each other to new performance levels.
With all these advancements, running records that once seemed untouchable are now being rewritten at an unprecedented rate. Surprisingly, a humble kitchen staple may be crucial in pushing the limits of human endurance.
“What we’ve seen in recent years has completely changed our perception of what’s possible,” Magness said. “The game has fundamentally shifted.”
