Jordan,
I feel like the evidence supporting oral sodium bicarbonate as an ergogenic aid for endurance performance is fairly strong (e.g.:Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate on High-Intensity Endurance Performance in Cyclists: A Double-Blind, Randomized Cross-Over Trial - PMC). While good to know, this doesn’t seem particularly useful to me given the extent of GI distress people tend to report when ingesting an ergogenic dose of sodium bicarbonate.
I’ve seen ads for a number of topical sodium bicarbonate products lately, and was curious if you were aware of any references supporting the use such products to enhance endurance performance. All I’ve been able to find are white papers from the manufacturers of such products (https://secureservercdn.net/50.62.88…ort_V9-1-2.pdf). It’s also interesting that a lot of these products list menthol as the active ingredient, and sodium bicarbonate as an inactive ingredient. I’m very skeptical that bicarbonate would be transmitted through the skin and into the blood in any meaningful way…should I be powdering my undercarriage with baking soda?