Baking Soda Outperformed Beetroot Juice in Every Major Lift—See the Surprising Week-by-Week Results from This 7-Week Strength Experiment

 It’s probably the last thing you’d expect to help you boost gym performance: regular old baking soda sitting in your pantry.

But when popular fitness YouTuber Will Tennyson gave a combo of beetroot juice and baking soda a perfect five-star rating in a recent experiment, it raised eyebrows.

He claimed it helped him break through a stubborn plateau—something midlife lifters know all too well.

Inspired by this, Lawrence from Fit and 50 ran a seven-week test to determine what really works: baking soda, beetroot juice, or both combined.

Here’s what he discovered, why baking soda might be an underrated performance enhancer for people 50+, and how to try it safely for yourself.

Baking soda led to the best gains over beetroot juice

After experimenting with different supplements across seven training weeks, baking soda came out on top—for both performance and consistency.

During week four, when he used baking soda alone, Lawrence reported meaningful improvements on five out of six exercises. Even on the toughest lifts, like the shoulder press, he added two reps.

“This week was actually my best of the whole experiment,” he said. “Cable curls bounced back, and I made solid progress across the board.”

In contrast, beetroot juice didn’t consistently improve lifts. The only standout result was on chest press during week six, where he added three reps. Leg curls actually saw a decline.

What’s the science behind baking soda as a supplement?

Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, helps maintain muscle pH levels. During high-intensity exercise, muscle acid builds up and causes fatigue. Baking soda acts as a buffer, delaying this fatigue and helping muscles perform longer.

This is particularly useful during short, explosive movements like resistance training or sprinting. Several studies support its effectiveness when timed properly and taken in the right dose.

According to research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, ingesting baking soda at 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight roughly 60 to 90 minutes before exercise can improve high-intensity performance without serious side effects when done occasionally.

However, some people report gastrointestinal distress, especially when taken on an empty stomach. Lawrence mitigated this by taking his dose with a meal and allowing it to digest for over an hour before training—and had no issues, even at nearly 60 years old.

Here’s how he structured the 7-week test

• Week 1 — Baseline test: No supplements. Measured pre- and post-workout for pump and performance.
• Week 2 — Combo (Beetroot + Baking Soda): Added four reps on cable curls. Other lifts didn’t change. No noticeable pump boost.
• Week 3 — No supplements: Performance dipped, losing five reps on curls.
• Week 4 — Baking Soda only: Best results overall. Gains across five of six exercises.
• Week 5 — No supplements: Mixed results. Small gains and losses. Highlight: +10 lbs on chest press.
• Week 6 — Beetroot juice only: Underwhelming. Chest press improved, but leg curls dropped. Other movements unchanged.
• Week 7 — Retest week: No supplements, measured final improvements after six prior weeks.

At the end of the seven weeks, Lawrence saw measurable, above-average improvements in major lifts—particularly on the cable rope curls and chest press.

What about the combination of beetroot juice and baking soda?

Initially, the combo sparked hope when Lawrence added four reps on a smaller isolation movement (cable curls). But when compared to baking soda on its own, it didn’t outperform.

One possible reason? The beetroot juice he used had lemon juice as a preservative. Since lemon is acidic and baking soda is alkaline, the two might have chemically neutralized each other to some degree.

While more research is needed on combining these two supplements, this interaction could explain the relatively muted effects during week two.

Is beetroot juice still worth considering?

Beetroot juice is a well-regarded performance enhancer in endurance sports due to its high nitrate content. These nitrates help increase nitric oxide production, improve blood flow, and support endurance capacity.

A 2017 study in Journal of Applied Physiology found that nitrate supplementation improves muscle efficiency during low- to moderate-intensity work, like cycling or long-distance running—not necessarily lifting weights.

So while beet juice may help runners or cyclists, it might not yield the same benefit to hypertrophy or maximal strength efforts, especially not in short durations.

Should lifters over 50 try baking soda?

For older athletes, fatigue resistance becomes more important with age as recovery slows and muscle mass is harder to maintain.

Supplementing with baking soda could offer a low-cost, pantry-based method to push harder in workouts without needing stimulants or exotic compounds.

But always follow safe dosing protocols:

How to take baking soda properly:

• Dosage: 0.3 g per kg of body weight (for a 180-lb person, that’s around 25 grams).
• Timing: Take 60–90 minutes before your workout.
• Method: Mix with food or a carb-rich meal to reduce stomach distress.
• Frequency: Use no more than once or twice per week.

If side effects like cramping or bloating occur, reduce the dosage or discontinue.

What are the bigger takeaways?

• Baking soda was the most effective supplement for breaking plateaus in resistance training over the course of the seven-week test.
• Beetroot juice provided some benefits but lacked consistency for strength-based exercises.
• Combining baking soda and beetroot juice didn’t show superior results and may have had conflicting chemical interactions.
• Performance enhancements varied by exercise, with smaller muscles like biceps seeing dramatic increases when baking soda was used.

“Next time I’m stuck on a plateau—and you might want to try this, too—I’ll go to the pantry and grab some baking soda,” Lawrence said.

When used correctly, it could be the cheapest and most surprisingly effective supplement you already own.

Want to see how a high-fat diet impacted hormones and blood work? Watch Lawrence’s next experiment. Until then, keep training—and have fun while you do it.