Amp Human PR Sports Lotion

• Performance and power outputB · ½ star
  Claimed: “Supports Performance” (Amazon page title); “PR Lotion delivers a natural electrolyte called bicarb through the skin which simultaneously boosts performance while you’re pushing your body” (Amazon description); “PR Lotion helps to maintain power output” (Amazon gallery image 3); “PR Lotion unlocks bicarb, a natural electrolyte proven to improve muscle function and recovery” (back label, Amazon gallery image 2)
  Credited: Sodium bicarbonate not printed (listed first)

  In placebo-controlled trials of this lotion, 14 team-sport athletes ran 8 repeated sprints about 2% faster (p=0.036) though their jumps did not improve, while trials in cyclists and in a simulated soccer match found no gain in power or sprint times; every trial also used about 0.9 g of lotion per kg of body weight, at least twice the 20–30 g per use implied by the bottle’s “10–15 uses”. PMID 37227399 › PMID 32575069 › PMID 39222921 ›

• EnduranceC · 0 stars
  Claimed: “Supports Performance, Muscle Recovery, & Endurance” (Amazon page title)
  Credited: Sodium bicarbonate not printed (listed first)

  No trial found better endurance: in a repeated-shuttle running test, 14 athletes covered 7% more distance with the lotion than with a placebo, a difference that was not statistically significant (p=0.084), and sprints late in a simulated 90-minute soccer match were no faster than with a placebo. PMID 37227399 › PMID 39222921 › PMID 32575069 ›

• Fights fatigueB · ½ star
  Claimed: “Combats Fatigue” (Amazon page title); “By buffering rising acidity levels in your working muscles, PR Lotion helps to maintain power output, combat fatigue, and decrease post-workout muscle soreness” (Amazon gallery image 3)
  Credited: Sodium bicarbonate not printed (listed first)

  In one trial, athletes rated their effort lower with the lotion than with a placebo after 3 of 8 sprints, but in another, sprint times late in a simulated soccer match were no better than with a placebo. PMID 37227399 › PMID 39222921 ›

• Muscle recovery and sorenessC · 0 stars
  Claimed: “Muscle Recovery” (Amazon page title); “plus it limits muscle soreness over time” (Amazon description); “decrease post-workout muscle soreness” (Amazon gallery image 3); “a natural electrolyte proven to improve muscle function and recovery” (back label, Amazon gallery image 2)
  Credited: Sodium bicarbonate not printed (listed first)

  The one trial that tested recovery (24 soccer players after muscle-damaging sprints) found that the lotion did not speed recovery of soreness, jump height or strength compared with a placebo. PMID 41228456 ›

• Bicarbonate through the skin, buffering muscle acidityB · ½ star
  Claimed: “PR Lotion delivers a natural electrolyte called bicarb through the skin” (Amazon description); “PR Lotion is the world’s first and only lotion that delivers sodium bicarbonate, a natural electrolyte, to your working muscles directly via your skin using patented technology. By buffering rising acidity levels in your working muscles…” (Amazon gallery image 3); “Patented Electrolyte Formula” (Amazon page title)
  Credited: Sodium bicarbonate not printed (listed first)

  Results are mixed: two placebo-controlled trials found no change in blood buffering, one found blood pH slightly higher at half-time of a simulated soccer match, and a resting study of 9 people by researchers with financial ties to the brand found muscle pH rose during 2 hours of application, with a placebo version tested on only 4 people in a follow-up. PMID 32575069 › PMID 37227399 › PMID 39222921 › PMID 36960159 ›

• Bigger training gainsC · 0 stars
  Claimed: “Maximize training gains with bicarb” (front label, Amazon gallery image 1); “We make sure to use some PR Lotion before every workout to ensure getting the most from our training efforts” (Amazon description)
  Credited: Sodium bicarbonate not printed (listed first)

  No trial has tested whether using the lotion over weeks of training leads to bigger gains; every published trial looked at a single workout or a few days of recovery. PMID 32575069 › PMID 37227399 › PMID 39222921 › PMID 41228456 ›

• Temporary pain relief (menthol 0.5%)B · ½ star
  Claimed: “Drug Facts … Active Ingredient Menthol 0.5% … Purpose Pain relieving sports lotion … Use for the temporary relief of pain” (back label, Amazon gallery image 2)
  Credited: Menthol 0.5% (Drug Facts active ingredient)

  We found no trial of menthol at this lotion’s 0.5%; trials of stronger menthol gels are mixed: a 4% gel eased carpal-tunnel pain more than a placebo gel in 10 workers, while a 3.5% gel for knee arthritis and a gel combining 3% menthol with the anti-inflammatory diclofenac for ankle sprains did no better than placebo. PMID 25298894 › PMID 28345425 › PMID 22976810 ›

Third-party testing (checked 2026-10-14): Informed Sport: could not be searched; Informed Choice: not listed; NSF Certified for Sport: not listed; BSCG: not listed; EWG VERIFIED: not listed; MADE SAFE: not listed; Clean Label Project: not listed

Competitors compared (7, checked 2026-10-14): Charley Magnesium Sport Gel for Athletes and Active Individuals (2 oz.), EPSOM-IT Soothing Muscle Magnesium Lotion, 8 fl oz, MagneSport Topical Magnesium Balm for Athletic Recovery, 4 oz, TNT Pro Ignite Sweat Cream, 6.5 oz, FANSHI Hot Sweat Cream, 2 x 4 fl oz, iON Performance Creatine Muscle Rub (Athlete Warmup Rub), 2 oz, Surpass Magnesium Recovery Gel, 6.76 oz. Sodium bicarbonate as the lead active of a leave-on lotion (listed first, ahead of water, in a poloxamer 407, lecithin and isopropyl palmitate base) appears in none of the 7: Charley and MagneSport use magnesium chloride, EPSOM-IT magnesium sulfate with arnica, Surpass magnesium chloride with magnesium aspartate, zinc, copper and menthol, FANSHI capsicum, menthol, methyl salicylate, camphor, caffeine and L-carnitine, iON creatine with cayenne, and TNT names only hemp oil and prints no ingredient list (so bicarbonate's absence there rests on its listing's silence). The menthol it shares with FANSHI and Surpass is its minor active (0.5%). The difference bears on the claimed function (buffering muscle acidity for performance); whether it works is graded under clinical evidence. Not found in 7 competitors as of 14 Oct 2026; 8 Amazon searches that day (including 'sodium bicarbonate lotion' and 'topical sodium bicarbonate cream athletes') showed no other topical bicarbonate product.

Prices compared, per mL of product, counting 1 g as 1 mL (the set mixes products sold by weight, like this 300 g lotion, with products sold by volume). Amazon one-time prices checked 2026-10-14: this product $0.12 (300g Bottle (title); gallery g01 prints "10.6 oz (300 g)"; Amazon size field "10.5 Ounce (Pack of 1)" at $34.99); Charley Magnesium Sport Gel for Athletes and Active Individuals (2 oz.) $0.51, EPSOM-IT Soothing Muscle Magnesium Lotion, Epsom Salt, Arnica Cream, 1-Pack (8 Fl Oz) $0.08, MagneSport Topical Magnesium Balm for Athletic Recovery - 4oz Jar $0.23, TNT Pro Ignite Sweat Cream - Pre-Workout Hot Gel for Firming & Tightening $0.13, FANSHI 2PCS Hot Sweat Cream - Natural Workout Enhancer for Muscle Warm-Up & Skin Tightening $0.06, Creatine Muscle Rub iON Performance Athlete Warmup Rub with Cayenne, Creatine, Shea Butter and Orange Essential Oil $0.32, Surpass Magnesium Recovery Gel 6.76 oz | Zechstein Magnesium Boosted by Sepitonic 3M | Cooling Comfort, Muscle Recovery & Relaxation $0.08; median $0.13, so this product costs 0.90× the median.

How we rate. Six criteria, one star each. Clinical evidence (on skin): each claim the product makes is graded for its active applied to the skin, at this product's concentration: A (1) randomized, controlled trials on skin show the effect; B (½) human evidence on skin only at higher concentrations, without a control group, with mixed results, or on stand-in measures; C (0) no human evidence on skin (lab, animal or swallowed-only evidence, or unpublished brand studies). The grades are averaged. Third-party testing: listed in a certifier's public database (1), or batch certificates or a safety test report from a named lab (½). No synthetic dyes (1). Fragrance-free and low-allergen: no fragrance, essential oils, labelled fragrance allergens or high-risk preservatives (1); no added fragrance, but an essential oil or a labelled fragrance allergen (½). Formulation: a difference that matters for its claims, found in none of the leading competitors (1), or only partly (½). Price: the cost per millilitre (or gram) at or below the median of the leading competitors (1), up to 50% above it (½), on Amazon prices read the same day. Rated 2026-10-14; every score was checked against its sources by a reviewer who did not draft it.