Sodium Bicarb and muscle fx in CKD- new study

I dont know how many of you saw this new paper from Bill Mitch’s group in Texas. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31699517 It was a multisite RCT examining effects of bicarb supplementation on physical function.   Primary outcome was change in physical function measured by the Sit-to-stand test. Results were negative (no effect of bicarb on physical function).   Any thoughts on this study?   Will this effect the GREX initiative to investigate this question?   Anxious to get a forum discussion going.  lets do this! Ken