What’s up with sports drinks?

Drinking an adequate amount of water is vital for peak performance. Specifically in the winter, when indoor training sessions leave puddles of sweat on the floor on a daily basis, it’s easy to operate constantly dehydrated. If you’re logging hours of training every day, the recommendation of eight glasses of water per day is likely insufficient. For most athletes, thirst is sufficient notice of the minor dehydration and prompts consumption of water, but you can do better.

For most workouts, drinking regularly should be sufficient to keep you hydrated. Get into the habit of drinking regularly, and by regularly I mean before you’re thirsty. Every fifteen minutes take a swig from the bottle. Regular consumption will prevent dehydration from sneaking up on you on hot days. If you’re training for an hour or less, water will do fine. If you’re training longer than an hour, you need to start considering electrolytes.

Electrolyte is the buzz word when it comes to athlete hydration, but what exactly is an electrolyte? Why are they important to hydration? Electrolytes are molecules which break into smaller, electrically charged ions when dissolved in water. Because water is a polar molecule, ions have a tendency to hold water around them. Our bodies use ions to maintain the proper balance of water in specific body tissues, regulate blood pressure, and for most physiological processes. Sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and chloride are some of the most common electrolytes (table salt is sodium chloride).

When you exercise your body loses water, primarily through sweat. Replacing that water is the goal of in exercise hydration. When you’re sweating a lot, like during a particularly strenuous and long training session or race, you’re also losing electrolytes. As discussed above, these little ions are used to maintain the balance of liquids in your cells, blood and are involved in numerous physiological processes. In fact, as you become very deficient in electrolytes through excessive sweat, you may not tolerate water well and struggle to hydrate quickly without first consuming something containing electrolytes.

This isn’t to say you need an electrolyte drink every time you head out the door. Some brands contain quite a bit of sugar, which makes them easy to overdo. Your body manages heat differently based on your size, age, and gender. Men tend to sweat more than women. Young and old people manage heat worse than adults. Larger people tend to sweat more than smaller people. But all these are trends, so listen to your body. If you’re noticing lots of sweat and you’re training longer than an hour, consider adding electrolytes to your drinking water.

Below is a simple electrolyte drink recipe retrieved from Lifehacker:

Simple Electrolyte Drink:

• 1 Quart water
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of table salt alternative (Potassium based, like nu-salt)
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Mix these together and refrigerate before drinking. Measure all ingredients, slight variations can change the effectiveness of the mix, or make it even harmful.