- Men's Fitness >
- Fitness Tips >
- Why it's important to replace electrolytes when you train
Why it's important to replace electrolytes when you train
We all know to replace electrolytes when riding in the heat, and all good sports drinks will contain them. But what exactly are they?
Electrolytes are clever things. These critical salts and minerals regulate thirst and enable your muscles and nerves to function. They’re present in our body tissues, muscles and blood and conduct electricity in the body, passing chemical messages and regulating the body’s fluid levels. The balance of these salts and minerals needs to be just right to help our muscles work at their peak and optimise our riding performance. Accredited sports dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker takes us through the chemistry of hydration.
What are electrolytes?
“Electrolytes are positively and negatively charged salts and minerals that allow messages to be passed from the brain to the muscles,” says Schenker. “Without them, our muscles will cramp, become weak, and lose power.” However, too high a concentration will make you feel sick, dizzy and can lead to coma or even death in extreme circumstances. “In the body, electrolytes take the form of sodium, potassium, calcium and bicarbonate,” says Schenker, “but in our sweat we lose more sodium, so it’s the most important to replace on a ride.”
How much sodium should you consume?
Usual blood levels for sodium are around 3,300mg per litre. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends that adults should consume 1,500mg sodium each day to replace the amount lost. For endurance athletes this figure increases – but to what?
“The variation in sweat rate and sweat sodium content between individuals is so large that average values are largely meaningless,” says Sports Exercise and Health Sciences Professor Ron Maughan. For example, in an average athlete, the sodium concentration of one litre of sweat can range from 800 to 3,600mg, but an unfit person’s sweat can contain up to 4,500mg of sodium.
What makes you lose sodium
- Clothes that don’t breathe.
- Eating more salt: you’ll sweat more sodium.
- Genetics: are your family heavy sweaters?
- Athleticism: the sweat of a very athletic person is likely to contain fewer electrolytes.
- Temperature: hotter environments up your sweat rate.
Sodium and Salt
Salt is 40 per cent sodium and the IOM states 5,800mg (one teaspoon, with 2,300mg of sodium) is the upper level of salt consumption per day. High salt intake is linked to elevated blood pressure, heart disease and strokes. But a study of runners showed that low sodium blood content (under 135mg per litre) caused vomiting, headaches and seizures. Understanding sweat rate (see box) and keeping your intake of salt and sodium balanced is therefore key.
Learn the right way to hydrate when you're training and what you should be drinking when you do.
This feature is brought to you by Get Into Cycling from Future Publishing, the publishers of bikeradar.com
Related articles
Related gallery
- PreviousTop 6 home workouts
On body+soul TODAY
Men's Fitness Galleries
Your chance to Win
Win 1 of 5 pairs of Sticks & Sparrow sunglasses
Step out in style with a new pair of eco-friendly sunglasses from Sticks &...
Comment+Rate
Members only
You must be logged in to comment on this article.
Not a body+soul member? Join Us