Electrolytes – Do we need them?

Electrolytes – Do we need them?

What are electrolytes?

Electrolytes are minerals that have an electrical charge, and their role is regulate body functions within the body. Electrolytes are key to health and performance and are involved in muscle contraction, nerve transmission, regulating metabolism and maintaining blood pressure. They also have an essential role in fluid balance and hydration. It’s important to have the correct electrolyte and fluid balance pre, during and post exercise to maximise performance. The key role of Electrolytes is to retain fluid and keep you hydrated for longer. The key electrolytes for athletes are sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium as they are lost during sweat.

Hydration and exercising

When exercising the level of hydration can have a negative impact on performance. Studies have shown that dehydration of as little as 2% of the body mass (that is a loss of just 1.4 kg in a 70kg athlete) can negatively affect performance. Key performance indicators such as power output in cycling, decision making in football and reaction time in team sports have all been impaired through a 2% decrease in bodyweight from fluid loss. Moreover, athletes often have higher sweat rates and electrolyte loss, which increases the chances of cramping and fatigue. Its critical to pre hydrate, re hydrate and maintain hydration with fluids and electrolytes.

When should you take electrolytes?

Pre exercise or during exercise – This is to combat the higher sweat and electrolyte losses in intense training sessions. Due to the potential need of a carbohydrate drinks during high intensity exercise, use an electrolyte tablet 1 hour prior to training instead of during exercise.

Post exercise – rehydrating with electrolytes post-training is essential in combating muscle cramps for your second training session later in the day. Water alone is inefficient in rehydration, which is why the addition of electrolytes is so important. You should start rehydrating as soon as you finish exercising and aim to supplement with a cocktail of electrolytes containing 320-360mg of sodium and 50-100mg of potassium. This could be found in food or a HYDRO+ electrolyte supplement at vita sport.

Further considerations when taking electrolyte tablets

Type of exercise – A big factor that you should take into consideration is also the type of exercise you are doing. For Low-intensity exercise (E.g yoga or walking) water should be enough to maintain hydration levels as the sweat rate is minimal. If you are doing longer or more intense exercise, you should supplement with electrolytes during and after training to prevent cramping and maintain performance.

Climate – You should also take into consideration the environmental factors that will affect the quantity of sweat, and electrolytes lost during exercise. Training and competing in high temperatures and in high altitudes where the air is “dryer” will increase the need for electrolytes. Due to these climate factors, dehydration will occur faster, therefore performance will be impaired much faster in a cooler environment.

Individual differences – Different individuals have different sweat rates. if you are a heavy sweater, it’s likely that you are going to lose more fluid during exercise than other athletes. If this is the case, you should start your training with some electrolytes to help retain the fluid you consume pre-exercise.

Travelling by plane – Due to the air con on the plane creating a “dryer” environment dehydration can occur faster. Moreover, a higher air pressure at altitude in the sky can increase urine output. Lastly, due to inconvenience of not wanting to go to the toilet often, athletes typically consume less fluids during a flight. Considering all three factors there is a higher need for electrolyte consumption during plane travel.

Hydration tablets

Because focusing on the right quantity of electrolytes can be hard, one easy solution is choosing supplements that contain the correct balance of electrolytes. That is why supplement tablets like Hydro+ from Vita sports can be the perfect solution for busy athletes. Containing the perfect amount of all essential electrolytes and is easily dissolved in water promoting hydration and combating fatigue.