Login | September 08, 2024
Choosing your electrolyte
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: July 22, 2024
The heat is most definitely on now.
And if you’re an outdoor enthusiast these high temps mean you have to be that much more vigilant about your hydration strategies when outdoors training, racing or participating in physical activities.
Indeed, proper hydration is a critical component for not only performing well, but also for performing safely.
Thus, solving that ever present hydration conundrum is something you’ll want to undertake right now if you haven’t already solved it.
So it turns out the kind of heat and humidity we’ve been experiencing is such that even when we’re just performing normal outdoor activities our bodies can still end up in a state of fluid loss.
Throw in various forms of moderate to vigorous exercise and our bodies are forced to sweat that much more in order to cool us off, which causes a higher loss of fluids, which can rapidly lead to dehydration, which can more easily send you into a state of electrolyte imbalance.
And it’s this electrolyte imbalance thing, at the very least, that can affect performance, and at the very worst that can cause cramping, vomiting, diarrhea and even death.
So what is it about electrolytes that makes them such a big deal?
They’re essential minerals - like super essential - and thus they’re very necessary in helping to regulate a host of critical bodily functions.
Some of these critical functions include fluid balance, blood acidity and blood pressure, and nerve and muscle function.
And as I’ve learned over my decades of racing, training and performing vigorous activities in hot weather, poor electrolyte strategies and/or inferior electrolyte products can absolutely ruin your day and maybe even land you in the ER.
Now oftentimes when it comes to electrolytes, people just aren’t sure about what products to use since there’s such a plethora of choices out there - with some far, far less effective than others.
So the first thing you’ll want to consider when choosing an electrolyte product is to consider your needs.
For instance, what activities are you performing, how long and how intensely will you be performing them, are you a heavy excreter (do you sweat a lot), and what is you fitness level and health status?
All of those questions are going to impact the kind of electrolyte product you’ll want to use.
For example, serious endurance athletes who engage in long, high-intensity workouts/races will need a higher quantity of, and a higher quality electrolyte product than people who engage in shorter/lower intensity exercises/activities.
Take the typical electrolyte sports drink, the kind you can buy in most all grocery stores, they’re notorious for containing a lot of sugar and not a whole lot of electrolytes.
Now that’s not to say these products are bad, they’re just not that well balanced, but they’d still work just fine for folks who are doing general outdoor and recreational activities.
Now for the more serious athletes, that’s where the higher end “balanced” electrolyte products come in, the ones that have less sugar and a higher quality mix of essential electrolytes - sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
So if you’re discriminating about the product you’re buying, read the labels.
Some of the lower end products contain artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and a lot of sugar.
What’s more you might also want check to see if the product is manufactured by a reputable company and has undergone testing for quality and safety.
Now most all of these products, both lower and higher end, are available as tablets, powders and drinks.
So yet another consideration you’ll want to make when choosing your electrolyte product is what form best suits your needs.
I’m a big fan of the powers because I can mix up quantities that better fit the intensity and duration of the activity I’ll be doing.