When it comes to staying on top of your fitness game, nutrition plays a pivotal role. Athletes often focus on carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, but there’s another critical component that’s frequently overlooked: electrolytes. These essential minerals are key to maintaining your body’s balance, especially when you’re running 30+ miles a week or working out 5 times a week. So lets talk about why electrolytes are crucial for athletes and how to use them effectively.
Why Do Athletes Need Electrolytes?
Electrolytes are a group of minerals, including sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride, that have an electric charge. They play a significant role in maintaining various bodily functions, and for athletes, the need for electrolytes becomes especially apparent. Here’s why:
1. Sweat Loss: Exercising, particularly in hot and humid conditions, leads to profuse sweating. Along with water, you lose essential electrolytes through sweat. This can result in dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, leading to muscle cramps, fatigue, and a decrease in performance. On a hot day, your body can produce up to 2L of sweat per hour and you can only consume around 1.2L of water per hour. This can lead to severe complications like hyponatremia - low sodium levels in the blood - if you only consume water without any electrolytes.
2. Muscle Function: Electrolytes are vital for muscle function. Sodium and potassium, in particular, help with muscle contraction and relaxation. An imbalance can lead to muscle cramps, weakness, and even more severe issues like hyponatremia (like mentioned above).
3. Nervous System: Electrolytes are crucial for nerve signaling. Maintaining the right balance helps ensure proper communication between the brain and muscles. When your electrolyte levels are off, you might experience coordination problems and muscle spasms.
How to Use Electrolytes for Training
Now that we understand the importance of electrolytes for athletes, let’s explore how to use them effectively:
1. Hydration: The first step is to stay adequately hydrated. Water is essential but consider sports drinks or electrolyte solutions to replenish lost minerals. We never recommend Gatorade, Powerade, or any of the sports drinks due to their high sugar content and synthetically dense nutrition label. Hydrating with a quality brand of electrolyte mix is the best option. LMNT is a quality option! This will optimize performance!
2. Pre-exercise Preparation: Consume electrolyte-rich foods or drinks before your workout. Bananas, oranges, coconut water, and electrolyte tablets are excellent options. This helps ensure you start with a balanced electrolyte level. Keep in mind, getting your nutrients from organic, whole foods are going to make sure your body gets what it needs at the highest quality, while leaving the
pesticides/herbicides and other chemicals for the normal athlete.
3. During Your Workout: For longer runs or heavier sessions, especially in hot weather, carry electrolyte gels, chews, or tablets to replenish lost minerals as you go. Be sure to read the nutrition label to make sure they aren’t loaded with artificial ingredients and follow the product’s guidelines for consumption. Mixing electrolytes in your water will
be the best option to make sure you stay hydrated and keep most other crap out of your body that gels, chews, and tablets have snuck in them!
4. Post-exercise Recovery: After your run or workout, focus on replenishing your electrolytes along with other nutrients. Sports recovery drinks, foods rich in electrolytes, and even simple salted snacks can help with this. Keep in mind the quality of the product you are consuming, our bodies don’t process synthetic sugars well, stick to whole foods. A liquid source of protein is one of the best things you can consume following a workout for tissue repair after any run/workout. We have our athletes switch between drinking protein and LMNT for the next hour directly following a workout. This ensures a quick and easy nutrient replenishment for the body to start preparing for our next workout!
Conclusion
Electrolytes are a crucial part of an athlete’s nutrition strategy. Maintaining the right balance of these minerals can help you perform at your best and avoid issues like muscle cramps and dehydration. Whether you’re training for a marathon or just enjoying a casual jog, incorporating electrolytes into your running routine or workout program is a smart move for optimal performance and overall well-being. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via email or book a free 15-minute call and we’d love to chat with you about your goals and give you some tips to get you on the right path!
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