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Importance of sodium/electrolyte replenishment

Risen

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I'd like to discuss the importance of replenishing sodium and other electrolytes for long and strenuous exercise lasting from 1 to however many hours. Ive seen a lot of statistics, particularly for marathon runners and cyclists that show sodium loss can be very high, occurring through the profuse sweat the exercises generate. Over several hours of sustained activity and sweating, your body's balance of electrolytes can get into dangerous levels if not corrected by ingesting sufficient sodium and electrolytes from drink or from food. Simply drinking water isn't enough, and can exacerbate the problem when you drink large amounts of water to rehydrate yourself from all the sweating, thereby diluting your body's balance of plasma electrolytes even further.

So what do you guys do to stay hydrated AND get enough electrolytes during long, strenuous activities? Has anyone ever had complications from not getting enough sodium while exercising, resulting in symptoms such as headaches, nausea, cramping, confusion, heat exhaustion, etc.?
 

Risen

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Dehyadration and Heat Injury

This article also goes into a study on athletes and the wide differences some have in the amount of sweat they produce and the amount of sodium they exude. It is widely accepted that individuals all have different rates of water and sodium loss, though this particular study referenced shows how extreme it can be. It's also shown that the loss of other electrolytes/ions is rather constant between individuals, which makes sense since only sodium is responsible for pumping water to the surface of your skin during perspiration, and also happens to be an important ion for the functioning of your nervous system.

Salt in their Sweat

And this-

Sodium: A Closer Look

Sodium is the primary electrolyte lost in sweat. Therefore, when exercise exceeds one hour, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends consuming sodium along with fluids to replace both water and sodium lost in sweat. It is not adequate to simply take sodium tabs after a hard training session to replace lost sodium; an athlete must also consume adequate amounts of fluid with this sodium.

Sodium and water are required in appropriate ratios based on an athlete’s sweat rate. It is recommended that an athlete determine their sweat rate in various conditions (link to Sweat Rate Calculator) and consume sodium based on the amount of fluid they require. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that people who are active for more than one hour consume 500–700 mg of sodium for every 32 oz (~1L) of water they consume. However, there are some who recommend 500–1,000 mg of sodium per 32 oz of water, or per one hour of intense exercise.

Experimental data has demonstrated that sweat rate and sodium loss is highly individual, ranging from 460–1840 mg/L of sweat. This can be further influenced by numerous other factors including genetics, fitness, acclimatization, and weather conditions. As such, both the sweat rate and the amount of sodium per oz (or liter) of sweat is highly individual. Athletes must experiment in training to find the right balance that works for their body and exercise conditions.

I know I tend to lose heavy amounts of salt when undergoing strenuous physical activity, especially when it's hot. Just a little over an hour of sweating is enough for me to start getting visible salt deposits primarily on my face and arms. For me, sustaining that type of activity for multiple hours means I have to be mindful of ingesting enough sodium to keep myself hydrated and in good condition, or else. When physical activity only lasts for a short time period, it's obviously not that much of an issue, but for 5 hours of heavy sweating and heart pumping, it's critical. Yesterday I went on a hike for nearly that long, very hot outside. I usually bring salted water, but didn't bring nearly enough yesterday. I only had one bottle with 1/4 a tsp of table salt, which is 1.5 grams of sodium chloride, apparently only adding up to .6 grams of actual sodium. Considering I may have been losing upwards of 1 gram of sodium per hour in my sweat, it was obviously not enough. After 4 hours I had quite a bit of trouble with nausea and fatigue, and found it hard to stay hydrated.
 

kendoiwan

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So that's why I cramp up even though I've been drinking water.
 

Stanton Moore

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Electrolyte depletion sucks. I used to ride for as much as 6 hours at a time in NorCal, often at 95 degrees+. If you run out of electrolites, your muscles can lock up, and it hurts a lot.
There is more in sweat than just sodium ( I know you know that). The trick is to bring foods that contain potassium and magnesium too, or use Gatoraid/Poweraid type drinks.
I like:
Dried apricots*
figs*
bananas*
raisons*
Seeds and nuts
* these all contain sugar too.
I have a recipe for home made 'power bars' that I'll try to find for you. they're easy to make and delicious (my GF eat the whole batch I made last time). Commercial energy bars usually have the right stuff in them, but I got sick of them after a few years.
 
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