Sodium For Endurance & Speed | A Complete Guide

In this video, we'll explore optimal sodium intake for endurance athletes, considering factors like sweat rate, concentration, and exercise duration. We aim to replace sodium lost in sweat during training, while keeping gut tolerance in mind. We'll discuss pre-training strategies based on individual needs, emphasizing the importance of sodium in maintaining blood volume and preventing dehydration for peak performance.
Equip yourself with knowledge to tackle cramps, faintness, and dehydration during your training sessions. 💪

Watch now and enhance your endurance performance! Make sure to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE this video with your fellow athletes, and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE for more expert tips and advice! 📈

0:00 Intro
0:17 Contents
0:33 Daily sodium needs for endurance athletes
1:59 When and why to eat more sodium as an endurance athlete
2:49 When and why to eat less sodium as an endurance athlete
3:41 Dosing sodium during endurance training & sodium for racing
4:32 Maximum sodium dosage: Gut tolerance in endurance racing
5:27 How dehydration affects sodium absorption ability.
6:26 Real world example: modifying intake rates on the fly
7:14 Pre-workout, pre-race sodium recommendations for cool days
7:48 Pre-workout, pre-race sodium recommendations for moderately sweaty sessions.
8:02 Pre-workout, pre-race sodium recommendations for hot days
8:47 Why higher sodium intake intake rates hasn't caught on
10:26 Thank you for sharing & subscribing!

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[craigpike]

Fantastic video, thank you. The question though, if companies gels do not have the correct amount of sodium, how and what do we use? Normal table salt? Himalayan Salt in water? What do you recommend?

[User]

Thanks for this video. You have helped me solve a problem that persisted for years. Endurance wise my head can go forever. I was limited by cramps. Discovering the power of sodium is awesome! Taking sodium earlier in the day also helped me with food cravings later in the day. My body needed sodium! Thanks again

[lomias]

Amazing content! I have never heard sodium that way, great job you guys. Looking forward for more!

[christopherrowley]

Great content! Coming from your posts on Slowtwitch, your advocacy on increasing sodium intake helped me a lot with harder indoor sessions lasting a 3+ hours. I am a super salty sweater, and was getting a 'sloshy' feeling in my heart, consistently at 2.5hrs @ 270watts indoors. Ramped up the sodium intake during the ride, and I have pushed it out to 4 hours with no problems! You are quite possibly a lifesaver!

[robohippy]

I may have to check this out again. I have struggled with dehydration for years. Gave up on Gatorade a long time ago. The unflavored pedialyte worked far better than Gatorade. Finally found the Precision Hydration carbonated tabs. Now I can swim as long and as hard as I want without cramping issues during or after work outs. Hate waking up at night after rolling over and getting leg cramps. During a 1:45 swim, If I don't hydrate, I can drop 5 pounds. Construction days would be 10 pounds while drinking over a gallon of water and electrolytes. This science has come a long way.

[KMCL]

Great videos. Working with a sports nutrition company, I can assure you there is no conspiracy to put less than needed nor to put less in due to cost. A factor is government RDA’s and therefore trying to adhere to guidelines, even when we know they’re long outdated. Linked to this are the subsequent challenges, when we then have to make a max dosage statement on the box. Just another perspective. As a business, full of athletes, we are trying very hard to provide the products which meet the needs. Outdated legislation is a barrier.

[aussiefreediver]

Omg. Where was this video a year ago. You’ve pretty much nailed all of my issues. And here i was thinking having 300mg per litre per hour might be too much.

[Tripean.]

second video i watched! straight up hitting that follow button

[jennifersouthern]

Great stuff! Looking forward to the video in pre-loading💪🏻

[marandathompson]

This video has been very helpful for me! I unfortunately landed in the ER last September with hyponatremia due to working outside on a hot humid day. My PCP said my body “must be very good at filtering” since I wasn’t over-consuming water that day. We’ve been trialing a new electrolyte powder mix that has 600mg of sodium per serving, but I’m still having issues so going to start upping my consumption of sodium following this video and see how I fair. Thank you for making this!

[timclendaniel]

Alex I took my BP this morning and it was 100/63 haha you spoke straight through the video to me! I also am very prone to cramping!

[clarity]

Wow, exactly what I needed. I almost passed out yesterday on a short 3mile run, felt dizzy, saw spots & my blood pressure was extremely low and had to walk the last 1000m even the walk was a struggle I had to sit multiple times. Changed my diet to a whole food a week ago and so my salt levels were way down compared to eating out.

[naomiliverance]

Thank you for this and all of your videos - always learning multiple things each time! I have the RP endurance book, but this format really compliments/helps put all the info there into context which then helps it stick in my brain :)

[canadiansasquatchadventures]

Great information and video! I always find I need to watch my sodium intake (big guy, heavy sweater, borderline high blood pressure[was on meds, lots weight and got off the meds]) and up my potassium to counter it. I do feel better over all and cramp a whole lot less (especially at night). Cheers !

[Dakota.Covers]

This is a helpful video. I am looking for your advanced strategies for preloading blood volume video but I cannot find it. Did you make one?

[jucu]

Recently did a 140km road race in very hot humid climate and cramped big time at the 90km mark and was spat out the back. I was drinking 108g carbs per hour + 800mg Na and 200mg P and as ref I weigh 71kg. I haven’t had many encounters with cramps but suspected 2 things 1/ I was possibly sweating more than 1L/hr as all my training prior I was avoiding the hottest parts of the day but this race had me out in the heat and 2/ In a race scenario I was possibly working harder than what I was doing in training. That all said I have never tried to pre-load my body with electrolytes so this is a great tip and 2 if I’m honest with myself I should have trained harder with more intervals as road racing is all about the surges 👍👍

[IronmanHacks]

Great stuff, as usual. A few things. Why are you not an advocate of sweat testing? That's how I have managed to dial in my sodium needs (1, 425 mg of sodium per litre of sweat * 1-1.5 litres of sweat loss per hour, depending on conditions). Don't you need to know that sodium loss figure? Also, I liked your point about why companies don't have high sodium content in their products and the possible reasons you gave. Make sense. The few higher sodium products I've found are Precision Hydration (750 mg), ELMNT (1, 000 per pack, but it's a very strong flavor so hard to double it up) and UCAN Hydrate (the highest concentration out there I believe.)

Finally, I'm listening to the Huberman Lab podcast about salt and sodium right now which is giving me an intro to how the kidneys work - in detail. Highly recommended.

[bennickerson]

Love your content👌Any chances doing a vid on caffeine strategy/dosing ?

[TrailBoundco]

so sounds like a good place start testing on self would be like 1200mg per liter. if I have a 5h ride and max amount of water I can bring is 3L would I add 3600mg (1200mgX3L) or would I do 6, 000mg (1200mgX5hours)

[finnnation]

Great vid thank you!! Does various forms of sodium like sodium citrate, lower stomach acid levels significantly? Does it contribute to Hypochlorhydria?
Thanks again. Cheers.