SALTROIDS, performance enhancer?

Sodium: How to tame your salt habit

Find out how much sodium you really need, what high-sodium foods to avoid, and ways to prepare and serve foods without adding sodium.By Mayo Clinic Staff

Reading this makes both of my legs cramp simultaneously.

I am writing this for those of you who are 'active to extremely active' and get muscle cramps, lethargy, and seem to recover poorly. These are my observations and experiences with years of adventure and racing in my legs. I am in no way an expert in the field except that I have cramped a million times and have had to sacrifice great race results for mediocre finishes and just having to roll into the finish line because of severe cramping. I also have had to skip workouts and rest extra days and miss days outside, unnecessarily.

Here are some examples of newer mixes to try if you don't want to make your own, ranging from 100mg of sodium to over 1700mg per serving.

You should research and know, or at least have an idea of, the pros and cons of altering your body's blood serum. Talk with your physician (a sporty doc that studies healthy bodies). Most doctors know a lot about pathology and normal function, however endurance racing in healthy individuals and pushing your body is another realm of study and data altogether. There have been huge recent advances in the tracking of this data, from iron-man type events and ultra running, as well as cycling events, that punish bodies and push them to the brink.

This information is for those who have experienced some of the negative sides of being sodium depleted...muscle cramps, lengthy recovery, overly tired, weak.  This is not for everyone, but if this sounds like you then keep reading.

I have cramped during almost every hard ride in the previous years, my back was stiff, and it seemed like my recovery was taking longer and longer. I thought it was my old age. That has something to do with it but is not the whole story. Every time I worked out hard in the gym or riding or running, I cramped. My favorite cramp was in the arch of my foot after a shower and while putting on my sock. I will miss you bastard cramp! I have tried drinking Gatorade and traditional "hydration drink mixes", but nothing seemed to work. After talking with a keen guy, who happens to run ultra distance events, he suggested getting a sweat test - BOOM!

After searching for and reading a hundred articles on sodium, sweat rates and eating too much salt, I mixed a batch of 1lb of baking soda (sodium bicarb) with some sugar crap "Sports drink". I was immediately rewarded with a crazy hard three hour ride. I actually got tired and did not cramp. I slept well and woke up the next day feeling totally recovered. Long story short, it has been three weeks of four-hour rides, two to three gym workouts a week, sometimes two-a-days, travel and work. No cramps to speak of.

I ended up drinking nearly 3000 milligrams of sodium the first day and 6000mg the second day. I was feeling great. So great in fact I rode seven or eight days in a row and still felt great. Over 20 hours of exercise in the first week with awesome results, no cramps and tons of energy, a clear head, and a new perspective on hard rides. Sounds like way too much sodium huh? Most hard days I was still depleted and cramped a little bit so I increased my sodium a bit more and voila-no more cramps! This was a crude method of learning but it worked.

This is what I learned:

Get a sweat test- this will let you know how much sodium is in your sweat. This is a pretty constant number. Yes, sometimes you will sweat more or less, however the percentage of sweat will remain the same, unless there is a problem. For example, my number is 1620. This means I sweat out 1620mg of sodium/liter of sweat. This is the format the tester will give you. This number seems to be on the higher side. KC only sweats out 750mg/liter, which is significantly lower than me. I am a pig and she is a princess. We did our sweat test at Colorado Multisport. Tim was great and easy to work with. If you mention our blog they will give you a discount!

Tim, Cali and Hal

The next thing to do is to get a handle on your sweat rate - To do this requires exercise in the environment you normally exercise in. There are plenty of variables here, however the more you do it the closer you can get to perfecting your hydration. If you ride, ride for one hour. Weigh yourself before your ride and after bathroom time. Be naked to be precise, and for fun. Drink and eat nothing on your ride. After one hour of exercise weigh yourself again. If you ate or drank, just minus the weight from your naked post ride weight. If it is hot you may be surprised. I lost 6 lbs on a hot day with moderate effort, crazy huh? 

How to put this together- For example I weighed 150 lbs naked, go ahead and let your mind wander...OK, after our ride which was not naked and happened to be three hours, I weighed in at 144 lbs. For a net loss of six pounds. You can assume that most of this loss is sweat. Yes, the composition of sweat is not just sodium and water, but for our lesson, sodium and water is all we are discussing and will be most of what we lose. Water and sodium is what we need to stay hydrated and avoid hyponatremia. Most people in the know seem to recommend replacing each pound of sweat loss with 16oz of water with your concentration of sodium during exercise.



Now you will combine your sweat loss with your sodium loss to create an electrolyte replacement drink to match your sodium and water loss. A drink just for you. In my case, I lost six pounds of water which equals approximately three liters. Now I will add my sodium loss to the liter of water which is 1620mg. Now I have a drink that replenishes exactly what I need to keep going strong.

One liter of water with 1620mg of sodium. Use this to fill your bottles.

You can add some sweetness to the mix if you need to. I do not normally do this. You will get used to the flavor.  Sometimes I will still use a little more. For example, before a big ride like the Kokopelli Trail, which is about 140 miles, I would consume 4-5g which is about 4,000-5,000mg of sodium the night before and the morning of the ride, in addition to my personal hydration mix. This method has worked wonders for me. So much so that I chose to let y'all in on it. 

My racing days would have been significantly better had I figured this out 10 years ago. I have experienced far more days outside going hard since I have figured this out, creating more fun times spent enjoying riding, running, lifting, hiking etc. A few friends have had significant gains by incorporating this sodium replacement program as well.

The benefits of replacing sodium for athletes or those who sweat like mad are many. It increases thirst which aids hydration, it makes it possible for your body to use the water you drink, which is not the case if you're hyponatremic. You don't always know if you're hyponatremic in test results because a healthy body will compensate so be aware of the signs and symptoms I mentioned earlier. 

Side note: there are many different forms sodium can be in. I prefer sodium bicarbonate. It seems to help with acidosis which appears as tired, sore muscles. Not sure if there is any scientific truth to this, however I have been riding harder than I have in years and I can ride much longer at a much higher pace and I feel better than ever with much shorter recovery times. Be careful the first few times with the sodium bicarbonate as it can be a little weird on your stomach, taking too much at a time. 

If you have any questions or comments please leave them so I can respond. Also remember to talk with your physician and monitor your blood pressure, heart rate, signs of fluid retention, swollen ankles etc. Don't just blindly do this! Thanks for reading!