Hydration for triathlon: Battle of the electrolyte tablets

Electrolyte tablets are the topic of todays blog. We tested some of the biggest and most readily available brands on the market. All the tablets tested you just chuck into a bottle of water and wait for them to dissolve. They are all low calorie and vegan vegetarian friendly. Great for triathlon training and endurance racing.

Precision Hydration

These tablets come in a real range from 250, 500, 750, 1000 or 1500. The numbers refer to mg of sodium. This means you can pick the tablets that are best suited to your salt loss. For intense training sessions or for athletes who are salty sweaters, the 1500 tablets have the most sodium of any available tablet on the market.

Ingredients

They contain sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. So are pretty comprehensively replenishing your electrolyte losses. They are also well matched in the electrolyte concentrations to sweat loss research. The sodium content is the 1500, 1000, 500 label. They have a lot of handy information on their website that will help you choose the right tablets for you.

With a minimal ingredients list they are relatively gentle on the tummy. There are sachets available that contain sugar instead of sweet ear if your stomach is sensitive to them.

Cost

The cost tho … £8.99 for 10 tablets. Need I say much more, it’s going to cost you a fair bit to use these regularly. One slight relief is they do offer a discount when bought in a 12 tube multipack. They are also only really available from their website and it is unlikely you will come across them in most bike stores. They often have a stand at Ironman events. They were at both world championships this year.

Taste

The tubes of tablets are fizzy and have a relatively weak citrus taste . The taste is not an overly pleasant one. On the up hand it does seem to grow on you and if you add some squash it’s quite nice. The sachets are a stronger citrus taste but again don’t hope for a sweet lemonade.

Overall these tablets we highly recommend they are versatile and will meet your needs especially for those who have sensitive stomachs or need higher salt to help with cramping. Best Tablet for performance!

9/10

SIS

These tablets a range of flavours.

Ingredients

They contain sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. So again pretty comprehensively replenish your electrolyte losses. They have 300mg total so for salty sweaters you might need the higher electrolyte content of some of the other tablets. They contain more calcium and less potassium which is not optimal for matching concentrations of electrolytes in sweat loss.

Contain sweeteners like sorbitol and inulin which can be aggravating on some people’s stomachs. If you have IBS or struggle with stomach problems this may not be the electrolyte tab for you.

Some of the tablets contain caffeine this is useful sometimes but might not want it every workout. Caffeine can also cause some people GI distress.

Cost

The cost £7 for 20 tablets. SIS often hold sales with promo codes to get more off too. They are available online from SIS, Amazon and Wiggle. Stocked in a lot of bike shops and can been bought in supermarkets like Tesco.

Taste

We tried a range of the flavours. The flavours were strong enough to get a pleasant taste whilst still being quite refreshing. Berry tasted good, fruity but not too sweet. There is the odd flavour we a bit disappointed in like strawberry and kiwi. But across the board they were easily drinkable and there is something for everyone’s preference.

Overall these tablets we recommend for all athletes who don’t experience many stomach issues or have high salt loss rates. They are easily available and will meet most athletes needs and taste pretty good.

Best Value and availability!

7/10

Nunn sport

These tablets come in a range of flavours. They are also approved by informed sport which makes them a good option for those competing in WADA regulated sport like time trialling or Ironman triathlon.

Ingredients

They contain sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. So are pretty comprehensively replenishing your electrolyte losses. They have 300mg of sodium so for salty sweaters you might need the higher electrolyte content of some of the other tablets.

Their basic ingredients list makes them very gentle on the stomach (non caffeine being the best option for sensitive stomachs)

Available in sport and sport + caffeine.

Cost

The cost £6.99 for 8 tablets. Darn expensive again and not easily available in the UK can be bought online through sports shops or Amazon but very unlikely to find these in a local store.

Taste

We tried a range of the flavours. The flavours are quite weak but pretty refreshing and nice to drink. Really wasn’t much to dislike in any we tried but are not going to fire up your tastebuds with strong flavour.

Best tablet for sensitive stomachs!

7/10

Power bar

These tablets a range of flavours. They are widely available in bike shops and at a lot of large event expo’s.

Ingredients

They contain sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. So again pretty comprehensively replenish your electrolyte losses. They have 250mg total sodium so again salty sweaters you might need to look elsewhere.

Contain sweeteners like sorbitol and inulin which can be aggravating to some people’s stomachs. If you have IBS or struggle with stomach problems this may not be the electrolyte tab for you.

Some of the tablets contain caffeine this is useful sometimes as it has been shown to have significant performance enhancing results but as said before it can have a downside for some athletes.. Cost

The cost £4.50 for 10 tablets they are pretty reasonably priced. They are available online from various stores including; Amazon and Wiggle. Stocked in a lot of bike shops too

Taste

We tried a few of the flavours. The flavours were strong some really nice but others not what you expect and some where not pleasant. If you just need a convenient tablet you can get most places in the uk and abroad then this may be a good choice. If you can only drink things you like the taste of you may need to try a few flavours before you find one you like.

7/10

High 5

These tablets have a range of flavours with and without caffeine. We tested the berry non caffeine tablets. They are widely available in high street stores like; holland & Barrett, decathlon and bike shops. They are also available from many internet retailers.

Ingredients

They contain sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. So again pretty comprehensively replenish your electrolyte losses. They have 200mg of sodium so again salty sweaters you might need to look elsewhere or they suggest using two tablets to make the solution stronger.

Contain sweeteners like sorbitol and Sucralose which can be aggravating on some people’s stomachs. However they do not contain inulin. If you follow a low FODMAP diet they might not be the tablet for you.

These tablets do not contain caffeine which makes them a good every day tablet to just aid hydration. Cost

The cost £6.99 for 8 tablets (Holland and Barrett) they are more expensive than some of the other tablets we trialled. They are available online from various stores including; Amazon and Wiggle. Stocked in a lot of bike shops too so might get a deal if you shop around.

Taste

The berry flavour was nice especially in the stronger solution. If you just need a convenient nice tasting hydro tablet you can get easily in the uk then this may be a good choice.

8/10

We were impressed by all the tablets we tried they are all perfectly good options. We hope this blog helps you find the right choice for you and your goals.

Any questions drop us a message. Next blog from hyper triathlon coaching will be hydration strategies for training.

Hydration for triathlon: Is Water enough?

Hydration is important, especially in endurance and ultra endurance sport. So if you're training for triathlons to ultra marathons this could help you out. But is water enough????

Our bodies are 80% water. As athletes we need to drink more than the average person because we sweat our arses off training and racing. As well as water we lose essential salts in our sweat including; sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. These can be replenished with good hydration strategies.

Your nerves and muscles (including your heart) use these electrolyte salts to function so really don’t underestimate them. We need to replenish these salts in longer or more intense training sessions where you sweat more, in order to keep our body functioning and performing. This is also great practice for race day, which especially in Ironman racing where poor hydration can stop you getting to that finish line.

Signs of dehydration include: cracked lips, headaches, dry mouth, thirst and diminished performance. If you get severely dehydrated you can also experience more severe symptoms like dizziness, confusion and passing out.

Like all things hydration is a balance. Drinking too much can cause digestive issues and other problems. So there is a individual status quo to be found. By practicing you will find what works well for you (there’s a blog coming up with a simple hydration strategy). If you are really unsure you can get a sweat test done. But generally speaking you can tell by whether you’re a person who ends up with a pool under their turbo and salt marks on their jerseys after a workout. Bit gross maybe but also if your sweat tastes salty. You could also weigh yourself before and after a workout, large weight loss might mean you want to consider drinking more.

Training outside you feel like you are losing less but the wind sweeps it off you and dries your skin. Keep drinking even when you don’t feel like your sweating. Also in hot weather increase fluid consumption as your sweat rate will increase. Lots of people find it helpful to consume more race fuel through liquid at hot races to keep themselves better hydrated.

How? So the liquids we drink and the salt containing foods we eat all contribute to the hydration of our bodies. A recent study showed that all drinks hydrate us just to different degrees with rehydrations tabs being the most hydrating (2). We need Elctrolytes + Water to hydrate and the mix effects how much you pee out and how much is absorbed by your body.

For shorter sessions the salt in our food and water will be enough. Sea salt and Himalayan rock salt have a higher electrolyte content so may be a better alternative for cooking than regular table salt

When your training there are loads of options out there to get electrolytes. You can use:

- Salt tabs + water

- Electrolyte tabs dissolved in water

- Sports drinks

- Food (containing salt) + water

- Gels + water

- homemade sports drinks

Different workouts may mean you want to use different methods of consuming electrolytes. Food, salt tabs and gels (isotonic gels are an exception to this) normally need to be taken with water to be digested and hydrate adequately. Food and gels are also higher calorie so good for longer endurance rides. Electrolyte tabs are low calorie and great for short intense sessions they are also the best for hydration. They are also fab for post recovery or pre-loading. Sports drinks and gels are good for intense sessions over an hour where you need to keep blood glucose topped up but digesting food will be difficult.

This is a little mini series on hydration. Next blog I will compare and review electrolyte tabs for you.

So to sum up…. Water is not always enough! To help smash your PB’s: Get your electrolytes in too and learn what’s works for you.

1- Rehrer NJ. Fluid and electrolyte balance in ultra-endurance sport. Sports Med. 2001;31(10):701-15. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200131100-00001. PMID: 11547892. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11547892/

2- https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/103/3/717/4564598?login=true

Recovery: Invest in Rest!

“You can only train as well as you recover.” A simple lesson taught to me by one of my first coaches in triathlon, but one that nicely encapsulates the importance of getting this fine balancing act right.

As athletes we are inclined towards pushing boundaries, testing limits. It’s an important trait because without that drive we aren’t challenged, and without challenging ourselves we don’t improve. It needs to be kept in check though. If it’s piled up too high or too quickly we can’t adapt to whatever stimulus we’re giving the body in a positive way. Left unchecked for long enough and we start to see things like; injury, illness, excessive fatigue, inconsistency and negative mental state.

So how do we get this balance right and walk the line without crossing over it? To start with we need to understand what we’re trying to achieve with recovery. Essentially recovery is an exercise in stress management.

Training applies a physical stress to the body and forces it to adapt becoming fitter and stronger at dealing with that stress. This is often quantified by training apps and trackers as “TSS” (training stress score), and compounded over time to give you a “Fitness Score”. Whilst this is a fair enough method of tracking the physical stress your current training is having, considered on its own it produces a somewhat incomplete overall picture of the athlete.

The body only knows stress, it can struggle to distinguish the source. Ever been sad or overwhelmed and felt absolutely exhausted physically? Just one example of a non-linear stress response. Internally the body’s response to stress is neural and hormonal, these responses can be very similar even when caused by very different “stressful situations”. When we get this over-lap is when these non-linear responses start to happen. A sympathetic nervous system response is a good example of this. At the start line of a race your body will release a surge of adrenaline in anticipation of the immense physical stress it’s about to undergo. Heart Rate will increase, you feel more alert and aware of things around you. If you were to deliver a presentation or speech at work there’s no impending physical stress, but you’d likely feel the same way. Internally the body is having the same response despite the fact the external stress is very different.

In reality there’s a certain level of “overall stress” the body can handle. As a result we need to consider all sources of stress; emotional, physical, mental, financial, etc. If you’re going through a really stressful period at work your capacity to withstand vast amounts of physical stress from training may be reduced. Obstinately pushing through adding the physical stress regardless will most likely come back and bite you. However if some of the focus is switched towards activities and training that reduce mental stress you can maximise your ability to train and increase your ability to handle and ultimately overcome those other stresses.

So how do we prioritise our actions around recovery effectively?

We start by looking at actions that have a big swing effect on overall stress, i.e. if we’re getting them right they will significantly reduce stress, whereas if we’re getting them wrong they are going to increase it. Once we have these elements under control then work our way into the more specific physical relief tools.

Start with sleep and nutrition. Whilst I could write a whole blog on the importance of each of these, I’ll keep it very simple for the purposes of this post.

In simple terms it’s been scientifically proven that getting enough good quality sleep will increase not only athletic performance, but also improves both physical health and mental wellbeing. We should all be getting at least 7-9hrs sleep every night, and the more you train the more you’ll need to recover.

When we think about nutrition it’s all about creating good habits; eat to some form of structure, eat a balanced diet that includes a little bit of everything, avoid big swings in calorie consumption, and try to minimise the amount of processed foods you’re eating.

Bad sleep patterns and poor nutrition habits will increase the stress your body is under, and can have an incredibly detrimental effect on your ability to perform and train consistently. So get these right first.

Once we have the sleep and nutrition under control we can start to look at the application of lighter recovery sessions or even complete rest days into the training programme. If you’ve got a good coach this may not be something you particularly need to think about. They should be prescribing lighter sessions, rest days and recovery blocks into your training plan to manage your stress appropriately. If you aren’t currently coached it’s probably an area that you’ll need to focus on.

Some simple things I’d consider. Assign “Key” Sessions. If we want to be consistent over time, not every single session can be the be all and end all. Specifically select 40-60% of your weekly training to apply the most intensity of thought and physical effort to. Listen to your body. If you’re; irritable, starting to feel run down, or struggling to sleep, these are good signs you’re over-reaching and need some lighter sessions or a rest day.

When we have all that right we start to look at specific tools and aids to reduce the physical stress from training. A good place to start is with daily stretching and foam rolling, both are highly effective as well as being very time and cost efficient. Beyond that we can look at things like supplementation. Supplementation will be specific to individual needs and if you are concerned a blood test to see what your body requires is a good idea. It is common for endurance athletes to require supplementation of; iron + vit. C and vit. D to be helpful when training at high volumes. Additional therapies beyond that range from CBD oils, and fatigue reducing creams and sprays, through regular sports massage, cold water or cryotherapy sessions, and onto the personal recovery systems such as Percussion Massage Guns, TENS systems, and Compression Boots.

Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of mental recovery practices such as yoga, meditation, reading, social activities whether that be a group ride/run or time out with friends and family, or whatever else calms you mentally.

Recovery is often viewed as taking a day off once in a while or simple use of a magic recovery aid. Whilst those things can be important elements in removing the physical stress caused by endurance training, it should really be seen as any action we can take to reduce our overall stress.