Reply To: Sports drinks advice

#11706
CoachAJ
Participant

Great advice Brian!  Yes, try different options and consider whether this is something your body will accept for workout on end for at least the season ahead.  Can you get it down if it’s 100 degrees outside (Eagelman)?  Can you get it down if your body have already consumed too much sugar?

And it is very important to recognize how your body reacts to it.  Do you have lasting energy at the end of your ride so that you can get off and run?  Are you drinking and drinking and not staying hydrated?  Or stopping to use the bathroom too often?  This can be a sign that you are not getting in enough electrolytes.  Without electrolytes, your body can’t absorb the hydration you are taking in including water!

My only further piece of advice here is that while some of the electrolyte/hydration (even magnesium) situation could be the cause of your leg cramps, this often is not the complete cause.  It could minimize them in training but then they return while racing.  Research demonstrates that most cramping comes from ‘asking your body to do something that it is not prepared to do.’  This often boils down to correct pacing.  So while hydration does add to the equation, please recognize that pacing is also a more likely consideration.