Electrolytes Drinks: A Good Option for Post-Workout Recovery

 

We all know that feeling of despair when we work out too much, get a little carried away, and need to brave the post-exercise effects specific to muscle straining. Are you currently experiencing severe cramps, are you sore, and do you have trouble concentrating? First of all, congratulations, it sounds like you take your training regime seriously and you’re making serious progress towards your goals. Secondly, it looks like you could do with a couple of element electrolytes for replacing the charged minerals present in your bloodstream.

We’ve all been there. Sweating too much during an exercise, doing our workout routine in hot weather, trying to up our weights or prolong our running times. Pushing yourself, after all, is the only way to see real progress, become a better athlete and differentiate yourself from the competition. But for as amazing as bodies are, if you push too much, too soon, you will likely end up losing precious electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium, which will have a tremendous impact on your post-workout recovery.

Feeling fatigued, experiencing headaches, dealing with muscle weakness and of course, facing cramps, are all symptoms of charged mineral deficiencies. Sure, as long as you didn’t push yourself to the absolute limits, such electrolyte imbalances are typically non-dangerous, and your body will recover with proper rest and a good diet. But what if you want to accelerate this recovery process? Electrolytes drinks are a way to significantly reduce the symptoms of oxidative stress. The element electrolytes found in market-available supplements act like antioxidants, which can reduce overall inflammation and support glycogen replenishment. It’s not magic, it’s just science. And they should make you feel much better.

Electrolytes Drinks: Not Just for Athletes

Dehydration happens mostly during sessions of intense physical exercise. Are you the type of person who often engages in workout sessions that surpass the two-hour barrier? If so, it’s probably not unusual for you to lose more than two litres of sweat per gym session. Losing this much water, this fast, can be quite taxing on the body and lead to electrolyte imbalances with a profound impact on your wellbeing.

I should know, last week I spent almost half a day in the gym trying to brush away almost three months’ worth of inactivity, and the end result was DOMS that left me more immobile than a stone. You know what would’ve really helped with all the cramping, numbness and lack of flexibility? Some good old element electrolytes. But, contrary to popular belief, elemental supplements and athlete-endorsed electrolytes drinks are not just ideal for post-workout hydration. Of course, in your day-to-day life, you probably don’t sweat that much, and your daily exercise routine most likely just consists of vigorously pressing the keys of your laptop for eight hours per day.

That said, surprisingly, most of us are dealing with mild dehydration even if we don’t engage in regular sporting activities. Normal daily sweating, coffee drinking, how showers, and sleeping, they can all have an impact on our body’s electrolyte balance, and make us lose small, but consistent amounts of crucial minerals, which we need to replace via a proper, balanced diet, and lots of water.

The Theory vs. Reality Behind Element Electrolytes

How much water do you drink per day, though? How often does it happen to skip a meal? When was the last time you dealt with tiredness, headaches, low energy and chronic sleepiness? Like most of us, chances are you are affected, at least somewhat, by an electrolyte deficiency. So, the ingestion of elemental electrolytes, in your case, will likely be beneficial. When it comes to the theory of proper living, we are all experts. But the hard part is putting this theory into practice.

Yeah, you know you should hydrate and drink at least two litres of water per day in order to replenish your lost fluids. How often do you reach this threshold, though? Yes, you know you shouldn’t increase your caffeine intake, go to sleep at bad hours, run your errand in the hot weather, or drink alcohol. But we only live once, right? The point is, the way we live doesn’t always translate 1/1 with the requirements of our body. And this is often visible when calculating the electrolytes present in our blood. Plus, the incidence of electrolyte disorders increases with age. Are you over the age of 55? In that case, you have around 15% chances of suffering from a chronic imbalance of at least one of your body’s crucial, electrically charged minerals.

What Even Are Electrolytes?

Do you want the simple, five-minute explanation or the more complex and harder to follow one? You can think of electrolytes as minerals that release their electrical charge when dissolved in water. Why are they important? Well, your body uses complex electrical signals in order to regulate its ongoing functions, and electrolytes play a crucial role in this complex internal ecosystem by regulating chemical reactions. Electrolytes drinks balance the amount of water present in and around your cells, are essential for muscle impulses, maintain your body’s PH levels, and help nutrients get transported into cells.

Typically, the human body does a good job of replenishing the electrolytes we lose through our bodily fluids, but this balance can be thrown out of whack by intense physical exertion or illness. Are you currently sick, or did you partake in an activity that pushed your body’s capabilities to its limits? If so, utilising electrolytes drinks will become pivotal for restoring the ion gradients required in proper nerve and muscle recovery.

Element electrolytes improve fluid retention in the small intestine, expand plasma volume, eliminate the effects of metabolic acidosis and aid in glycogen recovery. Does this sound complicated? Well, it is. Our bodies are complex and well-oiled machines that work in ways we are only beginning to fully comprehend. The only thing you need to know is this: Electrolytes are absolutely crucial for the proper functioning of our bodies and investing in the occasional electrolytes drinks represents one of the best ways to reduce the side effects of charged mineral imbalances.