A common belief amongst endurance athletes is that we must constantly replenish our electrolyte stores while riding. If we run low on electrolytes, we might face problems such as cramping and hyponatremia.

Naturally, you might choose a sports drink such as Gatorade, but what if you don’t need the calories? Or maybe you don’t like the sweet, strong flavor?

You might want to look at ways to get your electrolytes without consuming typical sports drinks. Here are nine products that could fit your needs:

1. Hammer Endurolytes

Endurolytes, a product from Hammer Nutrition, are capsules full of electrolytes. They contain sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, Vitamin B6, and L-Tyrosine.

You can get Endurolytes in pill form, but if you don’t fancy swallowing pills while riding, you can also get a straight Enduroyte powder that can be mixed in with a bottle of sports drink (or plain water, but the salty taste isn’t pleasant.)

Official website: www.HammerNutrition.com
My review: Hammer Endurolytes Review

 

2. NUUN tablets

Nuun tablets must be the coolest electrolyte drink available. A Nuun tablet contains sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, so it has the typical electrolytes, but that’s not all.

What’s really cool is that to mix Nuun, you just drop one tablet into your water bottle. Nuun effervesces (i.e. fizzes up) and mixes itself. Also, Nuun comes in a variety of flavors that actually taste good.

Official website: www.Nuun.com
My review: Nuun Tablets Review

 

3. Elete

Elete is a concentrated electrolyte liquid that contains sodium, potassium, magnesium, and chloride. It is flavorless, so it can be mixed in plain water without a problem.

If you like the crisp taste of plain water and don’t want any calories or artificial ingredients, Elete is the choice for you.

Official website: www.EleteWater.com

 

4. Ultima Replenisher

Ultima Replenisher is an electrolyte drink mix that is packed with vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes. It appears to have the best variety of ingredients, making it somewhat of a cross between an electrolyte drink and a multivitamin.

It is also low in sugar and contains no artificial ingredients.

Official website: www.UltimaReplenisher.com

 

5. Essential Electrolytes by NutriBiotic

Essential Electrolytes are pills that combine 100 mg of vitamin C along with electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, chloride, zinc, and chromium.)

These pills are very similar to Hammer Endurolytes (similar amounts of the same ingredients,) except these are half the price.

Official website: www.NutriBiotic.com

 

6. Hylytes

Hylytes are electrolyte replenishment capsules which contain sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and L-Tyrosine.

These appear very similar to Hammer Endurolytes, but with lower levels of electrolytes. (And at $9.95 for 24 capsules, they are more than twice as expensive, so I can’t imagine why you’d buy these.)

Official website: www.Hylytes.com

 

7. CamelBak Elixir tablets

To circumvent the problem of sugary sports drinks causing mold growth in hydration packs, CamelBak decided to make their own drink tablets that are safe for use in hydration pack bladders.

Much like Nuun, these Elixir tabs come in different flavors and contain a variety of electrolytes. And yes, they effervesce when you add them to water, so there’s no mixing required.

Official website: www.Camelbak.com

 

8. E-Lyte

E-Lyte is a bottled drink consisting of potassium, sodium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate, bicarbonate, and sulfate in a purified water solution. It is concentrated, so you mix a small amount of this into your water bottle.

It sounds most similar to Elete.

Official website: www.CrampNoMore.com

 

9. ZYM Tablets

ZYM is another electrolyte tablet that dissolves in water, much like Nuun and Camelbak Elixir. ZYM contains Vitamin C, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins (B5, B6, B12.)

ZYM also offers a line of tablets containing caffeine.

Official website: www.GoZYM.com

 

Try one of those drinks or pills at the right time and you’ll feel refreshed, without the extra calories!

A commenter (known only as Sandbag) recently remarked about how Gatorade AM is all hype since you don’t need electrolytes, especially in the morning…

The only thing with all those yummy electrolytes is that you probably don’t need them. Especially in the morning. Mix that with all the sugar and gatorade isn’t needed by most everyone who uses it. Unless you’re losing buckets full of sweat then water and good pre/post-workout meal is enough. Don’t believe the hype.

So I thought it would help to explain my thoughts on sports drinks…

First off, what really irked me was the statement, “Don’t believe the hype.” What hype? Gatorade is sugar water with a few electrolytes thrown it, and it’s marketed as a “thirst quencher.” Last time I checked, drinking it quenched my thirst.

We’re talking about a drink to keep you hydrated, not miracle diet pills!

The only excitement I see with Gatorade AM is the fact that it presents a couple new flavors for Gatorade lovers to enjoy. That’s all there is to it. If that’s hype, then I welcome more hype from Gatorade!

Gatorade G2, on the other hand, does seem like hype. It’s just watered down Gatorade, but it’s pitched as “off the field hydration” for athletes. And it costs just as much – what a ripoff! But I hate Gatorade G2 so this is all beside the point.

Anyway, back to the point about needing calories and electrolytes…

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re an athlete, probably a cyclist or runner. You need calories and electrolytes to keep your body fueled.

You need them at all times of the day, but especially during your workout. If your workout takes place from 5:00 to 7:30 AM, there’s a good chance you do need electrolytes in the morning!

But whatever time of day it is, if you’re exercising for over an hour, you could deplete your glycogen stores if you don’t consume any calories. Bad idea!

It would be much better to consume a sports drink and energy bars to replenish the sugar in your body before it all runs out. If you don’t, you’ll bonk, and your body will eat away at itself (typically your muscles, not fat, unfortunately.) And you’ll have absolutely no energy.

Also, if you consume too much plain water without electrolytes, you could suffer from hyponatremia. Simply put, your brain could swell up and you could die. Again, a bad idea!

So, for athletes, I think sports drinks are a marvelous idea.

Of course, the commenter does make a good point that “gatorade isn’t needed by most everyone who uses it.” That’s true. I have never recommended Gatorade for couch potatoes.

And for general fitness enthusiasts working out for 20 minutes, 3 times per week, a healthy diet is all that’s needed. Along with a few sips of water during the workout.

(Whatever you do, avoid Gatorade G2. What a dumb idea…)

But to finish up, there are two reasons not to use Gatorade, even if you’re an athlete:

1) Gatorade contains high fructose corn syrup.

High fructose corn syrup is a bad idea, and since you can find sports drinks without HFCS (such as Gatorade Endurance powder,) you should get them instead.

2) Gatorade is too low in calories and electrolytes.

While Gatorade contains needless calories if you only work out for 20 minutes, it contains too few calories for athletes exercising for a few hours at a time.

I suggest looking at Gatorade Endurance, Powerbar Endurance, Cytomax, Hammer Heed, or something like that instead. They usually contain about 25-50% more calories and electrolytes, and still taste pretty good.

But let me end with one final comment:

Sometimes you have to ‘believe the hype’ or you’ll end up dead from dehydration or hyponatremia!

There is a notoriously big problem on hard rides in hot weather – cramping! When you’re sweating more and riding harder than usual, you have to get more electrolytes. Sometimes sports drinks aren’t enough for endurance races in 100 degree heat. That’s why Hammer Nutrition brings us Endurolytes.

Endurolytes (sometimes called e-caps) are those little capsules filled with electrolyte powder. You may have seen them, and if you regularly attend industry events or bicycle races, you have probably gotten free samples. (I recommend trying the free samples a few times before ordering a bunch of these, just in case you don’t notice a difference.)

But like I said, there’s this big problem with cramping while riding/racing on hot days, and many people believe the cramping is caused by running low on electrolytes, which are lost in your sweat. So that would mean that most sports drinks don’t contain enough electrolytes to get you through hot days.

Hammer decided to step in and fill this need by providing capsules jam packed with electrolytes. It’s a great idea. I sweat a lot, and my clothes are always covered with white streaks from my dried sweat, so I’m certainly losing a large amount of electrolytes when I sweat.

But there’s one thing that’s holding me back from consuming Endurolytes all the time – the practicality of swallowing pills while riding. I don’t care for pills even when I’m at home, so I have no interest in carrying them in my jersey pocket for a mid-ride snack.

That said, I’ve still been able to use these capsules. On hot, sweaty days (the ones where sweat always drips into your eyes,) I will take Endurolytes before leaving and sometimes when I return home. Sometimes I take one the night before an important summer race.

I have found that I can stay properly hydrated and cramp-free by consuming Endurolytes before and after rides, and using a drink such as Hammer Heed or Powerbar Endurance during riding.

And if I do need a little extra kick during the ride, I’ll mix up some of the Endurolyte powder into my water bottle. You can empty a capsule into your bottle, just don’t mix too much into your water bottle, unless you like to taste the salt! I’ve been alright limiting it to one capsule per 20oz bottle of sports drink. (You can buy bulk Endurolyte powder which doesn’t taste so bitter and salty and put a scoop of that into your bottle. I’ll be reviewing it soon.)

Sometimes I’ll even use these capsules for other times, such as when I’m going to be outside in the hot sun all day where drinks will be in short supply. They keep me feeling fresh, when I’d normally end up sapped from the sun’s heat.

It’s hard to argue with Endurolytes. You need electrolytes, and they give you what you need. I don’t think I’ve ever heard complaints about Endurolytes, other than my complaint about taking pills while riding. Earlier this year I saw a review of them in Bicycling magazine, in which they dubbed Endurolytes an “almost-too-good-to-be-true” product! (Sure, they’re not known for giving negative reviews, but that’s a pretty glowing review.)

My final verdict is…

I think the idea behind the Endurolytes is a great one. I can remember quite a few rides and races early in my career where I could have benefited from a few extra electrolytes! Now I have Endurolytes to come to my rescue.

I don’t use these too often (most of the time a couple scoops of Hammer HEED will provide enough electrolytes to get me through the ride,) but if it’s very hot, or just an extremely long or hard race, I make sure to consume a few Endurolytes just to be on the safe side.

If you have problems with cramping during hot days and intense efforts, give these a try.

Official website: www.hammernutrition.com (Endurolytes page)

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