Category: Racing

Endurance Racing – Sweat Loss

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As one of the three important Fuel and Hydration, sweat loss, and more specifically, the replacement of fluids, is an incredibly important aspect of endurance racing, and is strongly correlated to race day survival, performance and recovery. The other two aspects, fuel (primarily carbohydrates) and electrolytes (primarily sodium) are the other two components. Without any one of the three, long distance and endurance events, or races, become considerably more challenging, and the chances of you finishing, drastically diminish.

Understanding how much fluid you have to consume during an event is determined by a variety of factors and variables. A few of the variables:

Time of Day, Heat, Humidity, Diet, and Effort. In addition, your sweat rate is unique and may also change throughout your life. Unlike your relative sodium concentration, which generally is constant throughout your life and in the majority of circumstances. read more

Carb and Sodium sources from popular products

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Here is a table of carb and sodium sources for various products available to purchase. This is helpful if you want to understand the carb source, electrolyte content and also the volume or weight for endurance events.

ProductTypeAmountServingCarbsSodiumCalciumPotassiumMagnesiumSugarFiberCaffeineMain Ingredients
Saltstick ChewsChewable Tablet1 Tablet1 Tablet1g50mg1mg3mg1g
Saltstick CapsualsCapsual1 Cap1 Cap215mg22mg63mg11mg
SIS Sodium GelGel1 Gel60ml22g300mg0.7g
SIS Regular GelGel1 Gel60ml22g10mg0.6g
Tailwind CaffinePowder1 Scoop27g25g310mg27mg90mg12mg25g35mgDextrose, Sucrose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide, Caffine
Tailwind RegularPowder1 Scoop27g25g310mg27mg90mg12mg25gDextrose, Sucrose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide
SIS Beta Fuel ChewBar1 Bar60g46g100mg41g2.2gGlucose (36%), Fructose (29%)
Precision Hydration PF1000Dissolvable Tablet1 Tablet6g3g500mg20mg130mg10mg2g
Nuun SportDissolvable Tablet1 Tablet4g300mg13mg150mg25mg1g
Gatorade Endurance PowderPowder1.5 Tbsp24g22g300mg140mg0mg13gSugar, Malto, frustose, citric acid, sodium citrate, etc.
Gatorade Endurance Bottle (24oz)Premixed Drink1 Bottle (24oz)24oz/720ml44g620mg280mg26gSugar, Malto, frustose, citric acid, sodium citrate, etc.
Gatorade NormalPowder1.66 Tbsp23g22g150mg50mg21gSugar, Dextrose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate
LMNTPowder1 Pack6g< 1g1000mg200mg60mgSalt (Sodium Chloride), 
Maurten Gel 100Gel1 Gel25g25g85mg25gWater, Glucose, Fructose, Calcium Carbonate, Gluconic acid, Sodium Alginate.
Maurten Gel 100 CAFGel1 Gel25g25g22mg25g100mgWater, Glucose, Fructose, Calcium Carbonate, Gluconic acid, Sodium Alginate, Caffine
Energy product formatProsCons
Carb (“Isotonic”) drinks+ Useful for short-to-moderate duration activities (~45 mins-2 hrs)– Unlikely to meet your fluid and electrolyte needs over ~2 hrs (especially in the heat)
+ Require no chewing, little digestion– Reduces the flexibility of your fueling strategy
+ Replaces some of the fluids and sodium lost in your sweat, mitigating the risk of dehydration– Some people don’t like the sweet taste
Gels+ Easy to carry a large amount of carbs efficiently– Some athletes find they become sickly or unpleasant (“flavour or texture fatigue”) if over-consumed
+ Efficient when your hydration needs are proportionally lower than your energy needs– Many athletes just can’t “stomach” gels
– Not ideal when simply opening the packets is tricky because you don’t have full use of your hands (e.g. when kayaking)
Chews+ Can be more ‘satisfying’ than gels during longer races at lower intensities– Not ideal when you’re exercising at a high enough intensity to make chewing and swallowing an issue
+ A viable alternative for anyone who doesn’t get on well with gels– Not ideal when simply opening the packets is tricky because you don’t have full use of your hands (e.g. when kayaking)
+ Excellent energy-to-weight ratio
Bars+ They often contain protein, fat and fibre (unlike drinks, gels and chews), so are generally a lot more satisfying to eat– Better suited to ultra-distance events, where it’s possible to eat them because you’re moving at a slower pace
+ They take longer to digest and absorb, so their energy can be released more slowly, which may be an advantage at lower intensities– They tend to need to be washed down with fluid
+ Can double up as a good pre or post-workout snack

DIY: Endurance Fuel

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There are a ton of different endurance fuels on the market. Gels, Gu’s, Chews and Powders make up the majority of the form factors, but ultimately you can make many of them at home, for a fraction of the cost. In terms of efficacy, the DIY versions is identical, if not better, due to knowing the exact ingredients and their source. After spending way too much money buying, I decided to mix my own allowing me to customize the ratios of ingredients for my specific needs.

The primary fuel source for endurance athletes (exercise lasting over 1.5 to 2 hours) is Carbohydrates and the “purest” form of CHO is Sugar. Recent research shows that the human body can absorb between 60 – 90g of Carbohydrates per hour. Traditionally this was thought to be much lower (around 60g), but when splitting up different fuel types into fructose and glucose, it allows a variety of intestine transporters to absorb the carbs in parallel. read more