When we talked about using salt in a pre-workout supplement in one of our videos, the momentyou were bombarded with questions about why we do it, when, how and how much salt to use for the ideal effect. And that's why we decided to focus on this topic in our article today and answerto answer all the questions that we consider essential when it comes to pre-workout salting.
The Scarecrow called sodium
If there is any mineral that is extremely demonized by the media, it is sodium. High blood pressure, kidney damage and other side-effects are very much in the news and anti-sodium campaigns surround us on all sides. In reality, the issue is a little more complex than that, because sodium is one of the most important electrolytes found in the extracellular space. It leaves the body in sweat and, according to many scientific publications the body is able to excrete up to 3g of this element per litre of sweat. Unfortunately, however, sweating is not only affected by our physical activity, but is also due to hormonal imbalances, the use of drugs and other substances.medications (e.g. diuretics), drinking alcohol, stress from work or school and various thyroid disorders.
At the same time, it is also worth mentioning that sodium management is hormonally controlled, thusif there is an excess of sodium in the body, the body simply excretes it through urine in addition to sweat. If, on the other hand, there is a deficiency, almost none is excreted.
So what is the justification for salt before training?
As we mentioned once in the previous paragraph, salt functions as a very important electrolyte. But along with this, there are several essential functions that can be useful for your performance as well:
- Helps hydration through increased water retention
- Transmits nerve impulses
- Activates a wide range of enzymes
- Helps amino acids and creatine pass into muscle cells
- Modifies metabolism through improved muscle carbohydrate storage
While we could certainly go on and on with this list, as athletes we should be most interested in sodium's effect on hydration. It is the hydration that is crucial to our training and, according to the results of the meta-analyses looking at the role of sodium in exercise a loss of 2% of water from the body results in a noticeable reduction in performance. So, as the above clearly shows, taking salt before training is definitely worthwhile.
How, when and how much salt should I use?
Basically, we can say that there are several different ways to take in sodium around training. Let's look at them a little more thoroughly:
Ionic drink
Taking an ionic drink during your workout is probably the easiest option. You don't have to worry about any dosage, you don't have to time anything carefully. You just need to order an "ionic drink" at the bar at the gym, which in some and you don 't have to worry about anything else. Honestly, though, supplementing sodium (and especially other micronutrients) while trainingI do not advocate too much if you train for less than two hours and the temperature in the gym does not exceed 30°C. On hot summer days, intense workouts may alreadyionic beverages are useful in hot workouts, but all year round it's pointless.
Adding salt to a pre-workout drink
The second option, which I personally prefer, is adding table salt to a pre-workout supplement. I recommend regularly adding 1.5 to 2 grams to your pre-workout drink (I prefer Serious Pre) and you'll see for yourself that the effect will be absolutely sufficient. There are a number of athletes who add even 5 or more grams of salt, however this is completely unnecessary for most recreational exercisers. In terms of timing, it seems optimal to take about 20-30 minutes beforebefore training, so combining with a pre-workout supplement is absolutely ideal.
Prom-IN Serious PRE - A pre-workout that has no competition (Review)
What's worth taking away from the article?
The use of salt is highly demonized these days, and consuming a few grams of salt before a workout really won't do you any harm. On the other hand, it's important to keep up your drinking regime and it's definitely a good idea to supplement with potassium, which is a great source of potassium, such as bananas or coconut water. For most of you, just add 1 to 2 grams to your pre-workout drink and drink this mixture about 20 to 30 minutes before your workout. You can choose absolutely any pre-workout, I can recommend for maximum effect for exampleSerious Pre, which is one of the best pre-workout supplements without stimulants. However, Agrezz is also a good choice, the winner of our comparison of the best pre-workout supplements. But the choice is yours.
We hope that this article has enlightened you at least a little about the use of salt before training. If you still have any questions on this topic, be sure to ask in the comments, we'll be happy to answer.
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Why can you trust us?
Hey! Hey! I'm Mirek and I've been working at World Fitness almost since the beginning, except for a small break. But before that I lived only in the gym for a few years, doing deadlifts and power triathlon, going to competitions and winning a few medals.
Probably the one I value the most is the national record in the WUAP federation. But besides working out, I was also interested in food and supplements, I liked to enjoy my free timeI used to read different researches and professional books in my free time to know as much as possible.