Why are electrolytes and carbohydrates crucial for your training?

Intense exercise and training, especially in endurance sports, are a real challenge for our bodies. With every movement we lose precious energy, fluids and electrolytes. Although water is essential for hydration, it cannot replace all the nutrients that the body loses during exertion.

If we don't replace lost electrolytes and carbohydrates, it can lead to various problems. We can get tired more quickly, experience muscle cramps or even dehydration. Electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium are essential for regulating body fluids and transmitting nerve impulses. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our muscles. If we don't have enough of these nutrients, our performance decreases and recovery from exercise can take much longer.

Therefore, it is crucial for athletes to ensure adequate electrolyte and carbohydrate intake before, during, and after training. This will allow them to maintain high intensity for longer, prevent dehydration, and improve their overall performance.

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ELECTROLYTES

What are electrolytes?

Electrolytes are minerals that acquire an electrical charge when in contact with a fluid. This electrical charge allows them to perform many important functions in our bodies.

You've probably noticed a white stain on your sportswear after you've finished your workout. This is salt, which is excreted through sweat. Salt contains one of the most important minerals - sodium. In addition to it, important electrolytes are potassium, calcium and magnesium.

Why are electrolytes important?

Body Fluid Balance: Electrolytes help our bodies retain water in our cells. During intense exercise, we sweat a lot, which leads to the loss of water and electrolytes. If we don't replace these losses, dehydration can occur.

Nerve impulse transmission: Electrolytes are essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system. Electrolyte deficiencies can affect the transmission of nerve signals and cause muscle cramps, fatigue, and decreased coordination.

Blood pressure regulation: Electrolytes play an important role in regulating blood pressure. During exercise, blood pressure increases, and electrolytes help keep this process under control.

What happens if we lack electrolytes?

Muscle cramps:
 A lack of electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium, is one of the many causes of muscle cramps that can seriously hinder our performance.

Fatigue:
 Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance can lead to faster fatigue and reduced performance.

Reduced concentration: Electrolyte deficiency can affect our concentration and ability to make decisions.

How to replace electrolytes?

It is important to replace lost electrolytes on days of increased activity. There are several ways to do this:

Proper nutrition: Electrolytes can be found in many foods, such as bananas, dried fruits, dairy products, and green leafy vegetables.

We should also not ignore the importance of salt in our diet. Although salt has often been portrayed as harmful in the past, we should remember that it is an important source of sodium.

Electrolyte products: These are specially designed for athletes and contain an optimal amount of electrolytes. For the purpose of optimal electrolyte replacement, our product ENDURE ISOFUEL is also available.

CARBOHYDRATES AND SPORTS ACTIVITY

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are considered, along with proteins and fats, to be macronutrients. They are the main source of energy for our bodies, especially during physical exertion. When we consume food rich in carbohydrates, they are broken down into glucose, which is then transported through the blood to our cells. In the muscles, glucose can be used directly as an energy source or stored in the form of glycogen, which serves as an energy reservoir for later use.

Why are carbohydrates important in sports activity?

Energy for muscles:
 Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our muscles during exercise. When we train intensely, our body uses up stored glycogen.

Maintaining blood sugar: Carbohydrates help maintain stable blood sugar levels, which is important for maintaining energy and preventing fatigue.

Sports performance:
Sufficient carbohydrate intake improves our
athletic performance, as it allows us to maintain high levels of energy for longer periods of time intensity.

What happens if we don't eat enough carbohydrates?

Reduced power:
A lack of energy (free glucose in the blood) can affect our strength and explosiveness.

Fatigue:
When glycogen stores are depleted, we feel it as fatigue and our performance drops drastically.

Poor recovery:
After exercise, we need carbohydrates to restore glycogen stores and recover faster.

Where do we find carbohydrates?

Here we would like to emphasize again the importance of a proper and healthy diet. Good sources of carbohydrates are foods such as: rice, potatoes, pasta, oatmeal, bread, and fruit.

Athletes often reach for quickly digestible carbohydrates before and during training, such as maltodextrin, fructose, isomaltulose, sucrose and dextrose. The latter are often included in sports products (powders, energy gels and bars), which contain easily digestible carbohydrates and provide us with quick energy during exercise.

Our ENDURE ISOFUEL product includes a combination of quality carbohydrates, plus a complete electrolyte formula that helps with better carbohydrate absorption and optimal hydration.

ELECTROLYTES AND CARBOHYDRATES: THE PERFECT COMBINATION FOR ATHLETES

Carbohydrates provide the energy our muscles need during exercise. However, they are not enough on their own. Electrolytes play a key role in transporting these carbohydrates into cells and in regulating hydration. When we lose fluids and electrolytes during exercise, the efficiency of carbohydrate absorption also decreases.

This is why sports supplements that contain both electrolytes and carbohydrates are so popular among athletes. The combination allows for faster carbohydrate digestion, which translates into greater endurance and faster recovery. In addition, electrolytes help maintain optimal hydration, which is key to preventing dehydration and related problems such as muscle cramps and fatigue.

We have developed the product ENDURE ISOFUEL especially for such purposes.

ABOUT ENDURE ISOFUEL