3 Reasons Why Electrolyte Balance is Necessary for Fitness Recovery
It’s time to get a little salty
If you exert energy and exercise in any capacity, electrolytes are needed to keep you fit and healthy. It’s not something most people think about. They center their thoughts around weight loss, muscle building, or just maintenance.
Regardless of your goals (be it weight loss, building lean muscle mass, gaining strength, or maintaining your current composition) electrolytes play a vital role. And they play an even more essential part when it comes to recovery.
Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t take recovery into consideration, let alone understand how important it is to replenish electrolytes after a workout. Yet it’s a vital aspect of transforming your body.
Electrolytes are required to maintain the homeostasis of the body.
This article will elaborate on the three reasons why electrolyte balance is necessary for proper recovery from a workout.
But first, what are electrolytes?
As stated, electrolytes are essential in maintaining homeostasis (balance) of the body. Electrolytes play key roles in many body functions: neurons firing, the heart pumping, maintaining acid-base balance, and muscles contracting are just a few.
Electrolytes are life-sustaining.
Electrolytes are substances that naturally have a positive or negative electrical charge when dissolved in water. There are specific minerals involved in this process.
The primary electrolytes include sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl-), phosphate (PO₄³⁻), and bicarbonate (HCO3).
Of the seven, only three — sodium, chloride, and potassium — are essential minerals that function primarily as electrolytes. And of those three, sodium and potassium take on a lot more responsibilities and are the ‘heavy lifters’ of all the seven minerals.
Sodium and potassium are so crucial to the body, that they have their own pathway (the sodium-potassium pump). This alone is vital to cellular physiology and function.
You can nerd out and watch a brief video that gives an overview of the sodium-potassium pump and what’s really going on.
Secondly, how do you get electrolytes?
The good news is, most are found in the foods we eat!
The main food sources of electrolytes are fruits and vegetables. A common source of sodium and chloride is table salt. Bicarbonate is a byproduct of the body’s metabolism, so we already make it naturally.
- Sodium: Pickled foods, cheese, and table salt
- Chloride: Table salt
- Potassium: Fruits and vegetables (like bananas, avocado, and sweet potato)
- Magnesium: Seeds and nut
- Calcium: Dairy products, fortified dairy alternatives, and green leafy vegetables (like kale)
- Phosphate: Phosphorus can be found naturally in protein-rich foods such as meats, poultry, fish, nuts, beans, and dairy products
Electrolyte balance is beyond hydration alone. Yes, proper hydration is also very important. Water is necessary for life. Fluid balance is part of the equation.
Having the right fluid and electrolyte balance keeps your body functioning at optimal levels. This is mostly an unconscious process (although when off-balance, the body does send out signals it’s missing something).
Replenishing your electrolytes after a workout for proper recovery is even more important.
Reason #1 — Salt is actually healthy and needed
The US government states that <2.3g of salt is needed per day (which equates to approximately 1 teaspoon). That’s not a lot and is actually inaccurate.
If you’re involved in fitness and athletic endeavors, you need more than the US guidelines for proper recovery. Studies have shown that a healthy and proper amount of sodium needed is within the range of 5–7g per day.
Sodium is one of the electrolytes that we’re quickest to lose through sweat. But the good news is that we can quickly replenish it by consuming some salt.
Athletes can lose up to 7–10g of sodium per day while training. Sodium must be replaced otherwise performance will suffer.
Then there’s the cases of hyponatremia (too little sodium) and hypernatremia (too much sodium).
If the balance of fluids and sodium is upset, you can experience hypernatremia (too much sodium and not enough fluid). Or you can experience hyponatremia (too much fluid and not enough sodium). Both conditions can be the result of dehydration.
Salty intake in recovery helps the body replenish depleted sodium levels. This can be accomplished by drinking some saltwater, or a high-quality fluid that has the necessary electrolyte balance (my personal favorite is by LMNT).
Reason #2 — Fitness gains
You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. You can power through your workout better when your electrolytes are balanced. When your electrolyte levels are in check, you’ll probably notice higher performance levels.
Depending on the level and intensity of your workout, you’ll also sweat in some way. Everyone is different. But due to the natural loss of sodium through sweat, it’s important to get electrolytes post-workout.
Electrolytes are also required for muscle recovery. You’ve worked your body and put it through some degree of stress. Now it’s time to recover those muscles.
Here’s what Craig Horswill, Ph.D., clinical associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago states about the importance of electrolyte balance post-workout:
“What many don’t realize is that electrolytes also help direct the flow of water in and out of cells, helping to support rehydration and muscle repair. Carbohydrates like glucose are needed to pull the electrolytes and water into the body during rehydration, yet too much sugar can slow rehydration and delay recovery.”
Electrolytes help to keep your muscles from cramping up and becoming sore after a workout.
What about protein after a workout? Yes, that’s important too, especially if your goals are around hypertrophy (building muscle). But electrolyte balance is just as crucial.
Reason #3 — Less Fatigue
Fatigue can be a frustrating symptom to work through. If you’re not replenishing your electrolytes after a workout, you may experience fatigue to some degree.
Fatigue can mean different things across the spectrum of living, as we all experience fatigue differently. But overall, it’s a feeling of tiredness or lack of energy with a strong desire to sleep or partake in no activities.
Fatigue can be caused by a plethora of things and doesn’t relate to any specific disease process. But once identified, it can usually be resolved.
If the fatigue continues, this will no doubt hamper your training efforts and performance to achieve the maximum desired results.
Fatigue can often be traced to a deficiency in magnesium. Magnesium is involved in many functions in the body (over 300) and helps fight fatigue. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults 19–51+ years is 400–420 mg daily for men and 310–320 mg for women.
Luckily, magnesium can be replenished through food. There are also some magnesium supplements available, as well as electrolyte supplementation that includes magnesium.
Make sure you’re including magnesium as part of your electrolyte regimen to aid in proper recovery.
Results of electrolyte imbalance
When electrolytes and fluid balance are neglected after a training session/workout, negative things can happen.
These are some of the results of an electrolyte imbalance:
- muscle cramps
- brain fog or confusion
- little to no energy/fatigue
- Irregular heartbeat
- nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
Key Takeaways
- Electrolytes are substances that naturally have a positive or negative electrical charge when dissolved in water.
- Electrolytes include sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl-), phosphate (PO₄³⁻), and bicarbonate (HCO3).
- Electrolytes are life-sustaining and required for proper fluid balance in the body
- Electrolytes are a crucial part of proper recovery from training and workouts.
- 5–7g of salt daily is recommended for those who actively train and workout.
- 3 reasons electrolytes are needed for proper recovery: salt is healthy and needed, for fitness gains, and to ward off fatigue.
- Electrolytes help to keep your muscles from cramping up and becoming sore after a workout.
Note: this article is specifically addressing fitness/exercise/training, and is for information purposes only. As a Registered Nurse, I am aware of certain disease processes where salt/sodium intake requires restriction; such as hypertension, chronic kidney disease (CKD), or heart disease. Please consult with your healthcare provider or a sports nutrition coach to determine proper sodium intake for optimal performance and health outcomes.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this article informative!
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