Your electrolyte intake is limiting your crossfit performance (and how to fix it)
Do you strive to be better than you were yesterday? That’s probably why you push yourself to the limits during your CrossFit WODs.
High intensity exercise is the physical act of pushing your body to weakness and tearing your muscle tissues. It’s your bodies recovery to exercise that grows your muscular strength and endurance. For your muscles to fully recover, proper hydration using natural minerals and electrolytes is required for for fluid absorption and protein synthesis.
Every pound of weight lost during a high intensity workout is equal to 16-20 fluid ounces lost. In the 16-20 ounces lost during and after a workout from perspiration, respiration and urination, your body loses about 220mg sodium, 63mg potassium and 8mg magnesium. These natural minerals make up the major electrolytes that regulate your body’s fluid balance, muscle recovery and protein synthesis. They also fuel your muscles.
Properly hydrated bodies perform at a higher level, with more power, endurance, strength, and range of motion.
Not supplementing with these core natural minerals holding you back from peak performance during your CrossFit workouts.
Water and typical sports drinks do not contain significant enough bioavailable levels of these minerals for you to perform with your peak strength and endurance or fully recover from your workout. These minerals are found most abundantly, and easiest for your body to absorb, in nature from coconut water and other fruit juices.
Electrolytes Are Key For Performance
Electrolytes are natural mineral elements that form ions in body fluids. They ensure specific bodily functions run at optimal levels. Too few electrolytes will cause muscles to cramp, muscle fatigue, general daily fatigue and increased heart rate.
Without proper electrolyte levels, your body can’t repair the tissue damage from the last workout, you can’t synthesize protein properly, and your body doesn’t have the power to perform at its absolute best.
Dehydrated ligaments and tendons will become more vulnerable to injury due to decreased muscle elasticity. Dehydrated muscles cannot stretch as far without injury, and give you less range of motion.
Bioavailability is defined as “The proportion of a drug or other substance that enters the circulation when introduced into the body and so is able to have an active effect.”
Typical sports drinks, which are manufactured using chemical-based electrolytes, oils, dyes and added sugar, do not have high enough bioavailability of minerals to effectively restore electrolyte balance.
Natural sources of these minerals have both the highest volumes of electrolytes and are also the most biologically available for your body to digest and have an active effect.
The low bioavailability of manufactured electrolytes in typical sports drinks will result in less overall hydration when compared to a natural sports drink.
The Best Way to Recover
With all the great natural mineral compounds and hydrating properties of coconut water, it is currently one of the best options to fully hydrate, beyond average levels. It’s Paleo and Keto friendly ingredients and is packed with two to three times the amount of electrolytes that the bigger artificial sports drinks have. Greater Than is coconut water based and uses other super fruits to recover from the electrolyte washout during exercise and ensure your muscles and tissues are properly hydrated for maximum performance.
Sports Drinks centered on coconut water are a great start but there are plenty of other dietary and lifestyle hacks you can incorporate to start crushing your WODs. Sign up below to find out how you can continue to better hydrate your entire body.