Taking Electrolytes and Gels at the Same Time

Audio Transcript

Coach Tony: Hey everyone. Welcome to the Runners Connect Run to the top Extra Kick Podcast. I hope your day is going well and thanks for tuning into the show.

I’m here to answer your running and train questions so you can train smarter, stay healthy, and achieve your goals.

Today we have a great question from John.

John: Hey guys. I hope you are doing well and I wanted to thank you for all the hard work that you put into the podcast.

My question is regarding running. When you’re running, is it okay to have electrolytes and energy gels at the same time? Thank you.

Tony: Excellent question and it’s something I bet it’s on a lot of people’s minds. Let’s understand the purpose of each.

In the case of a gel, a gel or any type of food products is replacing carbohydrates if you go on longer distances.

During a marathon, for example, your carbohydrate level may get a little bit low to make it that lightheaded feeling in purpose and that being because you’re switching over more to burning some fat.

It’s harder to burn fat as you’ll get that light-headed feeling. Gels build that carbohydrate base back up, if you will.

Electrolytes have more to do with sodium and potassium and things like that to help muscle function.

If you’re training on a hot day, for example, and you’re sweating a lot, your electrolyte level can lower so you need to replace those electrolytes.

There’s two different things depending on the distance you are doing, the weather, and all of that stuff. You need to look at each one independently.

Simple answer to your question John, is you can do them at the same time. But with that said, we really must understand the purpose and the strategy and so forth.

Some products may offer both.

For example, you may find a product that they replace electrolytes as well as the nutrition that you’re trying to balance, and you can look at that when you’re trying to decide on products.

The big thing though is to not overdo something. You can mix those two, but you don’t want to overdo something.

In the case of gels, you can’t really overdo energy gels, but I think people consume say in the case of the marathon where gels are popular, I think people may overdo the intake of gels like two to three gels to get through a marathon.

If you read the packaging on some certain products and you follow those rules, you probably take five or six which I think is overdoing.

I don’t even use gels and Iron Man I think I did about 12 gels on the bike but when I’m running, I have a hard time with my stomach and with gel type of products.

If you’re doing a longer distance Ultra, for example, it’s more now than just replacing carbohydrates. It’s proteins and fats and things like.

One of my most recent Ultras was doing [00:03:43 Ensure] I think at about 400 calories in about an eight-ounce serving to drink it quick, didn’t taste too bad, kind of like a chocolate shake in a way and I was replacing kind of a good balance of carbs, proteins, and fats.

From an electrolyte stand point, do not overdo or under do it. I think people consume too much water or electrolytes during a race.

For example, in a marathon there are so many water stops in either every mile or every two miles. You really want to listen to your body.

If it’s super-hot, you want to start to consume more but you want to make sure you’re not drinking straight water, but you also can have too many electrolytes.

You really want to find that balance and the best way to do that is in training. You never want to leave race day for that to be an experiment.

All your training you experiment with drinking straight water, Gatorade or mixing Gatorade or Noon caps or Enduropacks and your gels, during your training runs.

There are certain products, like electrolyte drink, which may be a little bit strong tasting and you may not want to mix that with a gel it might not feel so good in your stomach.

Practice that stuff so come race day, then there’s no surprises. You know what you don’t, and you have the best race that you possibly can. Great question John and thank you for that.

That’s it for today’s show. If you haven’t already done so, please consider heading to iTunes or your favorite podcast directory and subscribing or leaving a review. It helps us reach more runners like you.

Thanks for tuning in. I hope you’ll have a great day, and I’ll see you on the road. Thanks everybody.