How to load salt when running long

Research by Greek scientists published in the National Library of Medicine on March 19, 2022 is the most recent to show that salt is a very important nutrient ingredient in long-distance competitions like marathons.

Accordingly, when athletes lose more than 4% of their body weight, performance will decrease. The cause is dehydration and salt loss, or decreased muscle glycogen, or both. Therefore, salt intake is essential to avoid cramps when competing in long distances such as marathons.

Other studies suggest that cramps also come from a nervous system response. However, this does not mean that athletes do not need to add salt.

Runner often talks about electrolytes and drinking electrolyte drinks on the track. Electrolytes are actually salts (also known as sodium/sodium), which are lost through sweat during competition. But most of the electrolyte drinks on the market have very little electrolyte content (mineral salts), more refreshing than sports drinks. Therefore, adding salt when playing is even more necessary.

Salt in the body is lost through sweat. So to calculate the amount of salt to add, the first thing we need to do is calculate the amount of sweat lost. This is called the "sweat rate" calculation, and it's very simple:

- Get on the scale before running and see the weight. Note to avoid wearing many clothes when weighing, easy to skew the weight.

- Run 1 hour on the street, preferably at the time of the competition (between 7-8am, if you're running a marathon) and at the pace of the competition. Try not to drink water.

- Get on the scale after running and see the index.

The kilogram difference between two weights is the amount of water we lose when running through sweat. For example, if before running, the runner's weight is 60kg, and after running is 59kg, the amount of water lost is equivalent to 1kg, or 1 liter of water.

In sweat, there is salt, with a constant concentration regardless of how much or how little sweat is produced. To calculate the exact amount of salt each person has in a liter of sweat needs specialized machines. But there are some simpler ways to estimate the amount of salt in the body. If sweat flows into the eyes and feels stinging, or after running a runner sees many white streaks on clothes, it is likely that the salt content is in the range of 1,000-1,500mg/liter of sweat. Without these phenomena, the amount of salt can range from 500-700mg. Usually, Asians have a higher salt intake than Europeans, due to genetic and culinary characteristics from childhood.

According to Mr. Pham Minh Quang - founder and coach of BoiDapChay Club (Swim, Bike, Run), runners do not need to have enough salt to lose. For example, when entering a marathon, for the first two hours, a runner may not need to consume salt because the salt reserves in the body are still enough so that the body and calves are not affected. If you set a goal to run a sub4 marathon, the runner just needs to pay attention to salt for the remaining half of the estimated time.

How much salt to load depends on each person's body and needs time to experiment and draw experience for themselves. However, we can start with refilling 50% of the lost salt. For example we lose 1000mg/liter of sweat, and losing 1 liter of sweat per hour running means we have to recharge 500mg of salt per hour, for the remaining 2 hours of the competition.

On the market today, there are many types of salt to load when competing in road sports. The most popular are still capsules of salt. 500mg of salt is equivalent to two capsules (each containing about 250mg). There are also many other products such as carb powder with salt, or even many professional athletes also use Oresol - a familiar product in the treatment of diarrhea. Each pack of Oresol contains about 500mg of salt. However, runners need to pay attention to mix enough water with Oresol, in accordance with the indications for use of the drug. On the packaging of each product, there is a list of nutrients, so we can easily see the salt content of each product.

"If we try the 50% level and we still see signs of leg cramps after long training sessions, we can try to increase it to 60% or 70%," Mr. Quang recommended. Too much salt intake without enough water will have a great effect, even dangerous to the body, because salt increases water permeability in the body, pulling water from the cells out, leading to dehydration. .

Salt is an important puzzle piece for those who exercise enough and want to improve their performance. For new runners, the first thing we need to do is practice hard, accumulate running mileage increasing weekly and monthly so that the body gets used to the high intensity of running in a marathon, then calculate to the energy, salt and water puzzle.