http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150304075220.htm
Spanish researchers have analysed the effectiveness of salt on sports performance in triathletes. The athletes who added this supplement to their usual hydration routines during the competition took 26 minutes less to complete a medium-distance triathlon course than those who only used sports drinks.
This is a controversial topic as many wont agree with this.
With years of working with beginner to high level age group/pro athletes over the half and ironman distance, i have find some relatively easy factor/sign of who need supplement of electrolyte in racing and who does not.
Perhaps the science wont support it but my experience is many of my athletes will take 4-6 electrythe pills/hour during long distance races on top of sport drink on course. It s often the difference between a meltdown/cramp and walk on the run or a 3:05-3:20 marathon off the bike and a kona spot at the end.
in real world experience, i have seen drastic improvement with supplementing… But that is not needed for everyone…
distance was half ironman. no times reported directly in that article (maybe there’s a link in there somewhere), but that’s a huge difference!
The placebo was NyQuill tablets
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Never take an article at face value. They are often sensationalized versions to get clicks or only take snipits of the actual scientific journal publication. If you want to really know what the study’s outcomes were, find the scientific publication and read it.
That said, you have to be careful with studies as well. Definitely take time to educate yourself. Read multiple studies on the same topic. For a generic example, you will find one study that says you should eat xxx amount of animal products a day because they are complete protein sources. Another study will directly contradict that study saying that the xxx amount will cause cancer. Or the classic, you should drink coffee, oh wait no you shouldn’t, maybe you should?
The takeaway, science is constantly evolving. One study is not the end all be all. What we think we know today, will be turned on its head tomorrow.
Try to eat healthy, be active, rest and recover. Figure out what works for you in everyday life and in your training and racing.
So true Scott, and every body is different. That said, my n+1 differs completely with Noakes, and this study is more my experience.
My experience coincides with yours jonnyo. Thanks for the response, and yes, the Noakes advocates will not care for this one.
Perhaps the science wont support it but my experience is many of my athletes will take 4-6 electrythe pills/hour during long distance races on top of sport drink on course. It s often the difference between a meltdown/cramp and walk on the run or a 3:05-3:20 marathon off the bike and a kona spot at the end.
What sport drink are your athletes drinking that requires the added pills?
For me, I cramped on the mid-section of the run last year and haven’t really figured out why. I bounced back and ran well the second half but not smoothly. I was taking Infinite on the bike and EFS bottles on the run. No pills. And missed Kona by 8 minutes.
pretty much any sport drink on the market wont have ‘‘enough’’ if the person is really dependent on high dose of electrolyte. I like athletes to be able to use what is on course in term of sport drink. i also make sure they can digest many brand of drinks. Most of the time, we get around to teach them this and not be ‘‘picky’’ about the brand.
I do have them learn to use effectively maltodextrin as perhaps the best source of calories during longer events. Infinit is basiclly maltodextrin with a mix of other sugar and electrolythe. But it dosnt make a good concentrated solution like plain maltodextrin those. it s a good product but plain maltodextrin allow you to play with ratio and concentration by youself in training on a daily basis so you know exactly what your body like and respond to…
as for you, it comes down to looking at your training and see if your performance was inline with your training or if it was nurtition/pacing that was the issue. If you under performe compare to training…then yes, a deeper look into your fueling/pacing is needed.
What is interesting is the study only says that the athletes finished faster, not that it prevented cramps. Salt hasn’t been shown to either prevent cramps or lessen the duration of cramps. As a matter of fact, there is no definitive link between any electrolyte and cramping and science doesn’t even really know what cramping is in the first place. We do know that electrolyte supplementation does increase performance overall. The one thing that has been shown to definitively shorten cramps is pickle juice, so you might give that a shot.
http://runnersconnect.net/running-nutrition-articles/pickle-juice-muscle-cramps/
as for you, it comes down to looking at your training and see if your performance was inline with your training or if it was nurtition/pacing that was the issue. If you under performe compare to training…then yes, a deeper look into your fueling/pacing is needed.
That’s where I get “confused” or maybe not. My long runs in training were done at 8/mile and I ran 8/mile average. So, yeah, I ran what I trained but I thought I would have ran 10-15 minutes faster since my long training miles were done painfully slow just to get in the time.
For all the backseats coaches, it seems obvious, I did what I trained but it sure felt like I left something on the table race day.
my n+1
Do you know what we call that? “anecdata” 
That’s what I said, but funny how it coincides with so many others. Too much coincidence that in my 32 years in tri, taking a salt (electrolyte) tablet completely takes the cramping away within a minute or two. Science will eventually catch up to real world, as is often the case.
my n+1
Do you know what we call that? “anecdata”
For all the backseats coaches, it seems obvious, I did what I trained but it sure felt like I left something on the table race day.
Yes, you left your magical vitamin coffee on the table
My experience coincides with yours jonnyo. Thanks for the response, and yes, the Noakes advocates will not care for this one.
My N=1 datapoint is so vastly different from Noakes that I think it is borderline medical quackery if not downright dangerous to tell people that they should not supplement in hot long course events. Yes, everyone is different and people have to find out what works for them, and this study is consistent with my own physiological response. However, I didn’t need the study to confirm what I thought about the anti-salt docs.
Do you know what we call that? “anecdata”
However, for personal use, it can be more valuable than scientifically rigorous conclusion based on the mean of some statistic, when there is huge variance amongst the population.
Salt hasn’t been shown to either prevent cramps or lessen the duration of cramps.
That’s true in terms of statistical significance across an entire study population. However several studies have noted that members of the study population, particularly very heavy sweaters, may benefit.
My experience coincides with yours jonnyo. Thanks for the response, and yes, the Noakes advocates will not care for this one.
My N=1 datapoint is so vastly different from Noakes that I think it is borderline medical quackery if not downright dangerous to tell people that they should not supplement in hot long course events. Yes, everyone is different and people have to find out what works for them, and this study is consistent with my own physiological response. However, I didn’t need the study to confirm what I thought about the anti-salt docs.
Boarderline? You’re way too kind.
who the hell is a noakes advocate anymore? bewildered face
Am and always have been a massive pusher of salt.
I’m a smart person, and yet…
I’ll never forget that time, when I was having some weird general and systemic health issues, and my cardiologist told me I need to go on 10,000mg a day of sodium.
10K? are you crazy doc? Sodium is BAD for you. 2k is recommended, but zero is better, right? Right?!?!?!?
No, salt is good, and you need 10k a day.
But my heart.
Yes your heart.
Like, today?
No, like until further notice.
Like 3 months later I started, finally, to get high blood pressure and a little bloated.
OK, you can stop now. Back to a normal diet, but add salt to taste.
who the hell is a noakes advocate anymore? bewildered face
Am and always have been a massive pusher of salt.