SportingDrinks

Guides

How much to drink, how much sodium you lose, and what the numbers on a sports drink label mean. Each guide uses the same label data as the drinks database and cites its sources on the methodology page.

Sweat and fluid

  • How to calculate your sweat rate

    Calculate your sweat rate by weighing yourself before and after exercise, adding what you drank and subtracting urine. Step-by-step method and common errors.

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  • Sports drink vs water: when each one makes sense

    Sports drink vs water: water covers most workouts under an hour. Sports drinks help in long, hot or hard sessions. What the ACSM and fueling research say.

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  • Do you need electrolytes?

    Do you need electrolytes? For most short workouts, no. For long, hot or very sweaty sessions, often yes. A plain guide to when they help and when to skip them.

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Sodium and electrolytes

  • How much sodium per hour do you need during exercise?

    How much sodium per hour you lose depends on your sweat rate and how salty your sweat is. See the published ranges and how to work out your own number.

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  • How much sodium is in sports drinks?

    Sodium in sports drinks compared per 12 fl oz and per liter, from label-checked data. See how Gatorade, LMNT, Liquid I.V. and others compare with sweat losses.

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  • What are electrolytes?

    Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electric charge in body fluids. What each one does, which ones you lose in sweat, and how to read them on a drink label.

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  • Homemade electrolyte drink recipe

    A homemade electrolyte drink needs water, salt, a little sugar and a potassium source. Our recipe is calculated from WHO rehydration values and sweat research.

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Carbs and sugar