Electrolytes for Hiking

Electrolytes for hiking are important as they can make or break your hike. If you’ve ever had cramps or felt like your energy is depleted on a hike, you most likely had an electrolyte imbalance.

Improving Athletic Performance

What are Electrolytes

Electrolyte Calculation Guide

Is Food a Source of Electrolytes?

How Much Water Should I Drink?

Cramping

Weight Gain or Loss

Dizziness

Hiking in the Summer: Highest Risk for Dehydration

While hiking in the summer is one of the most beautiful seasons to be in the mountains, it poses the most risk for dehydration. That said, any time we work up a sweat we are at risk for dehydration. The risk is higher the longer we are exercising without proper hydration.

Electrolytes for Hiking: Who Am I to Give You Advice?

While I am not an expert, my advice on electrolytes for hiking is based on years of experimenting with my own hydration in ultra-running. I was also a race director of marathons and ultra-marathons for over seventeen years and crewed ultra runners in major races and endurance pursuits.

This story of dehydration is something that happened this past June at a race I co-direct:

Runner X comes through the finish line of a marathon in June. It’s hot and humid in Ontario as it usually is in late June. Runner X has a fast time, but not the fastest on the course. They are staring off into the abyss as they cross, oblivious to the photographer and the cheers of the crowd. Runner X begins to wobble. They narrowly miss the crowd before someone grabs their arm and tries to hold them upright. As they walk them over to the tent for treatment, Runner X’s legs give away beneath them. Their head bobs downward, resting on their neck. Into the ambulance they go. Some thirty minutes later, Runner X exits the ambulance, walking, looking a little disheveled but able to walk on their own.

For every race I’ve produced in the summer months, it’s the same thing. It happens in cooler weather races too, mostly to runners that push themselves beyond their capabilities and have no hydration strategy. For these athletes, here is what they’ve missed:

• They have not consumed electrolytes in the right proportion for their body in the prevailing conditions (weather)
• They have not done anything to prepare for, or manage overheating

Improving Athletic Performance

One of the keys to improving athletic performance is finding a hydration strategy that works for you and your body under any weather conditions.

Is Hiking a Sport?

Whether you consider hiking a sport, or not, if you sweat for prolonged periods of time you need a hydration strategy. Whether you define your activity as athletic performance or leisure, consider what can happen with electrolyte imbalances:

• Dizziness
• Difficulty thinking and talking
• Nausea
• Wobbling
• Fatigue
• Vomiting
• Passing out

From a pure “performance” perspective, a good hydration strategy can make the difference from dragging ourselves up a peak to enjoying it. It can also help in our recovery as we are not finishing a hike completely spent.

What are Electrolytes?

Electrolytes are essential minerals that are involved in every function of our body. We sweat out electrolytes when we exercise. Here are some of the main ones that you’ll find in electrolyte supplements:

• Sodium
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Calcium

Electrolytes for Hiking: A Calculation Guide

The following is an overview to calculate your own electrolytes for hiking. Note that the goal is not to replace 100% of electrolytes lost through sweat. The goal is to prevent the symptoms of imbalance and add to your performance on the mountain (or anywhere you are hiking).

Sodium intake: Recommended intake is 300 mg to 1,000 mg per hour
Factors to consider: Body size, sweat rate, weather conditions

What is the best way to figure out if I need 300 mg of sodium or 1000 mg or somewhere in between?

EXPERIMENT!

While you could get fancy and weigh yourself before and after a training hike and estimate your depletion rate, the easiest way to calculate your electrolyte needs is through experimentation. A scale is also not 100% accurate as we have to account for a certain percentage of weight loss during exercise as our body processes glycogen and water.

Electrolytes for Hiking: Products I Use

Here are two different electrolytes for hiking that I use and how I would recommend experimenting:

Examples of My Hydration Strategy

Here are two hydration strategies I’ve used in the White Mountains. One hike was in cold weather and long. The other was in warm weather and short. My sweat rate is somewhere near medium (not excessive, and not minimal).

Conditions	Time Exercising	Hydration
PRESIDENTIAL TRAVERSE
17 to low 40s F (-8 to ~5 C) rain, fog, high winds	~19 hours	4.5 L water & 10 NUUN tablets 1 salt pill every 3-4 hours
rain, mist, fog, high winds
FRANCONIA NOTCH
Average of 77 F/25 C	~6 1/2 hours	2L water & 2 NUUN tablets 1 salt pill every 3 hours

Read more about my solo hike of the Presidential Traverse here

Electrolytes for Hiking: Is Food a Source of Electrolytes?

Food is a source of electrolytes. However, I like to keep my performance strategies for food and electrolytes separate. You want to make sure you are eating enough to have the energy to reach your goals. You also want to make sure you replenish electrolytes to help you reach your goal and to avoid all the potential issues that could happen from electrolyte imbalances. See my article Best Energy Food for Hiking for ideas on hiking snacks for performance.

Water for Hiking: How Much Should I Drink?

The problem with plain old water for hiking, without electrolytes, is that you can actually displace sodium. I witnessed hyponatremia in an ultra-marathoner when I was crewing at Badwater. Badwater is a 135-mile running race across Death Valley in California that takes place in July every year.

Consuming too much water, without replacing electrolytes is the cause. Drinking large amounts of water with electrolytes is also not good. It’s very much about finding balance for your body under the prevailing conditions (weather).

Hiking in the Summer: Other Factors to Consider

Sweat and electrolyte loss is not the only factor to consider when hiking in the summer. Heat can mimic some of the signs of dehydration. Lack of food to fuel performance can also do this. Here are some common issues that can occur on a hike and ways to prevent or address them:

Cramping

• Electrolyte imbalance – Pop a salt pill
• Neuromuscular fatigue – Stop and stretch until the cramp subsides
• Weight gain or loss – see below

See my Hiking Guide for training tips & more!

Weight Gain or Loss

We won’t actually know if we’ve gained or lost weight unless we weigh ourselves before and after our hike. And weight loss isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as it’s in a 2-3% range of your starting weight (this can be 5-7% for people moving at a faster rate). Weight gains or losses, however, can cause cramping during or after exercise.

Not peeing during a hike in the heat means your body is under stress. This causes the hormone ADH to release into your system and prevents urination. This can be the cause of weight gain. Moderate dehydration also causes the kidneys to hold onto urine. Weight gain may also be from consuming too many liquids. The solution depends on the cause:

HEAT STRESS WHILE EXERCISING: SLOW DOWN & COOL DOWN

DEHYDRATION: ELECTROLYTE INTAKE

TOO MANY LIQUIDS: CUT DOWN ON YOUR WATER AND ELECTROLYTE INTAKE

One of the best ways to cool down is to wear a bandana around your neck and dip it in water. This is not always possible while hiking so slowing down is the next best alternative.

If you are able to compare your weight before and after a hike, a weight loss of more than 3-7% (again depending on how quickly you hike), could mean you did not hydrate adequately.

Dizziness

The issue of dizziness late into a hike can have several different causes:

• Electrolyte imbalance
• Overheating
• Low blood sugar from not eating enough (See High Energy Snack Ideas and Best Hiking Lunches)
• A significant change in pace (I go from running in the mountains to hiking, which can be a significant change in pace, especially on long hikes)

If electrolytes and cooling are taken care of, the solution for dizziness can be to keep a consistent pace. If it’s a blood sugar issue, suck on a sugar candy (I love Werthers butterscotch candies for this!).

Electrolytes for Hiking Recap: Cramping, Weight Gain/Loss, Dizziness

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I hope this article on electrolytes for hiking provides insight for you on how to fuel your next hike. It is an issue I am passionate about and have been working on for over twenty-five years. If we can master our fuel, we can have better hiking experiences. We are also better equipped for pushing our bodies to see how far they can go!

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