Salt/Sodium/Electrolyte Tablets: Your Perspective Please.

With no personal scientific testing done on my own, so just experience. 

I don't think they do much, I get my sodium in the sports drinks and regular diet.  I save my money for better things...

BOP AG'r  I use Nuun on the bike, in training and races.  Endurolytes caps on long runs when I race.  They seem to work for me. 

BTW: more pictures of cats is always welcome

pretty much use them for hot, long races.

I haven't experimented too much to see where the my limits are, but as a general rule I take salt tabs to prevent cramping.  My hydration plan includes something like Gatorade, so getting some salt from that as well.

Has anyone every used a sodium/salt/electrolyte product and had a negative experience with it?

Here are three good cats for some good replies. Thank you:

I'm pretty close to this schedule as well, give or take.  I found Endurolytes to be pretty useless, but have had good luck with S!Caps.

Living in Vegas, I've gotten my share of HOT days.

Last year I've cycled a lot, sweated a lot - but never suffered cramping. I always keep myself hydrated with electrolytes, every single ride.   Now, I seem to do fine without electrolytes for rides under 2 hrs. 

Endrolytes - useless. I felt nothing or notice any changes, but then again, I rarely experience "symptoms of needing a salt tab/Endurolytes/Electrolytes". 

Salt tabs - never tried them

Now it's getting hotter and hotter - and since I'm riding at night twice weekly, it'll give me a chance to try out the salt tablets, and perhaps the electrolytes tablets and see if I actually feel any difference, especially the rides are the same weekly. 

While I know you do need electrolytes for rides longer than 2 hrs and in extreme heat...

My question is this: How do you KNOW you need electrolytes?   Meaning, what are the main symptoms that shows electrolyte loss?    Is there a difference between nutritional cramping and muscular cramping?  In the past, I would just drink my electrolyte mix...that's more of a "preventative". I never experienced any issues, bonking, cramping, etc. So I don't know if it's because I am taking electrolytes or I don't need it.

I've experienced severe calf cramping.  I drank lots of water, and the cramping went away. That's dehydration issue...but if I had Salt tablets with me, would it have made a difference and would it have fixed it quicker than 30-40 minutes of steadily drinking water? (24-28oz total)

Here's my other question:

Does it make a difference if your electrolyte mix has calories (HEED, Cytomax, Gatorade) vs the zero calories (NUUN, Nuun Natural)?   I personally feel that it does.

I'm a KISS gal, but I would like to add some sort of "back up" for the what ifs.     I've seen some of my cyclist friends take in Endurolytes before rides, midway and occasionally after the rides...and the rides are 2 hours or less. It doesn't make sense to me. 

23 ounces seems like a lot over seven miles.  If I drank half that much I'd have issues.  If you got a cramp in your side I'd vote it was from too much water not a lack off.  I think the electrolyte tablets are a good idea to be on the safe side at Boise.  Initial forecasts I'm seeing are well into the 70's though this far out could very well be in the 80's through the bike and run.

I learned my lesson Saturday when I cramped severely in both legs at 21 miles into a marathon.  I believe it was due to lack of electrolytes.  I hydrated consistently through all the aid station but just drank water as I don't like the HEED they were serving.  Figured my gels (about eight ounces) would suffice.  While cool it was very sunny and I think I sweat more than I figured.  Lots of salt on my forehead after race.  Other than the cramping felt very strong.  I'll be sure to be taking salt tablets at Boise.

I chose: I get the electrolytes and salt I need from other products (drinks, etc)

Personally, I think a lot of what people think is the need for electrolytes is actually a lack of fitness.  That said, when I do distances greater than usual, it does seem to help me ward off cramping when I do take some kind of electrolyte.  I never took tablets before, because I think they are a PITA.  I first realized that salt works after my first HIM when I was cramping early in the run and hit up potato chips and pretzels at the aid station.  They went away after that and I continued my race.  Since then I've found First Endurance EFS.  It has a ton of electrolytes in the drink along with calories.  I find I don't need anything else but that and water on my long workouts anymore and rarely have problems cramping even at longer distances.

I've always thought I am a heavy sweater so this year I self-verified that with a couple of one hour sweat tests. In all previous long endurance events from marathon to HIM to IM, I have had cramping issues, particularly calf and hamstring, especially when it's above 75-80 degrees. I had never tried salt tabs, electrolytes, etc. except for what I would get in sports drink.

This year, I added Nuun during long training sessions and during IM SG earlier this month. During training, I found if I don't take the Nuun or went too light on it, I would sometimes get hit with a cramp on the bike or run. If I took sufficient Nuun, which sometimes meant 1.5 to 2 times the normal serving (e.g. two tablets in 16 oz water instead of one, not twice the amount of water), that worked very well for me. I tried various levels to see if there would be any GI issues or other impacts and I have not detected any. I followed this plan at IM SG and I had zero cramping problems.

This is only one case study for me so far, but I will do the same with a HIM in July and a fall marathon (if I do it) and see if the results are consistent. So far, I'm very encouraged.

Brad

I included Salt Stick capsules in my training and racing for the half iron distance.  I did this solely on the recommendation of my coach.  I also had a sport drink with electrolytes (70 ounces on the bike).   I don't have anything to compare it to, but I felt like following her nutrition plan was the key to my (relative) success.   I felt like a million bucks on the run, which is more than I could have ever hoped for.   I also had several very hot sweaty training rides, where I used the Salt Stick caps, and always felt relatively good. 

I can never figure out why Hammer even sells Endurolytes when you compare them to other things on the market.   One Salt Stick cap equals something like 4 (or more?) Endurolytes.  Yuck!

That was a lot of stuff to ingest for a run of that length, at least it would have been for me. I would have had a side ache (or worse) for sure. I'm a heavy sweater as well, but I might have had maybe 8 ounces of fluid in the hour before that run and 8 ounces from occasional sips along the way, perhaps with some Nuun in it. But that's me and I don't tend to have cramp issues until I get upwards of two hours on a warm day.

Brad

I personally have no desire to take sodium or anything else of that nature.  I'd rather get what I need through gels and regular food.  I used to surf a lot and remember every time I'd get even a little salt in my mouth I'd start dry heaving.  Every time I read about somebody taking salt tabs it makes me want to hurl.  lol

Thank you Tony, and everyone who replied. Appreciated.

This is a tough one to write and provide some balance. It's going to be interesting.