As a performance dietitian who has worked with elite combat athletes and endurance runners for nearly a decade, I can tell you one thing with certainty: the best electrolyte strategy depends entirely on your situation.


Both high-salt electrolyte drinks and low-salt, hypotonic ORS drinks have a purpose, but they’re effective for very different reasons.

In this guide, you’ll learn when to use each type, how they affect hydration, and why choosing the wrong one can hurt your performance.

When High-Salt Electrolyte Drinks Are Actually Useful

High-salt electrolyte drinks (typically 500 mg+ sodium per 500 mL) are not the best option for rapid hydration. But they do play a strategic role in two key scenarios.

1. Pre-Hydration Before High-Sweat Sessions

If you’re heading into a session or environment where sweat loss will be extreme, hot weather, long field sessions, high-intensity training, or outdoor work, a short-term sodium preload can help.

A higher sodium dose helps your body retain more of the fluid you drink beforehand, reducing early-session dehydration.
Just keep in mind: this does not rapidly hydrate you, it simply improves fluid retention before you start sweating.

2. During Ultra-Long Endurance Events (4+ Hours)

New research from Dr. Alan McCubbin, one of the world leaders in endurance hydration science, shows that during events lasting 4+ hours, higher sodium intake may help maintain plasma sodium levels, especially in salty sweaters.

In ultra-endurance scenarios, sodium can support long-term hydration stability, but:

✔ It must be consumed gradually,
✘ Not taken in large bolus doses.

When Low-Salt, Hypotonic ORS Drinks (Like Trainade) Are the Better Choice

If your goal is rapid rehydration, high-salt drinks actually work against you.

To hydrate quickly, fluid must move efficiently from the stomach into the bloodstream.
This is where hypotonic oral rehydration solutions (ORS), such as Trainade Hydration excel.

Because they contain less sodium than your blood, hypotonic solutions create the ideal gradient for fast fluid absorption, making them significantly more effective for immediate hydration.

Best Times to Use Hypotonic ORS Electrolyte Drinks

• First Thing in the Morning

You wake up in a dehydrated state.
Trainade rapidly restores blood volume so you’re ready for training, work, or competition.

• After Weigh-Ins for Combat Athletes

Post–weight cut, your priority is aggressive, fast hydration.

High-salt drinks often pull water into the gut, leading to:

  • Bloating

  • Nausea

  • Diarrhoea

This slows rehydration at the worst possible time.
Trainade moves water into the bloodstream, allowing you to rehydrate quickly before reintroducing food to restore glycogen.

• At Ultra-Endurance Aid Stations

Endurance athletes typically reach aid stations dehydrated.
This is where hypotonic ORS drinks shine.

Trainade:

  • Rapidly moves fluid into circulation

  • Helps close the hydration gap quickly

  • Minimises gut distress before heading back out on course

For runners with high sweat rates, this can be the difference between maintaining pace and blowing up late in the race.

Why High-Salt Electrolytes Can Make You Feel Worse

If a drink is saltier than your blood, it creates the wrong gradient for hydration.

High-salt drinks can:

  • Draw water out of the bloodstream and into the stomach

  • Slow gastric emptying

  • Increase nausea, stomach cramps, and diarrhoea

Hypotonic drinks like Trainade do the opposite, they pull water into the bloodstream quickly and efficiently.

This is exactly why over 10,000 athletes worldwide, including world champions, Olympians, and world record holders, trust Trainade Hydration.

The Bottom Line: Use the Right Electrolyte Strategy for the Right Situation

Both high-salt and low-salt electrolyte drinks have value, but they solve completely different hydration problems.

Use high-salt drinks for:

  • Sodium pre-loading before high-sweat sessions

  • Gradual intake during ultra-endurance events

Use hypotonic ORS drinks for:

  • Rapid hydration

  • Morning dehydration

  • Post–weight cut recovery

  • Aid station rehydration during ultra events

Want to experience the difference scientific hydration can make?
Learn more or shop Trainade at www.trainade.com

Yours in hydration,
Jordi Sullivan
Founder, The Fight Dietitian & Trainade Performance