What is the difference between HEED and Endurolytes or Endurolytes Fizz?
One scoop of HEED provides 110 kcal of energy and contains roughly as many electrolytes as one Endurolytes capsule or half an Endurolytes Fizz tablet. The Endurolytes products contain only electrolytes, no energy.
For most athletes, one or two scoops of HEED in a bottle cover their hourly energy needs and part of their electrolyte needs. Heavier athletes, and anyone exercising in the heat, often need additional electrolytes from Endurolytes capsules or Endurolytes Fizz tablets.
HEED: energy + electrolytes. Endurolytes, Endurolytes Fizz: electrolytes only.
How should I carry capsules during training?
A few tried-and-tested options:
Note: don't carry the capsules loose in your pocket or anywhere they'll be exposed to sweat or moisture: vegetable capsules soften quickly when damp and become hard to take.
What is the difference between Endurolytes, Endurolytes Extreme and Endurolytes Extreme Powder?
Endurolytes is the original electrolyte replacement: a balanced blend of sodium chloride (salt), calcium, magnesium, potassium and manganese. It's ideal if you follow a diet that's moderate in salt.
Endurolytes Extreme contains 110 mg of sodium and 170 mg of chloride (about 280 mg of salt) plus 75 mg of potassium per capsule – roughly three times as much as one Endurolytes capsule. Endurolytes Extreme Powder provides the same stronger formula in powder form. Endurolytes can be used in any weather, but Extreme is the better choice if:
- You're racing in unusually hot conditions (Kona or Badwater, for example): with Extreme you can cover exceptionally high electrolyte needs with fewer capsules.
- You're not yet acclimatised to the heat: slow down, cut your calorie intake slightly and deliberately increase your fluid and electrolyte intake.
- Your diet is salty: we recommend 1500–2300 mg of sodium (3.75–5.75 g of salt) a day. The saltier you eat, the more sodium you lose during exercise. If you switch to a less salty diet, you can go back to Endurolytes after a few weeks.
- You're prone to cramping, or you sweat very heavily: some athletes need 6 or more Endurolytes capsules an hour even in mild weather.
- You're just starting the season: until you're in shape, you lose more sodium, chloride and potassium.
Why do I need electrolytes?
Electrolytes are like the oil in your car's engine: they don't power the engine, but without them it won't run smoothly. They play a part in muscle contraction, the transmission of nerve impulses and the maintenance of fluid balance – magnesium and calcium, for example, contribute to normal muscle function.
Just as you wouldn't wait until the engine has seized to top up the oil, don't wait for cramps before you replace electrolytes: by the time you cramp, your performance started to decline long before. The goal is steady, consistent replenishment.
Why is Endurolytes better than a simple salt tablet?
Many athletes focus only on salt (sodium chloride), yet your body needs the full spectrum of electrolytes: besides sodium and chloride, it also needs calcium, magnesium, potassium and manganese – continuously and in balanced proportions.
If you take in too much salt (from salty food, salt tablets or products with excessive sodium content), your body detects the external supply: the hormone aldosterone “shuts down” sodium recycling in the kidneys, so your body excretes even more sodium. Meanwhile another hormone, vasopressin, comes to the fore, which can cause uncomfortable water retention and swelling.
Optimal electrolyte replenishment during endurance exercise is gradual and steady, covers ALL electrolytes, and doesn't upset your body's own regulation. That's what Endurolytes, Endurolytes Fizz, Endurolytes Extreme and Endurolytes Extreme Powder are made for.
What do you think about sweat test results?
Question: I had a sweat test, which says I need at least 1000 mg of sodium per hour. What's your opinion?
Answer: It can give you interesting data, but we're not fans of it, because it shows only a small slice of the whole picture. The test typically measures fluid and salt loss for about an hour under controlled conditions – that may be accurate for the first hour, but not for what happens in the hours that follow.
In the first 30–60 minutes of exercise you really do lose a lot of fluid and salt. Your body detects this, however: the hormone aldosterone recycles some of the sodium via the kidneys, so the loss doesn't stay the same hour after hour. On top of that, your body already holds several tens of grams of sodium.
The common mistake: based on the test, someone replaces 1–2 g of sodium per hour – that's 2.5–5 g of salt, which is a lot. Excessive sodium intake switches off aldosterone regulation, your body excretes even more sodium, and vasopressin can lead to water retention, oedema and raised blood pressure. If your hands, ankles or face are swollen at the end of a long training session or race, or your clothes are heavily caked with salt, you've probably taken in too much salt.
Bottom line: don't try to replace the full loss measured by the sweat test every hour – moderate, steady, full-spectrum replenishment is the way to go.
How does Endurolytes Fizz compare to Endurolytes capsules?
One Endurolytes Fizz tablet roughly equals 2 Endurolytes capsules, and half a tablet about 1 capsule. Only “roughly”, because an effervescent tablet needs different mineral forms:
- The fizz requires sodium and potassium bicarbonate, so Fizz has slightly more sodium and less chloride. In total, half a tablet contains about 130 mg of sodium and chloride, one capsule 100 mg.
- Potassium: 50 mg in half a tablet, 25 mg in one capsule.
- In Fizz, the magnesium, calcium and manganese are in forms that deliver a lot of elemental mineral in a small space and don't inhibit the fizz. Endurolytes capsules use amino acid chelates, but in an effervescent tablet these would hinder dissolving and make the tablet too large.
Overall, the electrolyte content of the two products is very similar, so you can dose them in a similar way.
Can I take Endurolytes together with Anti-Fatigue Caps?
Yes. All Endurolytes products combine well with Anti-Fatigue Caps and the other Hammer Nutrition products.
Do I need Endurolytes with Perpetuem?
Yes. The minerals in Perpetuem come only from the natural mineral content of its ingredients; it has no purpose-built electrolyte blend like HEED does. So treat Perpetuem as an “energy-only” fuel and replace your electrolytes separately with Endurolytes.
Do any Endurolytes products contain caffeine?
Only the Cola flavour of Endurolytes Fizz: it contains 20 mg of caffeine per tablet. Endurolytes, Endurolytes Extreme, Endurolytes Extreme Powder and the other Fizz flavours are caffeine-free.
Which Endurolytes products contain citric acid?
Endurolytes capsules contain no citric acid. Endurolytes Fizz contains a minimal amount because it's needed for the fizz, and Endurolytes Extreme contains potassium citrate: it has a high elemental potassium content (about 40%), which is how three times the potassium fits into the capsule, and it's well absorbed.
Do Endurolytes products contain allergens?
Endurolytes products are made in a facility free of tree nuts and allergens, and every production batch is tested by an independent laboratory for purity and consistency. All Endurolytes products are gluten-free; Endurolytes capsules are vegan and kosher.
How much manganese is in Hammer products?
In our view, athletes need somewhat more manganese than non-athletes: manganese takes part in the energy-producing enzyme reactions of muscle cells and contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress (it is a component of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase). Your body uses it up during exercise and also loses it through sweat, and only a small part (about 3–5%) of orally ingested manganese is absorbed.
Manganese content of Hammer products:
- Endurolytes – 0.25 mg per capsule
- Endurolytes Fizz – 3.0 mg per tablet
- Endurolytes Extreme – 0.5 mg per capsule
- Endurolytes Extreme Powder – 0.5 mg per scoop
- HEED – 2.0 mg per scoop
- Recoverite – 2.9 mg per serving (2 scoops)
- Vegan Recoverite – 0.6 mg per serving (2 scoops)
- Premium Insurance Caps – 1.07 mg per capsule
