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 – Extreme helps with the latter.
- 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, Extreme helps you through the first few weeks; after that you can go back to Endurolytes.
- You're prone to cramping, or you sweat very heavily: some athletes need 6 or more Endurolytes capsules an hour even in mild weather – for them, Extreme is the more convenient solution.
- You're just starting the season: until you're in shape, you lose more sodium, chloride and potassium. As your fitness improves, you can go back to Endurolytes.
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.
How does Endurolytes Extreme Powder differ from Endurolytes Extreme capsules?
The two products are used the same way, with a few differences:
- Different mineral forms: the powder contains calcium and magnesium lactate gluconate, sodium chloride, potassium citrate and manganese gluconate. These forms dissolve in water better than the amino acid chelates used in the capsules.
- Anti-caking agent: the powder contains silicon dioxide so it doesn't clump and stays easy to measure.
- Mild taste: the powder is lightly sweetened (with monk fruit extract), so you can drink it on its own in water or mix it into HEED, Perpetuem or Recoverite – it barely changes their flavour. It's also ideal for a hydration pack reservoir.
Swallow the capsules whole – for accurate dosing and convenient use, don't open them.
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 Extreme 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.
Can I take Endurolytes Extreme 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 or Endurolytes Extreme capsules.
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.
Why is there citrate in Endurolytes Extreme?
Endurolytes Extreme contains potassium citrate, i.e. potassium bound to citric acid. Its elemental potassium content is high (about 40%), which is how three times the potassium fits into the capsule, and it's well absorbed. Endurolytes Fizz contains the minimal amount of citric acid needed for the fizz, and Endurolytes capsules contain no citric acid.
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 Extreme 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
