Here's the honest answer: for most workouts, water is fine. But past a certain point — longer sessions, hard efforts, heavy sweating — your performance starts to slip for reasons water alone can't fix. That's when electrolytes actually earn their place.
This guide breaks down when each one matters, what's happening in your body when you get it wrong, and how to choose a sports drink that's worth the money.
Why Water Alone Sometimes Isn't Enough
Water is non-negotiable. But sweat isn't just water — it takes sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride with it every time you work hard. These electrolytes aren't filler. They're what allow your muscles to contract, your nerves to fire, and your body to move fluid to the right places when it's under load.
Replace sweat with water only, and you're patching one part of a two-part problem. For a short session, the gap doesn't have time to matter. Push past 60 minutes at a decent intensity, and it starts to show.
What it actually feels like when electrolytes drop:
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Your muscles stop responding the way they should
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You fade faster than your fitness level suggests you should
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You develop headaches
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You feel prematurely fatigued.
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Cramping hits — sodium and magnesium are usually the first to go.
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Your focus and coordination go before your legs do
That last one catches people off guard. A 2018 blinded study published in PLOS ONE confirmed that dehydration equivalent to just 2–3% of body weight measurably decreases endurance performance — and the effect holds even when athletes can't feel it happening. You don't have to feel wrecked to be performing worse. [1]
The 60-Minute Rule
There's a threshold that clears up most of the confusion.
Water is enough when:
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Your workout is 60 minutes or less
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You're going at a moderate pace — not gasping, not drenched
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It's not particularly hot
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You're not someone who sweats through everything
Electrolytes are worth it when:
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You're going longer than 60 minutes
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You're doing high-intensity intervals, heavy lifting, or sustained cardio
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You're training in heat or humidity
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You're visibly soaking your shirt
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You've cramped-up in past sessions without an obvious reason
This isn't a sports drink sales pitch — it's just the physiology. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends electrolyte replacement for sessions lasting beyond 90 minutes specifically because that's when depletion becomes significant enough to affect performance. Below that threshold, for most people in normal conditions, water does the job.
One thing worth knowing: thirst is not an electrolyte signal. Thirst tells you that you need water. Whether you need electrolytes depends on how long and hard you're working — not how dry your mouth feels.
What Electrolytes Are Actually Doing
"Electrolytes" gets thrown around so often that it no longer means anything. Here's what each one is actually doing.
Sodium is the main electrolyte in your bloodstream. It controls how fluid moves between your blood, tissues, and cells. It's also what you lose most through sweat. When sodium drops, your body's ability to keep working muscles properly fuelled starts to unravel.
Potassium works inside your cells, in balance with sodium. Your muscles contract and relax through the sodium-potassium pump — an electrochemical process that doesn't run well when potassium is depleted. That weak, shaky feeling late in a long session? That's often potassium.
Potassium is also why bananas come up so often. They do have a useful amount of it — minimal sodium and negligible magnesium and chloride. For a 30-minute run, fine. For a 60-minute training block, not a complete electrolyte strategy.
Magnesium is involved in over 300 enzymatic processes, including those involved in energy production. energy. It's also one of the most underappreciated factors in muscle cramping. A study in the Journal of Exercise and Nutrition found that half-marathon runners who hydrated with a magnesium-rich electrolyte mix had a cramp rate of 21%, compared to 46% in those who only drank water. Not a marginal difference.
Chloride tags along with sodium and helps maintain your blood's acid-base balance. Chloride is also essential to stomach acid production (hydrochloric acid), which is relevant to athletes who want to maximize the absorption of nutrients from their foods." This gives chloride more importance. It doesn't get headlines, but it's in the mix for a reason.
No single electrolyte does the job alone — that's exactly why a properly formulated drink outperforms just throwing some salt in your water bottle.
When to Drink What
You don't need to overthink this.
Before
(30-60 minutes out): 400-600ml of water. If you're heading into something 60 minutes or longer, add electrolytes now — you want to start ahead, not in debt.
During
Under 60 minutes: water as needed. Over 60 minutes: aim for 150-250ml of electrolyte drink every 15-20 minutes. Don't wait until you're thirsty to start — by the time you feel it, you're already behind.
After
Roughly 1.5 liters of fluid per kilogram of body weight lost. Weigh yourself before and after a tough session a few times, and you'll quickly learn what your actual sweat rate looks like.
A word on overhydration: This surprises people. Drinking large volumes of plain water during a long session can dilute sodium in your blood, a condition called hyponatremia. For most gym-goers under 60 minutes, it's not a realistic risk. For endurance athletes or anyone going hard for two hours or more, it matters. This is part of why electrolyte drinks exist: you can rehydrate properly without washing out your sodium.
How to Pick a Sports Drink That's Actually Worth It
Most sports drinks are not good. The shelves are full of products that are mostly sugar, artificial dye, and marketing copy.
Here's what you're actually looking for:
Electrolytes that matter:
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Sodium: 300-600mg per serving
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Potassium: 100-200mg per serving
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Magnesium: 20-60mg per serving
And check that chloride is listed: It's one of the largest electrolyte losses in sweat and is missing from most formulas.
Things worth skipping:
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Artificial dyes — zero performance benefit
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Large amounts of synthetic sweeteners
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Proprietary blends — if they won't disclose the dose, there's usually a reason
If you compete in a tested sport, there's one more box to check: third-party certification. Most brands don't batch-test for banned substances. That's not cynicism — it's the reality of how the supplement industry works, and it's caught athletes off guard before.
PVL PROH2O is Informed Choice Certified, meaning every production batch is independently tested by LGC Group — the same lab used by the International Olympic Committee. The label tells you exactly what's in it: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride. The doses are clinically correct, and there are no artificial flavours, no colours, no artificial sweeteners.. For athletes who want to know what they're actually putting in their body, that certification matters.
What to Look for in Your Next Electrolyte Drink
If you regularly train past the hour mark, a reliable electrolyte drink is just practical. The bar isn't complicated: transparent dosing, clean ingredients, independent testing.
PVL PROH2O covers all three. Made in Canada at PVL's 200,000 sq. ft. facility in BC, Informed Choice Certified, and built without the stuff that doesn't belong in a serious athlete's nutrition stack. No synthetic flavours. No artificial colours. Just the electrolytes your body actually needs.
What you need to know
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Water is enough for workouts under 60 minutes at moderate intensity.
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Past 60 minutes or at high intensity, aim for 150-250ml of electrolytes every 15-20 minutes.
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Look for sodium (300-600mg), potassium (100-200mg), and magnesium (20-60mg) per serving.
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Skip anything with artificial dyes, large amounts of synthetic sweeteners, or undisclosed proprietary blends.
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If you compete in a tested sport, only use products with Informed Choice or equivalent third-party certification.
References
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1 PLOS ONE (2018) — Dehydration impairs cycling performance independently of thirst: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29509643/
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American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand — Exercise and fluid replacement (electrolytes recommended for sessions >60 min): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17277604/
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Journal of Exercise and Nutrition — Magnesium-rich electrolyte mix reduces cramp incidence in half-marathon runners (21% vs. 46%): https://www.journalofexerciseandnutrition.com/index.php/JEN/article/view/126
