Sodium for athletes – before, during & after exercise
Athletes training and competing in sports with a large body water turnover (e.g., team,
endurance, and racquet sports) commonly focus on sodium-containing foods, beverages, and
supplements before, during and after exercise. Despite this, current guidelines for these
scenarios are non-specific, primarily due to a lack of available research evidence at the time of
their writing. Because of this lack of guidelines, athletes, coaches, and industry have filled this
knowledge void, often with information based primarily on personal opinion, anecdotes, and
over interpretation of the existing literature.
This session examines the common reasons given by athletes, coaches, and practitioners for the
planned intake of sodium, both on a daily basis, as well as before, during, and after exercise.
Recent evidence, modelling data, and a more detailed interpretation of the existing literature, is
drawn upon to provide more specific recommendations that can be applied when working with
athletes.
Join Alan to:
- Understand the evidence for specific sodium intake and supplementation strategies for
athletes, day-to-day, before, during, and after exercise. - Identify specific recommendations for sodium that can be used when working with
athletes, based on the latest literature in the area. - Learn the limitations of current evidence, and unanswered questions around sodium and
athletes.
Curriculum
- 1 Section
- 1 Lesson
- Lifetime
- Sodium for athletes –before, during & after exercise1
Instructor
Dr Alan McCubbin is an Accredited Sports Dietitian and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His primary research focus is on the sodium needs of athletes, and has recently published a comprehensive review on the topic.
Alan is also a practitioner with 20 years’ experience working with a wide variety of recreational and elite athletes. He has previously consulted to Triathlon Australia’s High-Performance Program in preparation for the Tokyo and Paris Olympics and Paralympics, as well as multiple UCI Continental
cycling teams in Australia. Alan is the course coordinator for Sports Dietitians Australia’s Sports Dietetics Course, and in 2021 was awarded Fellowship of the organisation for his services to the profession in research and education. Alan is the co-founder and host of the Fueling Endurance
Podcast, and the accompanying online tools and resources for sports nutrition practitioners working with endurance and ultra endurance athletes.
