Why You’re Leaving Gains on the Table If You’re Not Taking Electrolyte – Bodybuilding.com

Stay hydrated, perform more reps, and have more endurance with Signature Electrolytes.

BBCOM Editors
January 10, 2025

What Are Electrolytes?

Electrolytes are minerals essential for many physiological processes in the human body, including maintaining fluid balance, transmitting nerve signals, and enabling muscle contractions. The main electrolytes are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, and phosphate. Sodium regulates fluid balance, blood pressure, and nerve function. Potassium is essential for muscle contraction, nerve signals, and heart function. Calcium is important for bone health. Magnesium is involved in enzyme reactions and energy production. Chloride maintains fluid balance. Phosphate helps with energy production and bone health.

Why Supplement Electrolytes?

You may think hydration means just drinking more water, but you should actually focus on proper electrolyte balance. Throughout the day, through breathing, sweating, and eliminating, you lose both water and electrolytes. Supplementing electrolytes have been proven to help prevent dehydration and muscle cramps during exercise.[1] Maintaining proper hydration and electrolyte balance can help with cardiovascular and thermal strain during aerobic activity.[2] Every time you lift, your muscles require electrolytes to fire, contract, and relax. Without proper electrolyte levels, your strength, endurance, and performance can suffer.

Why Take Signature Electrolytes?

Bodybuilding.com’s Signature Electrolytes formula delivers a well-balanced blend of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium to support peak muscular performance, muscle contractions, and hydration. It contains 5.4 grams of electrolytes per serving including 900mg of potassium, 680mg Sodium,100mg Calcium, and 50mg Magnesium to help you stay hydrated before, during, and after your workouts. This is an ideal ratio to help you achieve the best results inside and outside of the gym.

Ingredient Highlights

Sodium

Sodium is essential for fluid balance, blood volume, and nerve impulse transmission. In strength training, sodium helps muscles maintain hydration and contract with optimal force, enhancing both endurance and power output. The 680mg of sodium in Signature comes from a blend of sodium chloride, sodium phosphate dihydrate, Himalayan pink salt, and sea salt. Each form of sodium has unique properties and trace minerals to support overall muscle function and performance.

Sodium Chloride

This form of sodium replenishes the most rapidly lost electrolyte in sweat. Sodium chloride helps prevent dehydration, promotes blood volume maintenance, and plays a vital role in nerve transmission and muscle contraction.

Sodium Phosphate Dihydrate

Sodium phosphate buffers lactic acid buildup, reducing muscle acidity and delaying fatigue. This form is particularly beneficial for maintaining stamina during high-rep sets or endurance-based lifting.

Himalayan Pink Salt

Known for its trace minerals, Himalayan pink salt contains over 80 trace elements, including iron, magnesium, and calcium. These minerals can support oxygen transport, muscle contraction, and even antioxidant function.

Sea Salt

Naturally sourced sea salt also contains trace minerals, such as zinc and iodine, which support immune function and metabolic health. Sea salt’s naturally balanced mineral profile aids in a steady electrolyte replenishment.

Potassium

Potassium is essential for muscle contraction and nerve function. It complements sodium by maintaining cell hydration, preventing cramping, and sustaining muscle endurance. A proper balance of potassium and sodium helps ensure smooth, powerful muscle contractions, which is key to lifting performance. Our formula contains 900 mg of potassium which comes from Potassium Citrate. Potassium citrate is a highly bioavailable form of potassium that helps with acid-base balance in the body, which is crucial for prolonged high-intensity training. Citrate also has alkalizing properties, which can aid in muscle endurance by neutralizing lactic acid buildup.

Magnesium

This electrolyte also helps buffer lactic acid and prevents the buildup of muscle acidity, reducing fatigue and enabling longer more intense workouts. Low magnesium levels are directly linked to reduced endurance, cramping, and difficulty maintaining a steady training volume, which is why it’s critical to replenish this mineral during intense workouts.

Magnesium is often overlooked but is essential for more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body, including those that support muscle function and energy production.

Magnesium citrate is a highly absorbable form of magnesium that plays a major role in muscle relaxation and recovery. Magnesium helps muscles relax after contraction, reducing the risk of cramps and spasms. It also contributes to ATP (energy) production, which is crucial for sustaining energy throughout workouts. Our formula contains 370mg of magnesium citrate.

Calcium

Calcium is not only vital for bone health but also plays a crucial role in muscle contractions. Our formula contains 800 mg of calcium lactate which is a bioavailable form of calcium that is easily absorbed by the body.

It supports neuromuscular communication, which is essential for synchronized muscle contractions. Calcium also aids in the process of muscle contraction by interacting with troponin and actin, two proteins involved in muscle fiber movement.

During lifting, calcium is released into muscle cells, triggering the proteins responsible for contraction. Without sufficient calcium, muscle contractions weaken, impacting strength and stability. Calcium lactate ensures your body has a readily available source to support intense muscular demands.

Chloride

Although chloride is not disclosed in a final milligram amount, it’s an important electrolyte included in our blend as potassium chloride. Chloride works with sodium to maintain the body’s fluid balance, support nerve impulses, and help regulate the body’s pH level, which can prevent acid build-up during workouts.

The Ideal Ratios: Why This Formula Works for Weightlifters

This product contains the optimal balance of electrolytes designed to support hydration, muscle function, and endurance specifically for those who lift weights.

High Sodium and Potassium Content

A combination of 680 mg of sodium and 900 mg of potassium ensures that your muscle cells will maintain hydration and continue firing efficiently. Sodium and potassium levels must stay balanced to prevent cramps and maintain muscle contraction strength, both critical in weightlifting.

Magnesium and Calcium Support

The 50 mg of magnesium and 100 mg of calcium aid in muscle relaxation and contraction, preventing cramping and ensuring that muscles can function properly. This balance of magnesium and calcium also aids recovery by allowing muscles to relax post-lift, helping to prevent spasms and tightness.

Takeaways

With a comprehensive formula that includes multiple forms of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride, Signature Electrotolytes is uniquely tailored to support those lifting heavy and training hard.

Not only does it replace the electrolytes you lose through sweat, but the trace minerals from Himalayan pink salt and sea salt, offer benefits beyond basic hydration. Each ingredient has been carefully selected to ensure maximum bioavailability and support for muscle performance, hydration, and overall recovery.

Whether you're lifting for strength, endurance, or aesthetics, our high-quality electrolyte powder ensures that your body has the minerals it needs to stay hydrated, perform at peak levels, and recover faster—giving you the edge to achieve your fitness goals.