Balancing Electrolytes - A Deadly Game!

Your electrolyte balance in your body can have a dramatic impact on how you feel, how you look and whether or not you stay alive! Many bodybuilders often try to control their electrolytes as they approach a competition. Unfortunately, if these competitors aren't careful, it could turn into a life-threatening issue!

Electrolytes are essential molecules that the body needs to perform many functions. Without going into all of the boring details and chemistry of electrolytes (which I don't completely understand myself), I just want to address a few of the main electrolytes and their functions. If you have ever considered controlling electrolytes to control your weight, you may want to read through this before doing it again!

Sodium

Many people control sodium intake because of how it affects the body and its ability to hold onto water. People with heart disease typically follow a low sodium diet because it helps to decrease pressure on the heart. The higher the sodium intake, typically the higher potential blood pressure which could cause strain on the heart and blood vessels. However, not everyone is affected the same way from sodium. There are plenty of people that are not "salt-sensitive". Regardless of how much sodium these people consume, it doesn't appear to affect their blood pressure.

Regardless if you are "salt-sensitive" or not, once you consume a certain level of sodium for a prolonged period of time, your body grows accustomed to that amount and will often balance the amount of water it has. Any changes in sodium after it has been set at a certain level for awhile will usually produce a weight change (either up or down, depending on high levels or low levels of sodium). This is why bodybuilders (and other weight-based sport athletes) will typically decrease their sodium intake the last week before a competition. This will help to decrease the amount of water the body is holding onto during the last few days. Of course, if they drop sodium too soon, then their body will readjust to the lower level of sodium and conserve water. The downside of cutting sodium too low is the decrease in blood pressure. Some highly trained athletes may notice their blood pressure dropping especially with decreased sodium.

Low Sodium
Low blood pressure can lead to vital organs not receiving the oxygen it needs. People who experience low blood pressure may feel dizzy, pass out and may require hospitalization. If the brain doesn't receive enough oxygen, the brain may become damaged! This is definitely something to take seriously. I personally have felt the low blood pressure effects of decreased sodium intakes close to competition time. I often had to hold onto a desk or a pole whenever I stood up to make sure I didn't pass out! Kind of scary to think that I may have been just a few hundred milligrams of sodium away from needing serious medical attention!

High Sodium
Conversely, high sodium intake, as discussed above, can lead to significant water retention and increased blood pressure. "High" is a very relative term. You could have a "high" sodium intake of 2000mg (which is approximately 500mg below the recommended daily intake) if you have been following a 500mg sodium intake for 3 weeks! This is usually what happens to most bodybuilders following a competition. They follow a very restricted level of sodium intake and then dramatically increase it right after the show is over. What happens here is the body will dramatically hold onto the amount of water it has and if you consume more, it will hold onto that as well. If your sodium intake is very high (again relative to where it has been), you could experience edema, or swelling, in ankles, wrists and extremities. This is an indication that your body's cells are having significant issues holding onto the fluid it uses and is being sent out into surrounding tissues. It also means that your body is having a hard time getting rid of the built up fluid. Usually, with time your body should be able to filter out all the sodium. However, if the condition persists, it may lead into a more serious condition that may require medical attention.

One bodybuilding competitor had dehydrated herself and cut sodium completely from her diet for about a week leading up to a competition. After the show was over, she went out to party and drank 2 martini's and her legs began to swell up like a balloon! It became so bad that her left calf muscle lost oxygen from the swelling and had to be amputated! This is not something to play around with!

Potassium

Another electrolyte, potassium, is often controlled by athletes and especially bodybuilders because of the effects it might have on helping fluid balance and prevention of muscle cramps. Unfortunately, muscle cramping occurs for many different reasons and low potassium is often not what the issue is. For very active athletes (like competitive bodybuilders), a muscle cramp can occur just because they are so darn active! Just allowing the muscle to have a break, relax and stretch will help to reduce a lot of the cramps that are experienced. However, muscles can also cramp up when there is an electrolyte imbalance, but the occurrence is actually quite small. It is actually more common to have a cramp from a calcium and magnesium deficiency than potassium.

Also, consumption of more potassium helps to get rid of more sodium from the body. This is typically what most bodybuilding competitors do close to competition time. If a high potassium and low sodium diet is followed, an increased urine output occurs. This helps again to get rid of more water from the body, however the dangers of post-show horrors increase, as discussed above with dramatic shifts of increased sodium.

Now, if any of the above information hasn't made you at least think twice about contolling electrolytes, I hope this next bit of information will stop you dead in your tracks! Potassium at very high levels is lethal! In fact, it is SO lethal that it is used as a "lethal injection"! When an in-mate has done the worst deed of them all and he or she has received the death penalty, a lethal injection is administered and all that it is, is a very high dose of potassium! Potassium at very high levels (10,000+mg) will stop your heart!

My Recommendation

The best approach is to keep your body in balance! Regardless of competitions or not. The more steady you are with your electrolytes, the less of an issue you will have after any competition that you do.

For bodybuilders and would-be competitors, I would recommend just focus on decreasing your bodyfat through proper diet and cardiovascular exercise and not worry about the water loss through electrolytes. If you bring your body-fat percentage down far enough, the last little few ounces of water that you might have on your body won't make that big of a difference! In fact, by keeping a healthy flow of water through your body during a competition, you will be able to pump your muscles more effectively than the other dehydrated competitors. In addition to that, you will be able to healthfully celebrate your victory afterwards and truly not worry about killing yourself! :-)

"Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making." Proverbs 16:11 (New International Version)