Sports Drinks or Hydration Tablets: What Actually Works

For years the default after a workout was a brightly coloured sports drink. Now plenty of people reach for a tube of hydration tablets instead. Both claim to keep you hydrated, but they were designed for different situations, and using the wrong one means paying for sugar you don't need, or missing fuel you do.

The short answer: sports drinks are designed for long, intense exercise, where their carbohydrate gives you energy and their sodium helps replace what you sweat out. For shorter workouts and ordinary days, hydration tablets give you minerals in water with far less sugar and at a lower cost per drink.

What a sports drink is designed to do

A typical sports drink contains three things: water, carbohydrate (sugars) and sodium. Most are "isotonic", meaning they're made to a similar concentration to your body fluids.

The carbohydrate matters during long sessions, when your muscles start running low on stored fuel. The American College of Sports Medicine's position stand on exercise and fluid replacement says drinks with carbohydrate and electrolytes can help maintain performance in prolonged exercise, and suggests around 30 to 60g of carbohydrate an hour during long efforts.

The sodium helps replace what you lose in sweat. Sweat rates and sweat sodium vary a lot between people, so a heavy sweater on a hot day loses far more than someone in a cool gym.

Where sports drinks fall short

The same carbohydrate that fuels a marathon is extra sugar on a desk day. Using the per-100ml values on the Tesco listing for Lucozade Sport Orange, a 500ml bottle works out at 31.5g of carbohydrate (17.5g of sugars) and 135 kcal. The NHS advises adults to have no more than 30g of free sugars a day.

Studies of how well the body retains different drinks found that a standard sports drink performed much like plain water, while drinks with more sodium, such as oral rehydration solutions, were retained better (Maughan et al., 2016). If you aren't exercising hard enough to need the fuel, a sports drink doesn't hydrate you better than water.

Hydration tablets vs sports drinks side by side

Lucozade figures are calculated from the Tesco listing. Prices and full method are in our electrolyte tablets price guide.

Which should you use?

Choose a sports drink for runs, rides, matches or events lasting around 90 minutes or more, especially in the heat, and when you need energy as well as fluid.

Choose hydration tablets for gym sessions under an hour, classes, shorter runs, desk days, travel and warm weather. You get minerals and flavour without the sugar load.

Plenty of people keep both: tablets for most days and a sports drink or a sodium-led product for the big sessions.

What's in HIRO Hydration

HIRO Hydration is formulated for everyday life. It's lower in sodium, because your diet already covers your salt, and higher in potassium. Potassium and magnesium support normal muscle and nerve function. It tastes nothing like the sports drinks on the shelf next to it: not salty, not sweet. BBC Good Food voted it Best Tasting Electrolyte Tablets.

One serving is two effervescent tablets dissolved in about 300ml of water. The full label also includes 180mg chloride, 2mg zinc and 0.4mg manganese. It's vegan and free from artificial colours. Pick from Lemon & Elderflower, Ginger & Lemongrass and Watermelon in our electrolyte tablets collection.

If you train with creatine too, the Hydration & Creatine Bundle pairs a Triple Pack with Clean Creatine.

Common mistakes

• Drinking sports drinks all day. They're designed around exercise. Used as an everyday drink, the sugar adds up.
• Relying on low-sodium tablets for long, hot sessions. HIRO is built for everyday use. For long or very sweaty sessions, use a sodium-led product with carbohydrate.
• Taking extra tablets for a "stronger" drink. Stick to two tablets per serving and drink plain water if you want more fluid.
• Skipping the check-up. If you have a kidney condition, take medication that affects potassium or are pregnant, speak to your GP or pharmacist first. HIRO isn't recommended for anyone under 18.

Frequently asked questions

Are hydration tablets better than sports drinks?

For everyday hydration and shorter workouts, tablets are usually the better fit: less sugar and a lower cost per drink. For long, intense exercise, a sports drink's carbohydrate is useful fuel.

Do I need a sports drink after the gym?

For a typical session under an hour, water or an electrolyte tablet in water is usually enough, along with your next meal.

Why do sports drinks contain so much sugar?

Because they're designed to provide energy during prolonged exercise. That's useful mid-marathon and unnecessary at your desk.

Can I add HIRO tablets to a sports drink?

We'd recommend dissolving HIRO in plain water, as directed on the label.