Hydration, Explained: The Complete Guide to Water, Electrolytes & Performance [Part 2]

Chapter 5: Why Magnesium Matters

If sodium is the foundation of hydration, magnesium is where hydration starts connecting with energy metabolism, muscle function, and the nervous system.

Magnesium is an essential mineral involved in hundreds of enzymatic reactions throughout the body. It contributes to normal energy metabolism, muscle and nervous system function, electrolyte balance, and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

In other words, magnesium does a lot more than help with the occasional muscle cramp.

For active people, this matters even more. Training places demands on your muscles and energy systems, while magnesium is also lost through sweat. Maintaining an adequate magnesium intake matters because magnesium contributes to normal muscle function, normal energy-yielding metabolism, and electrolyte balance.

Not All Magnesium Is the Same

You'll often see "magnesium" listed on a supplement or electrolyte label as if it were one ingredient.

It's a little more complicated than that.

Supplemental magnesium comes in different forms, created by binding magnesium to different compounds. These forms can differ in characteristics such as absorption, tolerability, and how they're typically used in supplementation.

That's why, when we developed MODE, we didn't want to rely on just one.

MODE combines three forms of magnesium: L-threonate, malate, and glycinate.

Magnesium L-Threonate

Magnesium L-threonate is a form of magnesium bound to threonic acid. It has attracted research interest in the area of brain magnesium and cognition, although human evidence remains developing.

MODE includes L-threonate as one of three complementary magnesium forms in our formulation. Because performance isn't only physical. Your nervous system matters too.

Magnesium Malate

Magnesium malate combines magnesium with malic acid, a compound involved in cellular energy metabolism. Magnesium itself contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism and helps reduce tiredness and fatigue, making magnesium malate a logical part of a formula designed for active lifestyles.

Think energy and movement.

Magnesium Glycinate

Magnesium glycinate combines magnesium with the amino acid glycine and is commonly chosen for its good gastrointestinal tolerability. It's particularly popular in products focused on relaxation and recovery, while magnesium itself contributes to normal muscle and nervous system function.

Think recover, reset, repeat.

Why Mode Uses All Three

We didn't choose three forms simply because three sounds better than one.

The idea was to build a more considered magnesium profile for an active lifestyle. Magnesium contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism, muscle function, electrolyte balance, and normal functioning of the nervous system. Together with sodium and potassium, magnesium forms part of MODE's broader approach to electrolyte supplementation for active lifestyles.

Mode Insight

Performance isn't just what happens during the workout. Training, nutrition, hydration, and recovery all play their part. Magnesium is one of the essential minerals involved in the fundamentals, including energy metabolism, muscle function, and electrolyte balance.

Practical Takeaway

Before choosing an electrolyte product, don't just look at whether it contains magnesium.

Look at the form, the amount, and the complete formula.

And remember that supplements aren't a replacement for good nutrition. Magnesium-rich foods, including nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, and leafy greens, should remain an important part of your diet.

Hydration works best when the fundamentals work together.

Want to go deeper? Explore our guide: Magnesium for Performance: Benefits for Energy, Recovery & Sleep

Chapter 6: Signs You're Not Hydrated Properly

Dehydration isn't always dramatic.

You don't need to be desperately thirsty after running through the desert for your hydration to be off. In fact, the early signs can be surprisingly easy to ignore, or blame on something else entirely.

Your body constantly loses water through breathing, urine, sweat, and normal everyday activity. Exercise, hot weather, illness, and heavy sweating can increase those losses even further. When you don't replace enough of what you've lost, your body starts letting you know.

Common Signs of Dehydration

Some of the most common signs include:

• Thirst and dry mouth
• Darker urine or urinating less frequently
• Headaches
• Fatigue or low energy
• Dizziness or light-headedness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Reduced exercise performance

For active people, you may also notice that a familiar workout suddenly feels harder than it should.

That doesn't automatically mean dehydration is responsible. Many of these symptoms can have other causes, but your hydration status is worth considering.

What About Electrolytes?

There's an important distinction here. Being dehydrated and having an electrolyte imbalance aren't exactly the same thing.

Dehydration primarily refers to losing more fluid than you replace. An electrolyte imbalance occurs when minerals such as sodium, potassium, or magnesium become too high or too low. The two can overlap, particularly after prolonged exercise, heavy sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, or exposure to heat.

That's why simply replacing water isn't always the whole story. If you've been sweating heavily, you've lost water and electrolytes. Both may need replacing.

Mode Insight

Your body doesn't send a notification saying:

"Sodium levels looking a little questionable today."

It gives you signals instead. Learning to recognize those signals, and understanding the context around them, is part of learning how to hydrate better.

Don't Use Thirst as Your Only Measure

Thirst is useful, but it shouldn't always be your only hydration strategy—particularly during long or demanding training sessions.

A few simple indicators can help:

• Pay attention to urine color. Pale yellow generally suggests adequate hydration, while consistently darker urine can indicate that you need more fluids. Completely clear urine all day isn't necessarily the goal either.
• Notice changes in performance. If your usual pace or workout suddenly feels unusually difficult, hydration could be one factor.
• Consider how much you're sweating. A long summer run requires a very different hydration strategy from sitting at your desk in January.
• Think about what you've lost. After significant sweating, replacing electrolytes alongside fluids becomes increasingly relevant.

The goal isn't to obsess over every glass of water. It's to become better at reading your body.

When It's More Than Everyday Dehydration

For everyday fluid losses, replacing fluids and, when appropriate, electrolytes can help restore what you've lost. But severe dehydration or significant electrolyte disturbances can be serious. Confusion, fainting, persistent vomiting, rapid heartbeat, severe weakness, or an inability to keep fluids down are reasons to seek medical attention rather than reaching for another electrolyte sachet.

Hydration products have their place. So does knowing when something needs more than hydration.

Want to explore the signals in more detail? Continue reading: 5 Signs You're Low on Electrolytes (And You Probably Don't Know It)

Chapter 7: Hydration & Performance

You can have the perfect training plan, the latest shoes, and your nutrition dialed in. But if your hydration is off, performance can suffer.

Water makes up a significant proportion of the human body and plays a role in regulating body temperature, maintaining blood volume, transporting nutrients, and supporting normal physiological function. During exercise, particularly when you sweat heavily, maintaining fluid balance becomes increasingly important.

In simple terms, hydration is part of the foundation that allows your body to perform.

Physical Performance

Exercise generates heat, and sweating is one of the body's primary ways of cooling itself. The trade-off is that sweat contains both water and electrolytes.

As fluid losses increase, exercise can begin to feel harder. Research has associated significant dehydration during exercise with reduced endurance performance, increased cardiovascular strain, and greater perceived effort, particularly in hot conditions. How much you lose varies considerably. Temperature, workout duration, intensity, clothing, body size, and individual sweat rate all play a role.

That's why there isn't one perfect hydration strategy for everyone.

Mental Performance

Performance isn't only physical.

Attention, decision-making, concentration, and perceived effort all matter, whether you're halfway through a long run or trying to get through an afternoon of work. Research has investigated the relationship between hydration status and cognitive performance, with some studies finding that dehydration can affect aspects of attention, mood, and perceived fatigue. The effects vary between studies and individuals, but the connection is another reminder that hydration affects more than your muscles.

Magnesium also contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system and normal psychological function.

Want to explore this further? Continue reading: Can Hydration Improve Focus, Energy & Mental Performance?

Performance Doesn't End When Training Does

Finishing the workout is only part of the equation.

After training, your body needs time, nutrition, fluids, and rest before you're ready to perform again. If you've lost significant fluid through sweat, replacing what you've lost becomes part of that process. Magnesium contributes to electrolyte balance, normal muscle function, normal energy-yielding metabolism, and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

In other words, hydration deserves a place alongside nutrition, training, and sleep when thinking about your overall performance routine.

Explore further: Why Recovery Starts with Hydration (Not Protein)

MODE Insight

Better performance isn't usually the result of one magic ingredient. It's the result of getting the fundamentals right, consistently.

Train well. Eat well. Sleep well. Hydrate well.

Then do it again.

Build Hydration Around Your Training

You don't need to turn hydration into another complicated performance metric.

Start with the basics:

• Before training: Begin your session adequately hydrated rather than trying to catch up halfway through.
• During training: Consider duration, intensity, temperature, and how much you sweat. Longer or hotter sessions generally increase fluid and electrolyte losses.
• After training: Replace the fluids you've lost. After significant sweating, consider replacing electrolytes alongside them.
• Between sessions: Hydration isn't something you switch on when training starts. Consistent fluid intake throughout the day helps establish a better starting point for your next session.

Your individual needs will vary, and that's completely normal. The goal isn't perfect hydration. It's a hydration strategy that matches what you ask your body to do.

The Bigger Picture

Electrolytes aren't a shortcut to better performance.

They won't replace training, nutrition, recovery, or sleep. But hydration is one of the fundamentals those things depend on, and electrolytes become particularly relevant when sweat losses increase. That's why understanding your own hydration needs matters. Not because everyone needs to hydrate like an elite athlete. Because everyone performs better when the fundamentals are taken seriously.

Continue reading: Why Athletes Need More Than Water

Chapter 8: How Much Water Do You Actually Need?

You've probably heard the rule:

Drink eight glasses of water a day. Simple? Yes. Universal? Not really.

Your fluid needs depend on your body, activity level, environment, diet, and how much you sweat. Someone running for 90 minutes in summer has very different needs from someone spending a rest day indoors. That's why hydration works better as an individual strategy than a magic number.

Your Hydration Needs Change

Several factors can influence how much fluid you need:

• Exercise: Longer and harder sessions generally mean greater fluid losses.
• Sweat rate: Some people naturally sweat considerably more than others.
• Temperature and humidity: Hot environments can significantly increase sweat losses.
• Body size: Larger bodies generally have different fluid requirements.
• Diet: Food contributes to your total daily water intake too.
• Individual circumstances: Health, pregnancy, medications, illness, and other factors can change fluid requirements.
• Even your needs from one day to another can be different. A long-run Sunday probably shouldn't have the same hydration strategy as a Netflix Sunday.

Don't Chase a Perfect Number

General recommendations for total daily water intake exist, but they include water from both drinks and food and are designed as population-level guidance, not personalised hydration prescriptions.

Rather than obsessing over an exact number, pay attention to context and your body's signals. Thirst can be useful during everyday life. Urine colour can provide another rough indicator, with pale yellow generally associated with adequate hydration. During exercise, changes in body weight before and after training can also help athletes estimate how much fluid they're losing through sweat.

None of these measures is perfect on its own. Together, they can help you understand your individual hydration patterns.

What Changes When You Exercise?

When you sweat, you lose more than water.

You also lose electrolytes, particularly sodium, although the amount varies significantly between individuals. For shorter or lower-intensity activity, water may often be sufficient. As exercise becomes longer, hotter, or sweatier, replacing electrolytes becomes increasingly relevant.

The important question isn't:

"How much water should everyone drink?"

It's:

"What am I losing, and what do I need to replace?"

MODE Insight

Hydration isn't a competition to see who can carry the biggest water bottle. More isn't automatically better. The goal is to replace what your body needs based on what you're actually asking it to do.

Practical Takeaway

Instead of following one rigid hydration rule:

1. Start hydrated. Make regular fluid intake part of your day.
2. Consider your environment. Heat and humidity can dramatically change sweat losses.
3. Account for training. Longer and more demanding sessions generally require more attention to fluids.
4. Pay attention to your sweat. Heavy sweaters may lose considerably more fluid and sodium than others.
5. Adjust rather than obsess. Your hydration needs aren't identical every day.

For most people, hydration doesn't need to become complicated. It just needs to become intentional.

Important Note: If you have a medical condition or take medication that affects fluid or electrolyte balance, personalised advice should come from a qualified healthcare professional.

Chapter 9: Common Hydration Myths

Hydration advice is everywhere. Drink eight glasses. Avoid coffee. Keep your urine clear. Never trust salt. Some advice is useful. Some has lost a little context along the way. Let's clear up a few of the most common hydration myths.

Myth 1: More Water Is Always Better

Not necessarily. Your body needs water, but that doesn't mean continuously drinking more is automatically better. Drinking excessive amounts of water can disrupt the body's fluid and electrolyte balance and, in extreme cases, lead to dangerously low blood sodium levels.

The goal isn't maximum water. It's appropriate hydration for your body, activity, and environment.

Myth 2: Clear Urine Means You're Perfectly Hydrated

Urine colour can be a useful everyday indicator of hydration, but completely clear urine isn't something you need to chase.

Generally, pale yellow urine can indicate adequate hydration, while consistently darker urine may suggest you need more fluids. Diet, supplements, medications, and other factors can also influence colour. Think of urine colour as one clue, not a hydration scorecard.

Myth 3: Coffee Dehydrates You

Good news. Your morning coffee isn't automatically sabotaging your hydration. Caffeine can have a mild diuretic effect, particularly at higher doses, but caffeinated drinks still contribute to overall fluid intake. That doesn't mean coffee should replace water throughout the day. It just means you don't need to feel guilty about your espresso.

Myth 4: Electrolytes Are Only for Endurance Athletes

Marathon runners aren't the only people who sweat. Running, strength training, cycling, team sports, hot weather, and other activities can all result in fluid and electrolyte losses. Whether you need to actively replace those electrolytes depends on factors such as how much you sweat, how long you're exercising, your environment, and your individual needs. Electrolytes aren't exclusively an elite-athlete thing. Context matters.

Myth 5: Sports Drinks and Electrolyte Drinks Are the Same Thing

Not always.

Traditional sports drinks often combine fluids and electrolytes with carbohydrates. That can be useful during certain types of prolonged exercise, where carbohydrates can provide fuel alongside hydration. Other electrolyte products focus primarily on replacing minerals without providing significant amounts of carbohydrates. Neither approach is automatically better. The right choice depends on what you're doing and what you need from the drink.

A marathon and a 45-minute gym session aren't the same problem, so they don't necessarily need the same solution.

Want to go deeper? Continue reading: Sports Drinks vs Electrolytes: What's the Difference?

Myth 6: You Should Avoid Sodium

Sodium has a complicated reputation. Public health recommendations to limit excessive sodium intake exist for good reason. At the same time, sodium is an essential electrolyte involved in normal physiological function and is also the predominant electrolyte lost through sweat. For active people, particularly during prolonged exercise or heavy sweating, those losses become relevant when thinking about hydration. The important word here is context. Your overall diet, health, activity level, environment, and sweat losses all matter.

Mode Insight

Good hydration isn't about following every rule you see online. It's about understanding the fundamentals and applying them to what your body is actually doing. Drink according to your needs. Replace what you lose. And maybe don't take hydration advice from someone yelling into a camera while holding a four-litre water bottle.

Takeaway

Hydration doesn't need to be complicated, but it does need context. More water isn't always better. Coffee isn't automatically dehydrating you. Electrolytes aren't reserved for marathon runners. And sodium isn't simply "good" or "bad". Your needs change depending on your body, activity, environment, diet, and how much you sweat. Understanding those variables is far more useful than following another universal hydration rule.

Chapter 10: How to Build a Better Hydration Routine

By now, one thing should be clear:

Good hydration isn't about drinking as much water as possible. It's about building simple habits that match your body, your training, and your environment. You don't need a complicated hydration protocol or another spreadsheet to track. For most people, a few consistent habits go a long way.

Start With Your Morning

You've gone several hours without drinking while you sleep, so the morning is a natural time to start replenishing fluids. Have some water after waking and make hydration part of your morning routine. If you're heading straight into training, consider the duration, intensity, temperature, and how much you typically sweat when deciding whether electrolytes are relevant.

And no, this doesn't mean you need to abandon coffee. Water first. Espresso can stay.

Explore further: Morning Hydration: Why Electrolytes May Be Better Than Your First Coffee

Hydrate Consistently Throughout the Day

Trying to compensate for an entire day of poor hydration by drinking a litre of water at 9 PM isn't exactly an ideal strategy. Instead, spread your fluid intake throughout the day and adjust based on activity, temperature, thirst, and other individual factors. Keep water accessible. Drink with meals. Pay attention to thirst and urine colour. If it's particularly hot or you've been more active than usual, your needs may increase.

Simple beats perfect.

Before Training

Starting a workout already dehydrated puts you behind before you've even started.

Aim to begin training adequately hydrated rather than relying on drinking large amounts immediately beforehand.

For longer sessions, hot conditions, or situations where you know you'll sweat heavily, thinking ahead about both fluids and electrolytes can make sense.

Your hydration strategy should match the workout you're about to do.

During Training

Not every workout requires an electrolyte drink.

For shorter or less demanding sessions, particularly in moderate conditions, water may be sufficient.

As exercise becomes longer, hotter, or sweatier, fluid and electrolyte losses increase. That's when replacing electrolytes can become more relevant.

Pay attention to:

• Session duration
• Training intensity
• Temperature and humidity
• Your individual sweat rate
• How you feel during training

A 30-minute easy session and a two-hour summer run shouldn't automatically have the same hydration strategy.

After Training

When the workout finishes, think about what you've lost. If you've sweated significantly, you've lost both water and electrolytes. Replacing fluids and, when appropriate, electrolytes can form part of your post-training routine. Magnesium contributes to normal electrolyte balance, normal muscle function, normal energy-yielding metabolism, and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Then take care of the rest of the fundamentals too.

Eat. Recover. Sleep.

Hydration is part of the system, not the entire system.

Explore further: Why Recovery Starts with Hydration (Not Protein)

What About Before Bed?

Rather than trying to "catch up" immediately before sleeping, focus on staying consistently hydrated throughout the day. Drinking large amounts right before bed may simply result in an unwanted 3 AM bathroom visit. If you've trained late or sweated heavily, replacing what you've lost may still be appropriate. But good nighttime hydration really starts hours earlier.

Explore further: Can Dehydration Affect Sleep? Here's What Science Says

MODE Insight

The best hydration routine is probably the one you don't have to think about. Start hydrated. Adjust for training and heat. Replace what you lose. Then get on with your day.

Build a Routine That Works for You

There is no single perfect hydration routine. A runner training through summer, someone lifting four times per week, and someone simply trying to feel good throughout the workday will have different requirements. Instead of copying someone else's protocol, learn to adjust yours. Drink according to your needs. Consider what you're losing. Use electrolytes when the context calls for them. Then repeat. Because, like most things that actually improve performance, consistency beats complexity.

Conclusion

Better hydration isn't about following a perfect formula. It's about understanding what your body needs and adjusting for what you're asking it to do. Water matters. Electrolytes matter. Training, temperature, sweat rate, nutrition, and recovery all change the equation. And minerals like magnesium play important roles in electrolyte balance, normal muscle function, energy metabolism, and the nervous system. The biggest takeaway from this guide is simple: Hydration is individual, but the fundamentals aren't. Start hydrated. Pay attention to what you lose. Adjust when you train harder or sweat more. And build habits you can actually maintain.

No complicated protocols required.

Just better hydration, consistently.

Fuel Your Next Session

You put in the work.

Now give your body what it needs to recover, adapt, and come back stronger. MODE was created for people who train with purpose, whether that's preparing for a marathon, hitting a new PR, or simply showing up as the best version of themselves.

• High sodium for effective hydration
• Three forms of magnesium for focus, energy & recovery
• Zero sugar. Zero fillers.

Shop Mode 

References

1. Sawka, M. N., Burke, L. M., Eichner, E. R., et al. (2007). "Exercise and Fluid Replacement." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
2. Popkin, B. M., D'Anci, K. E., & Rosenberg, I. H. (2010). "Water, Hydration, and Health." Nutrition Reviews.
3. Maughan, R. J., & Griffin, J. (2003). "Caffeine Ingestion and Fluid Balance: A Review." Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
4. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. "Magnesium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals."
5. European Food Safety Authority. "Dietary Reference Values for Water." EFSA Journal.
6. European Food Safety Authority. "Dietary Reference Values for Sodium." EFSA Journal.
7. European Commission. "EU Register of Nutrition and Health Claims Made on Foods."
8. Institute of Medicine. (2005). Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. National Academies Press.
   

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Disclaimer

This content is for educational purposes only and is based on available scientific research. It is not medical advice. Individual hydration and nutritional needs vary, so consult a qualified healthcare professional if you have specific health concerns.

A varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle are important.