Hydration is an essential factor that affects both physical performance and cognitive function. For endurance athletes, ensuring optimal hydration isn’t merely about drinking ample water. The body requires a balanced mix of electrolytes and nutrients to efficiently absorb and retain the fluids it needs to support energy metabolism and the peak function of muscle cells.

Enter Freak Shake – Endurance training and Recovery fuel for more resilient endurance athletes.

When it comes to maintaining and replenishing hydration, Freak Shake follows nature’s blueprint for the most hydrating beverage of all of them. That blueprint is Milk!

Nature’s original sports drink offers an ideal blend of complete protein plus electrolytes and has been demonstrated to be superior to water and traditional carb-only sports drinks on important measures of hydration (citations at end).

But why?

Particularly when we sweat during prolonged endurance workouts, we don’t just lose water, but also vital electrolytes. Electrolytes help maintain fluid balance inside and outside our cells. This balance ensures our muscles function optimally, prevents cramping, and aids in nerve signaling to fire those muscles when we’re exercising. When we deplete the electrolytes in our blood stream, an imbalance can occur that we feel as fatigue, cramping, and even confusion or mental fog.

Here are the primary functions of the electrolytes found in Freak Shake Endurance Fuel (and in Dairy).

• Sodium: The most abundant electrolyte we store in our bodies. Regulates osmotic pressure which for endurance training translates to maintaining optimal fluid balance inside and outside our muscle cells.
• Chloride: The other electrolyte derived from salt. The yin to Sodium’s yang. This electrolyte is the second most abundant in our bodies and plays a key role in maintaining fluid balance.
• Potassium: Essential for transmitting nerve signals and contracting muscles, including the heart.
• Calcium: Your body needs calcium to help muscles and blood vessels contract and expand, as well as transmit nerve signals.
• Magnesium: Helps cells as they metabolize nutrients like carbs & fat into energy. Your brain and muscles rely heavily on magnesium.

Proteins from milk have also been shown to support hydration. When taken with fluid in modest amounts, casein and whey proteins from dairy have been shown to help blood vessels reduce leakage of fluid and electrolytes into other tissue where it cannot reach muscle cells. In modest quantity, protein can also help reduce the impact of dehydration after intense exertion or long duration exercise. Additionally, both casein and whey protein isolated from dairy provide complete amino acid profiles. Which is to say they each furnish all 9 essential amino acid building blocks required to repair and build muscle that we must consume because our bodies cannot manufacture them internally.

We all know dehydration severely affects performance. A 2% decrease in body weight due to fluid loss can equate to reduced endurance, increased fatigue, altered thermoregulatory capability, reduced motivation, and increased perceived effort. Whether you row, swim, run, cycle or go all out on any field of play, maintaining fluid balance can ultimately determine champions.

Why Freak Shake Endurance Fuel stands out.

The dairy blueprint provides Freak Shake with an effective hydration roadmap. It is one that has been studied extensively and demonstrated to offer significant hydration, performance, and recovery benefits to endurance athletes. Abundant in electrolytes, complete protein and carbs, milk is nature’s original endurance drink!

That’s why we borrowed the nutrient profile of dairy and fortified Freak Shake to provide enhanced hydration benefits using a similar composition of electrolytes and protein. We pack in high carbohydrates to fuel and replenish muscle cells that are rapidly depleted of energy stores during endurance training. And we left out the fat and lactose (a type of sugar that can create digestive discomfort in those who have dairy intolerance).

While carb-based sports drinks are widely available, they often overlook the additional hydration benefits of this dairy blueprint. For example, most sports drinks offering hydration benefits focus on supplementing sodium, and also carbohydrates in full calorie versions. But fewer offer a complete range of other important electrolytes lost in sweat. Freak Shake Endurance Fuel fortifies with a full panel of electrolytes and contains over 1000mg or 3 times the amount found in mainstream sports drinks. The last nutritional difference between Freak Shake and typical hydration beverages, is the inclusion of just enough protein to help promote the full utilization of fluid that an athlete consumes before, during and after endurance exercise. Freak Shake’s high carbohydrate, high electrolyte, and modest protein profile creates a hydration triple-threat.

Carbs, Electrolytes, and a bit of Protein. Whether you use it to fuel up pre-workout or recover from a strenuous session after workout, Freak Shake Endurance fuel is a delicious and convenient solution to support your hydration and endurance training goals.

Train Harder. Recover Faster. And Stay Hydrated with freak Shake Endurance Fuel.

Byron Fergerson, M.D. & David Stuart, Ph.D. are scientific advisors to Freak Shake and regularly share their expertise

REFERENCES

Maughan R., Watson, P., Codery P., Walsh, N., Oliver, S., Dolci, A., Rodriguez-Sanchez, N., Galloway, S., A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 3, March 2016, pps 717-723. Doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.114769

Roy, BD., Milk: the new sports drink? A Review. J Int Soc Sport Nutr. 2008;5(1):15. Doi:10.1186/1550-2783-5-15

Berry CW, Wolf ST, Murray B, Kenney WL. Hydration Efficacy of a Milk Permeate-Based Oral Hydration Solution. Nutrients. 2020;12(5):1502. Doi:10.3390/nu12051502