True or false: Are sports drinks recommended for exercise that lasts longer than 90 minutes?

January 9, 2026 •

3 min read

According to sports dietitians, an endurance athlete can deplete their muscle glycogen stores in 90 minutes or less, leading to fatigue and decreased performance. This fact is critical to understanding the specific nutritional needs for long-duration exercise, which go beyond simple water replacement.

Quick Summary

For exercise lasting over 90 minutes, sports drinks are recommended to replenish depleted carbohydrates and essential electrolytes lost through sweat. This replenishment is crucial for sustaining energy levels, preventing performance decline, and avoiding issues like hyponatremia. The specific need depends on intensity, duration, and individual factors like sweat rate.

Key Points

Answer is True: For exercise lasting over 90 minutes, sports drinks are recommended to replace lost carbohydrates and electrolytes.
Preventing Glycogen Depletion: Sports drinks provide a quick source of carbohydrates to replenish muscle energy stores that are typically exhausted after 60-90 minutes of high-intensity activity.
Avoiding Hyponatremia: Electrolytes, especially sodium, are lost through sweat and must be replaced to prevent hyponatremia, a potentially dangerous condition of low blood sodium.
Enhancing Hydration: The sodium in sports drinks improves fluid absorption and retention, ensuring more effective rehydration compared to plain water during prolonged efforts.
Individual Needs Matter: The ideal hydration strategy depends on exercise intensity, duration, climate, and individual sweat rates, making it essential to test and adjust your plan in training.

The Answer: True. Here's Why

For most endurance activities lasting longer than 90 minutes, the statement is true: sports drinks are recommended over plain water. While water is sufficient for shorter, lower-intensity workouts, extended activity depletes the body's primary energy stores and essential electrolytes. Sports drinks are scientifically formulated to address these specific needs, providing the necessary carbohydrates for fuel and electrolytes for maintaining fluid balance and muscle function.

The Science Behind the 90-Minute Mark

During exercise, your body primarily uses stored glycogen (a form of carbohydrate) in the muscles and liver for energy. For most individuals, these stores provide enough fuel for about 60 to 90 minutes of continuous, high-intensity effort. After this point, glycogen reserves become significantly depleted, and the body's reliance on fat for fuel increases. While fat stores are abundant, they provide energy much less efficiently for high-intensity work. The carbohydrates in a sports drink provide a quickly absorbed, external energy source that can top up your fuel tank and delay the onset of fatigue.

The Importance of Electrolytes

Alongside carbohydrates, electrolytes are a key component of sports drinks. As you sweat, you lose essential minerals like sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Sodium, in particular, is critical for hydration as it helps your body absorb and retain fluids effectively and stimulates thirst, encouraging you to drink more. A significant loss of sodium without replacement, especially in heavy or salty sweaters, can lead to a dangerous condition called hyponatremia, where blood sodium levels become dangerously low. This is a major risk for endurance athletes who over-hydrate with plain water.

How to Strategize Your Hydration

Developing a personal hydration plan is crucial, and it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. For those exercising for longer than 90 minutes, here are the key steps to follow:

Practice with Purpose: Never try a new sports drink or fueling strategy on race day. Use your training sessions to test different products and find what your stomach tolerates best.
Start Early: Begin consuming fluids and carbohydrates well before you feel thirsty or hungry. A common recommendation is to start sipping a sports drink every 15-20 minutes after the first hour of exercise.
Monitor Your Intake: Track how much you drink and how you feel. Many endurance athletes aim for around 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour during prolonged exercise, which can come from a combination of sports drinks, gels, and bars.
Adjust for Conditions: Your hydration needs change significantly based on temperature, humidity, and exercise intensity. Hot and humid conditions will increase your sweat rate and the need for both fluids and electrolytes.

Water vs. Sports Drink: A Comparison


Feature	Plain Water	Sports Drink	Best For
Carbohydrates	None	Yes, typically 6-8% solution	Endurance activities over 90 minutes or high-intensity exercise over 60 minutes.
Electrolytes	None	Yes, sodium and potassium	Hot/humid conditions, heavy sweating, ultra-endurance events.
Energy	No energy source	Provides readily available fuel for muscles	Sustaining performance and preventing 'bonking'.
Fluid Absorption	Absorbed, but can dilute sodium	Added sodium and carbs can enhance absorption	Optimizing hydration and rehydration.
Ideal Duration	Under 60 minutes	Over 90 minutes	Shorter, moderate workouts	Longer, high-intensity, or hot workouts.

Conclusion: Fuel Your Performance Right

The answer to the question, "Are sports drinks recommended for exercise that lasts longer than 90 minutes?" is a definitive true. While plain water is essential for general hydration and sufficient for shorter workouts, sports drinks provide the critical carbohydrates and electrolytes needed to sustain performance and prevent issues like fatigue and hyponatremia during prolonged exercise. By strategically incorporating a well-researched sports drink into their hydration plan, athletes can effectively fuel their muscles, maintain their fluid balance, and push their limits in training and competition. Proper hydration and fueling are not just about endurance; they are about optimizing your body's function for peak performance and recovery.

Natural and Homemade Alternatives

For those who prefer to avoid commercial options, homemade sports drinks or natural sources can provide similar benefits. Recipes often combine water with a small amount of fruit juice or honey for carbohydrates, and a pinch of salt for electrolytes. Coconut water is another natural option rich in potassium, though it may require adding a small amount of salt to balance the sodium-to-potassium ratio for some athletes. For optimal performance, especially for sensitive stomachs, practice with these alternatives during training to find the best fit for your body.

Outbound Link

For more detailed, scientific guidance on sports nutrition and hydration strategies for athletes, consider consulting the Sports Dietitians Australia factsheets.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main difference is the nutritional content. A sports drink provides both carbohydrates for energy and electrolytes for fluid balance and absorption, while plain water only replaces fluid and does not offer fuel or electrolyte replenishment.

You risk depleting your glycogen stores, leading to fatigue (hitting 'the wall'), and diluting your blood sodium levels, which can cause hyponatremia. Replenishing both fluids and electrolytes is crucial for optimal performance and safety in long events.

No, sports drinks vary in carbohydrate concentration, electrolyte content, and ingredients. Generally, an isotonic drink with 6-8% carbohydrates is recommended for most situations. You should test different brands and flavors during training to find what works best for your body.

For low-to-moderate intensity exercise lasting less than 60 minutes, water is typically sufficient. For high-intensity workouts, the need for carbohydrates and electrolytes may arise after 60 minutes.

Yes. For casual exercisers or those with shorter workouts, the added sugars and calories in sports drinks are unnecessary and can lead to unwanted weight gain. For these individuals, water is the best choice.

Common symptoms include fatigue, headache, dizziness, muscle cramps, and a decrease in performance. These symptoms can be exacerbated by hot or humid conditions.

A simple homemade sports drink can be made by combining water, a small amount of fruit juice or honey for carbohydrates, and a pinch of salt for electrolytes. This allows for complete control over ingredients and concentration.