Sodium Citrate for Athletes: Explained

Sodium Citrate for Athletes: Explained 

Why Sodium Citrate Might Be the Secret Weapon in Your Nutrition Strategy

When it comes to endurance training and racing, every detail matters—especially your hydration strategy. Whether you're training for an ultra or grinding through sweaty summer sessions, understanding how you sweat is essential. That’s where personalization comes in. And for athletes with high sodium losses, there's a specific ingredient that can make a big difference without wrecking the flavor of your sports drink: Sodium Citrate.

Available as an optional Boost in your INFINIT Custom Hydration & Fuel Blend, Sodium Citrate delivers extra sodium in a clean, efficient way—perfect for salty sweaters and heavy sweaters alike. Let’s dive into why you might want to add this smart upgrade to your next Custom Mix.

What Is Sodium Citrate?

Sodium Citrate is a sodium salt derived from citric acid, a compound naturally found in citrus fruits like lemons and oranges. Also known as “sour salt,” it has a light, tart flavor that blends easily into drink formulas. Unlike other sodium sources, it doesn’t make your mix taste overly salty or acidic, making it a great option when you're looking to increase your sodium intake without compromising flavor.

INFINIT’s standard electrolyte blend contains sodium chloride in the form of sea salt. You can customize the amount of sodium chloride in your Custom Blend by toggling the Electrolytes slider — Starting as low as 200mg and going up to over 670mg of sodium per serving.

But some athletes need more.

Enter the Sodium Citrate boost: Selecting this option adds another 500 mg of sodium to your Custom Blend with way less of the tangy saltiness that is characteristic of sea salt. This add-on takes the maximum sodium level of a Custom blend from 670mg to over 1170mg — giving you a powerful tool to fine-tune your hydration strategy.

Why Extra Sodium Matters

We talk a lot about sodium in endurance sports, and for good reason. Sodium is the most abundant electrolyte in your sweat—and it's essential for keeping your body’s fluid levels balanced, supporting muscle contraction, and preventing cramps.
But here’s the kicker: sweat rate and sodium loss are highly individual. Some athletes lose a little sodium when they sweat. Others—salty sweaters—can lose more than 1,000 mg of sodium per liter of sweat. Pair that with a long workout, and it’s easy to fall behind on sodium, even if you're sipping fluids regularly.

Adding sodium back during training and racing is critical to:

• Maintain blood volume and circulation
• Avoid cramping and muscle fatigue
• Prevent hyponatremia (dangerously low blood sodium levels)
• Stay sharp mentally and physically during long sessions

And if you’re someone who finishes a workout with salt streaks on your skin or clothes? That’s a big sign you're losing a lot of sodium—and could benefit from adding more into your hydration plan.

Want to go deeper?

Work with one of our sports dietitians through Sweat Test Nutrition Coaching and build a formula tailored to your personal sweat losses and performance goals.

How Sodium Citrate Supports Performance

The Sodium Citrate Boost in your Custom Mix is designed for exactly this. It lets you target sodium replacement without altering the drink’s taste or balance. That’s especially important for longer efforts where you’re taking in multiple servings over hours of racing or training.

Because of its smooth, mildly tart profile, Sodium Citrate helps:

• Increase sodium intake without overpowering your mix
• Support hydration by improving fluid retention
• Minimize flavor fatigue over time (so you actually want to keep sipping)

The Case of Sodium Citrate as a Buffering Agent: Still a Gray Area

Like sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate has also been studied for its potential to buffer hydrogen ions in the blood and delay the onset of fatigue during high-intensity exercise. However, the research here is murkier.

Most of the available studies have used very high doses of sodium citrate—typically around 0.5 to 0.6 grams per kilogram of body weight, which is significantly more than what you'd find in a sports drink or supplement intended for regular use. These doses are often necessary to produce a measurable alkalotic effect, but they also tend to come with a major downside: gastrointestinal distress. Cramping, bloating, and nausea are common side effects that could easily outweigh any performance benefit.

Mechanistically, sodium citrate increases blood pH by breaking down into bicarbonate ions (HCO₃⁻) after ingestion. This can theoretically support lactate and hydrogen ion clearance during intense efforts. But the exact pathways are still not fully understood, and unlike sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate’s entry into the muscle cell and its effect on intracellular pH is less well established.

Bottom line: while sodium citrate shows promise as a lactic acid buffer, the data is far from conclusive.

Who Should Consider Adding Sodium Citrate?

This Boost isn’t for everyone—but if you fall into any of these categories, you might want to give it serious consideration:

• Heavy sweaters who lose large amounts of fluid
• Salty sweaters who see visible salt on skin/clothing
• Athletes training/racing in hot or humid climates
• Endurance athletes doing multi-hour sessions or races
• Anyone who has experienced muscle cramps, dizziness, or fatigue related to fluid/electrolyte imbalance

Not sure if you fall into one of these camps? Consider running a sweat test or checking out simple at-home sweat rate methods to estimate your losses.

The Big, Salty Takeaway

Every athlete is different. And if your sweat contains higher sodium levels, you need to replace what you're losing to stay in the game. Adding Sodium Citrate to your Custom Hydration & Fuel Mix is a simple, effective way to do that—without compromising taste or drinkability.

If you're ready to dial in your hydration strategy and go longer, stronger, and cramp-free, this Boost might just be the game-changer you’ve been sweating for.

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Your sweat is unique. Your hydration should be too.