Quick answer
A training hydration plan is three small plans wearing one coat: a before plan (arrive euhydrated, with the day's first sodium already aboard if the session is heavy), a during plan (sip to a range set by your measured sweat rate, with sodium scaled to the session's length and heat), and an after plan (replace the deficit — fluid plus sodium, with food — before the day ends). Around the sessions sits a daily layer: normal meals, potassium from food, and a mineral routine that keeps the baseline full. Sized by your own weigh-in numbers [A01] and matched to the right formula for each slot, it is the whole cluster in one page — this article assembles what the other sixteen explain.
Key takeaways
- The plan has four slots: before, during, after, and daily — each with its own job and its own formula.
- Size everything from your sweat rate: one weigh-in per session type [A01]; salty sweaters scale sodium up [S01].
- Before: Warrior Code Power Pulse is the energy slot (200 mg caffeine) [L05] — hydration itself comes from arriving euhydrated, not from the pre-workout.
- During: water for short sessions; NutriRise ION — Quantum Ice (600 mg sodium) [L03] when duration and heat make sodium the limiter.
- After and around heavy days: Warrior Code Hydra Ice (1,000 mg sodium + creatine) [L02]; daily baseline: Warrior Code Vital Hydrate (100 mg) [L01] and the Mineral Matrix+ magnesium layer (180 mg) [L04].
- Run the 60-second pre-session self-check before every session; it decides whether today's plan is the standard one or a catch-up one.
Step 1 — Know your two numbers
Every plan in this library hangs off the method in our sweat science guide: weigh before and after a session, account for what you drank, and you have your sweat rate for that session type [A01]. Do it twice — once for your heaviest session, once for a standard one — because the plan is really two plans. Note the salt evidence too: white lines on dark kit and stinging eyes mark the salty end of the 10–90 mmol/L range [S01], and salty sweaters run every sodium number in this article at its top.
Step 2 — The four slots
Before (the 2 hours ahead). The job is arrival: euhydrated, urine pale, body weight at your normal baseline [A01]. If the morning already cost you sweat — an earlier session, a hot commute, physical work — take a sodium-containing drink in this window rather than plain water alone. If you use a pre-workout, this is its slot: Power Pulse, 200 mg natural caffeine with taurine and L-theanine [L05]. Keep the categories clean in your head: the pre-workout is for energy and focus; arrival hydration is a separate job done with fluid and food.
During. The job is containment: keep the deficit under roughly 2% of body mass [A01] by sipping steadily inside your planned range. Under an hour, water does it. Past that — or in serious heat at any length — the bottle should carry sodium: ION — Quantum Ice, 600 mg per scoop [L03], is our during-session formula, mixed into the bottles you are already carrying. Drink to thirst inside the range; the range is the guardrail, thirst is the steering.
After (the 2–4 hours behind). The job is restoration: replace the scale deficit with fluid and sodium, plus a real meal — food quietly covers most of the potassium line [W01]. On the heaviest days — two-a-days, comp-style sessions, long hot work — Hydra Ice anchors this slot: 1,000 mg sodium with the day's 5 g creatine in the same serving [L02]. The after plan is done when weight and urine colour are back to baseline; anything left over becomes tomorrow's before problem.
Daily (the layer underneath). The job is baseline: normal meals, potassium-rich foods across the day [W01], and a mineral routine you actually keep. Ours: Vital Hydrate as the moderate daily drink [L01], and Mineral Matrix+ as the magnesium layer — 180 mg per half-teaspoon serving [L04] — taken as a daily mineral habit, not as a sweat drink (its sodium is 15 mg; it was never built to replace sweat).
| Slot | Job | Formula that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Before | Arrive euhydrated (+ energy, if used) | Power Pulse (energy slot) [L05] |
| During (long/hot) | Contain the deficit | ION — Quantum Ice, 600 mg sodium [L03] |
| After (heavy days) | Restore fluid + sodium + creatine | Hydra Ice, 1,000 mg sodium [L02] |
| Daily | Hold the baseline | Vital Hydrate, 100 mg sodium [L01]; Mineral Matrix+ magnesium layer [L04] |
Step 3 — The 60-second pre-session self-check
From the founder's self-check in the complete guide to hydration and electrolytes for athletes, run this before you train:
1. Weight: at your normal baseline, or down from it?
2. Urine: pale, or dark and scarce?
3. Head and body: clear, or headache, heaviness, unusual fatigue?
4. Mind: settled, or scattered and foggy?
All clear = the standard plan. Anything flagged = today starts as a catch-up: fluids with electrolytes first, re-check in 30–60 minutes, and let the session's intensity follow the re-check rather than the programme. A self-check is a prompt to drink and think — never a diagnosis — and a flag that keeps returning across days is a professional conversation, not a bigger scoop.
Step 4 — A week, assembled
- Heavy day (hard sparring, long run, conditioning): pre-check → during bottle with ION → Hydra Ice after → meal with salt and potassium-rich foods.
- Standard day (technique, lifting, moderate session): pre-check → water during → Vital Hydrate or a salted meal after.
- Rest day: the daily layer only — meals, Vital Hydrate if the day is hot or physical, Mineral Matrix+ as routine.
- Two-a-day: the after plan of session one is the before plan of session two; the window between them gets its own fluid, sodium and food, as our BJJ article details.
Choosing between the drinks themselves — and understanding what water, sports drinks and ORS each are for — is the job of our comparison guide, Electrolyte Drinks vs Water, Sports Drinks and ORS.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I drink before training?
Enough to arrive euhydrated: normal drinking through the day, pale urine, baseline weight — plus a sodium-containing drink in the two hours before if the day has already cost you sweat [A01]. Forcing down a litre at the door is not a head start; it is a sloshing stomach.
Do I need electrolytes for a 45-minute session?
Almost certainly not during it — water covers short sessions for most athletes. What matters is the after slot if the day stacks another session, heat or physical work on top of it.
Which formula goes where, in one line each?
Power Pulse before, for energy [L05]. ION during long or hot sessions, for sodium containment [L03]. Hydra Ice after the heaviest days, for restoration plus creatine [L02]. Vital Hydrate as the moderate daily drink [L01]. Mineral Matrix+ as the daily magnesium layer, not a sweat drink [L04].
What if my pre-session check keeps flagging?
Treat the pattern, not the day: a recurring deficit usually means the after plan is under-sized or the daily layer is thin. Fix those for a week; if flags persist — especially with symptoms — involve a professional. The self-check routes; it does not diagnose.
Can I just use the strongest formula for everything?
You can, but the plan is built on matching: 1,000 mg of sodium after a light technical session is disproportionate for most people, and sodium in this library is always contextual — athlete losses on one side, general-population guidance and clinician routing on the other. Match the formula to the sweat.
Next step
Run the two weigh-ins this week, then read the athlete hydration guide once more with your own numbers in hand — the pillar is the system; this page is how it becomes your week.
References
[A01] American College of Sports Medicine — Position Stand: Exercise and Fluid Replacement (2007): start euhydrated; prevent more than 2% body-weight loss during exercise; sweat rates and electrolyte content vary considerably, so programmes should be customised; sweat rate can be estimated from pre/post body weight; replace fluid-electrolyte deficits after exercise: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17277604/
[S01] Baker LB — Sweating Rate and Sweat Sodium Concentration in Athletes: A Review of Methodology and Intra/Interindividual Variability (Sports Medicine, 2017): sweat sodium concentration spans roughly 10–90 mmol/L across athletes and varies considerably within and between individuals: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40279-017-0691-5.pdf
[W01] NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Potassium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals: potassium AI 3,400 mg (men) / 2,600 mg (women), best met from food; only a very small amount of potassium is lost in sweat: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Potassium-HealthProfessional/
[L01] Warrior Code Vital Hydrate — Supplement Facts label (verified 2026-10-28): per 1 scoop: sodium 100 mg, potassium 200 mg, magnesium 20 mg, calcium 40 mg: https://nutririse.com/products/warrior-code-vital-hydrate-lychee
[L02] Warrior Code Hydra Ice — label callouts and product description (verified 2026-10-28): per serving: sodium 1,000 mg, potassium 200 mg, magnesium 66 mg, creatine monohydrate 5 g: https://nutririse.com/products/warrior-code-hydra-ice-creatine-hydration-performance-booster-blue-ice-flavor
[L03] NutriRise ION — Quantum Ice — Supplement Facts label (verified 2026-10-28): per approx. 1 scoop: sodium 600 mg, potassium 444 mg, magnesium 40 mg: https://nutririse.com/products/nutririse-ion-quantum-ice-ultra-bioavailable-electrolyte-fuel
[L04] Mineral Matrix+ — Supplement Facts label (verified 2026-10-28): per 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL): magnesium 180 mg, chloride 620 mg, sodium 15 mg; ionic trace mineral concentrate: https://nutririse.com/products/mineral-matrix-premium-ionic-trace-mineral-tincture-cellular-hydration-energy-longevity-support
[L05] Warrior Code Power Pulse — Supplement Facts label (verified 2026-10-28): per 2 scoops: caffeine 200 mg (natural, from green tea), taurine 1,000 mg, L-theanine 100 mg, sodium 60 mg, potassium 130 mg, magnesium 36 mg: https://nutririse.com/products/warrior-code-power-pulse
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