written by Olivia Crozier
When it comes to endurance training and racing, hydration is everything. It can make or break performance, recovery, and even safety. In recent years, hydration IVs (intravenous infusions of fluids and electrolytes) have become a trend among athletes looking for an edge in their recovery or rehydration.
But are IVs actually necessary if you’re keeping up with your unique hydration needs? With the training tools and new technology provided by Nix, athletes can achieve optimal hydration without ever needing an IV. When you’re able to measure exactly how much fluid and electrolytes you're losing in real time during a training session, you're able to rehydrate immediately based on personalized data rather than seeking a less accessible, one-size-fits-all approach such as an IV.
Below will cover what hydration IVs offer and why personalized hydration tracking is the more accessible and effective solution.
In medical settings, IVs are used to treat severe dehydration when someone is unable to take in fluids orally or needs rapid fluid replacement. The IV delivers fluid and electrolytes directly into the bloodstream, bypassing digestion and providing immediate relief.
For athletes, the appeal is obvious: a quick, efficient way to “refill the tank” after long hours in the heat or after a race. With IV bars and boutiques gaining popularity, athletes now have the ability to walk into a location, select from a menu of pre-planned hydration formulas, and bypass a hospital visit to get their hydration IV administered. However, medical-level intervention like this is rarely necessary for a well-prepared and well-hydrated athlete.
Hydration IVs have gained traction in the endurance space especially in triathlon, ultrarunning, and cycling communities. You’ll find IV recovery tents at some races and even “hydration lounges” popping up in major cities.
While the trend is fueled by convenience and the promise of rapid recovery, most of the evidence supporting IVs for athletic performance is anecdotal. For athletes in good health, there’s no clear scientific advantage of using a hydration IV over traditional oral hydration.
For athletes who finish ultra-endurance events dangerously dehydrated and unable to keep fluids down, IVs can be lifesaving. But these are exceptions, not the norm. Some other advantages of using hydration IVs as opposed to oral hydration include:
For most endurance athletes, the downsides outweigh the benefits:
And perhaps most importantly, relying on IVs can encourage reactive hydration instead of proactive hydration — often focused on fixing problems after they happen rather than preventing them in the first place with a proper, personalized hydration strategy tailored to your body.
Hydration IVs can be beneficial for:
For everyone else, including endurance athletes logging long, hot miles it is still apparent that smart, personalized hydration is more than enough.
The Nix Hydration Biosensor offers an accessible, personalized solution to rehydration. Instead of guessing your hydration status or relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, Nix measures your real-time sweat and electrolyte losses during training or racing and provides a recommendation of when, what, and how much to drink to remain properly hydrated and fuel optimal recovery. Nix also offers tools such as the Recovery Calculator within the Nix Solo app that allows users to find their optimal recovery strategy utilizing the data collected during their workout.
Louisiana State University (LSU) utilized Nix during training camp and leaned heavily on the live data to identify when each athlete was approaching, and more critically, crossing their personal threshold for extreme electrolyte losses. When staff members observed the extreme losses generated from their players, they pulled them off the field and began early intervention. The goal was to provide fluid and electrolyte supplementation before it resulted in debilitating cramps or the need for IV fluids. As a result, the LSU football program saw an astounding 90% decrease in IV fluids administered during their 2024 training camp.
By utilizing Nix, you’re not reacting to dehydration after it happens — you’re preventing it altogether.
Hydration IVs have their place in medical recovery and extreme dehydration, but they’re not an optimal performance hack for everyday training or racing.
For endurance athletes who want to optimize performance, recovery, and safety, technology like the Nix Hydration Biosensor offers a smarter, data-driven way to stay ahead of your body’s needs without utilizing a one-size-fits-all approach or formula.