In 1991, Professor Tim Noakes made a discovery that would prove inconvenient for the burgeoning sports drink industry; he discovered that the true cause of EAH and EAHE is abnormal fluid retention during prolonged exercise. The industry, Noakes explains, needed to find a way to justify its continued promotion of the idea that athletes should “drink as much as tolerable” during exercise. As a result, its members created a new myth: the myth of the salty sweater. Industry scientists sought to demonstrate that salty sweaters were in danger of developing salt deficiencies that put them at risk of “hyponatremic dehydration.” In part 11 of his hyponatremia series, Noakes outlines how the Gatorade and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute worked together to market their sports drinks, even if it meant bending the scientific literature to their will.

Our template contains sufficient structure to formalize or define our programming objectives while not setting in stone parameters that must be left to variance if the workouts are going to meet our needs. That is our mission—to ideally blend structure and flexibility.