7 Evidence-Based Science-Based Drinking Tips to Stay Hydrated During Your Workouts.
Water is life itself and in the course of exercise it gets to be performance itself. All physical functions that enable you to move, sweat and breathe depend on proper hydration. However, even though it is critically needed, hydration is usually given a second thought, which results in a premature fatigue, worse performance, and even severe health complications.
Learning how to hydrate yourself is not only about drinking copious amounts of water when you feel like having one. It is a strategic exercise that starts hours before you are lacing on your shoes and ends many hours after you are done with your cool-down. Being a weekend warrior, a serious athlete, or a person only beginning his/her training, knowing how to nourish your body with fluids correctly will turn the experience into winning, rather than losing, your workouts.
These are seven tips you need to make sure you remain optimally hydrated and deliver an optimal performance.
1. Pre-Hydrate: Don't Fall Behind the Eight Ball.
The most widespread hydration error is the exercise when one gets into a dehydrated condition. You may not be thirsty yet your body may be working at a loss. That would be akin to a road trip that starts with a gas tank that is full of air you are not going to travel too long before you sputter to a stop.
The Science: Not only do we need to work harder when we are even mildly dehydrated (loss of fluids of 1-2 percent of your body weight). The amount of blood in your body also reduces and your heart has to beat more quickly to deliver oxygen and nutrients to working muscles. This elevates the rate of your heart, raises your core body temperature and raises perceived exertion, that is, it makes your workout feel a lot harder than it really is.
The Strategy: The 4-Hour Pre-Workout Rule.
You should start your activity wholly hydrated; that is why you need to begin consuming fluids long before your activity.
4 Hours Pre-Vitamin: Goal: Be one-half to one-third of body mass (between 2-3 mL and 5-7 mL, respectively). This equals between 13- 20 ounces (400- 600 mL) of water to a 150 lb (68 kg) individual. In case of no production of pale urine 2 hours prior to exercise, take additional 5-10 oz (150-300 mL).
One must avoid enormous amounts of simple water right before exercise (within 30 minutes), as it may cause sloshing and frequent urination.
Pro Tip: When you are about to have a long or tough session (especially during a hot one), you may want to take a pre-workout drink containing a little sodium (such as an electrolyte tablet in your water) or have a little salty meal. Sodium assists your body in preserving fluid that you are taking.
2. Water: Find Your Sweat Rate: Customize Your Hydration.
No one is the same in the way they do it. Genetics, fitness level, acclimatization to heat, exercise intensity and environmental factors (temperature and humidity) are such factors. The amount of the drink to take is a formula of failure. It will provide you with a data to propel your hydration goal when you do your calculations of your sweat.
You have to know the rate of your sweat:
This is a basic experiment that eliminates the element of guessing hydration. Balance Yourself Clothed right before your exercise. Do an exercise of one whole hour. Record the amount of fluid that you drink in this hour (ounces or milliliters).
Weigh Yourself Naked: This is again right after training.
Do the Math:
- Weight -lost (lbs) = Pre-weight (lbs) - post weight (lbs).
- Divide weight lost by fluid ounces (1 lb lost = 16 fl oz of body sweat).
- Enter the volume of fluids that you drank in the hour (in fl oz).
- Total rate of perspiration = (Weight lost in lbs 16) + Fluid intake (fl oz).
- This figure represents the sweat per hour.
Example: Assume that you weighed 150 lbs at the start and your weight was 149 lbs at the end and you drank 8 oz water during the hour:
(1 lb x 16) + 8 oz = 24 fl oz per hour.
When you engage in similar workouts, you aim at replacing as near as possible that quantity. You do not have to do it exactly but you should target this rate around 75-100% of your sessions to remain in the hydration sweet zone.
3. Fuel Wise: Water vs. Electrolyte Drinks.
The question that has existed since time immemorial: is water enough? The question here is all about how long and how hard you work out.
When Water is Perfect:
Plain water is adequate in most exercises whose duration takes not more than 60-75 minutes, and in moderate temperatures. The loss can be easily replenished through the stores of electrolytes in your body due to a shorter workout.
When You Need Electrolytes:
In case of vigorous work that lasts more than 60-75 minutes or in any other less harsh but severe work in hot weather, you must replace the electrolytes; this is, sodium in the first place.
The important electrolyte that is lost through sweat is sodium. It is vital in the control of fluid, nerve and muscle contraction. It also assists your body in absorbing and retaining drinks that you consume.
In these cases, carbohydrates also play an important role. A beverage with 6-8 percent carbohydrates (around 14-19 grams per 8 oz serving) is a much-needed source of energy to your body and brain, and it slows down fatigue.
The Strategy:
- < 60 min: Stick to water.
- 60-90 min: Drink electrolyte or put in an electrolyte tab into the water.
- 90 minutes to 2 and above hours: consume a sports drink that has both electrolytes and carbohydrates. In case of ultra endurance events, you might require even more sodium content products.
4. Also do not make a habit of chugging the water when drinking. Sip.
The mode of drinking is as good as what you drink. It is not to get a tidal wave of fluid in your stomach, but a gradual one.
The Science -There is a limit to how much fluid your stomach can pour into your intestines at once. Excessive drinking, excessive rate of consumption, particularly of cold drinks, may cause gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort- cramping, bloating and the feared sloshing effect. A constant and regular consumption corresponds to the rate at which your stomach empties and it is smooth flow of water into your blood.
The Strategy:
Make a Time: Do not wait till you are thirsty. You are already thirsty by the moment you become dehydrated. Create a goal of 7-10 fl oz of exercise of 10-20 minutes. Calculate the rate of sweat that you have calculated to perfect this. Put a hydration pack or a bottle that has measurement marks so that it is easy to keep track of what you have taken. Limit your sips to little, but every 1 mile, not huge ones.
5. Wait not your urine time when your bod cries urine time.
A schedule is significant, but not a strict order. You will have to learn to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Thirst is a tardy sign, yet one that you need to take. Moreover, one of the most effective indicators of your hydration status that you can have daily is the color of your urine. You would use it as your dashboard in your body to have everything checked.
The Urine Color Chart:
When your urine comes in lemonade color, then you are well hydrated. Ideal.
Transparent/Clear: You are well hydrated (or even over-hydrated in the event that it is constant).
Dark yellow color means dehyderation. Drink more fluids.
Honey Colored is a word that translates to dehydrated. Should take fluids on a regular basis.
Notable Observation: Some vitamins (such as B vitamins) and drugs may darken the urine color regardless of whether the person is hydrated or not. This chart is a guideline that you should use in relation to the way you feel.
6. Do Not Forget About Rehydrating After the Workout.
Your fluid replacement plan is not complete when your training is over. The recovery window is a very vital period where you should replace the fluids and the electrolytes that have been lost in order to prepare your body to start its next session.Rehyderation does not imply the use of water only. As stressed, you have lost sodium. Excessive consumption of plain water in the aftereffect of heavy sweating may dilute the sodium in your blood, which is a life-threatening situation known as hyponatremia. You have to replenish water and salts.
The Strategy: The 150% Rule
Studies indicate that in order to be effective in rehydration, you should replace the fluid that you lost by one hundred and fifty percent. Therefore, in case you have lost 1 lb (16 oz) of weight in your exercise, 24 oz of fluid should be consumed to rehydrate completely. This explains the water that you are bound to lose by way of urine discharge. Check your weight after the exercise to determine the amount of weight you lost.
The first two hours after exercise drink a recovery drink or eat something with sodium in it. Chocolate milk, a smoothie with a pinch of salt or a balanced meal would all be a great option. The sodium will assist your body in retaining the fluid that you are drinking.
7. Add all the hydration food.
Hydration does not happen to be solely what you drink, but it is also a matter of what you eat. Fruits and vegetables are very high in water content, and they may also be a major factor in fluid intake in a day.
The best hydrating foods that should be added to your diet:
Watermelon and Strawberries: More than 90 per cent. water.
Cucumber & Celery: This fruit is made of approximately 95 percent of water.
Bell Peppers, Spinach, and Broccoli: Each one of them is full of water and necessary nutrients.
Yogurt & Cottage Cheese: This one is a complete source of water, as well as protein and sodium that help with the recovery.
Incorporating such food into your everyday diet will ensure that you maintain a minimum amount of hydration therefore it will be easier to begin your exercise with a fully fueled body.
Conclusion: Hyderation should be his hobby.
To maintain hydration during workouts is not a one-time process, but rather a cyclic process of preparation, implementation and recovery. It is a routine that you have developed through a combination of smart pre-hydration, tailoring your plan to what your sweat needs, or what your body wants, finding the right fuel to power your work, drinking during practice, paying attention to your body cues and purposeful recovery.
It is by getting beyond being thirsty and adopting a strategic approach to hydration that you enable your body to work at its optimum level. You will work harder, work longer and work faster. Then fill your bottle and take a bite of watermelon and dry yourself up to your next personal best. Thanks you will say you are body.
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