Hydration and Your Workout

Happy Monday! Well, I’ll be totally honest, life kicked my butt last week. It was a constant game of catch up and I totally bailed on Friday’s post. However, I have gotten my act together. Today I’m covering the topic of hydration and your workout! As the temps rise here in Texas, hydration becomes the forefront of a successful athlete.

I’ve covered this topic a bit before but I wanted to expand on it. There are a lot of factors that affect your performance. Whether you’re working out in an air conditioned gym or you’re running outside in 99% humidity, your body will react according to it’s environment. If you’re someone who perspires easily, then you need to replenish the fluids your body is getting rid of.

There’s many different ideas to hydration. Some coaches advice drinking to thirst. This means, that whenever you’re running or working out, you takes sips whenever you feel thirsty. Others have a “by the numbers” approach and recommend drinking a certain amount depending on the intensity and duration of the workout. I’m somewhat in the middle. I carry a water bottle with me at all times and I make sure to drink water throughout the day. Depending on the environment, I may make mental notes and adjust my intake during a workout. It’s important to be aware of how your body sweats.

Here’s a neat test you can take to see how much water you lose in sweat during a workout. Weigh yourself before a workout. It is suggested you do so without your clothes for a more accurate reading. Perform a 60 minute workout and abstain from fluids. Weight yourself after your workout and see how much weight you’ve lost. Each pound lost equals to 16 fluid ounces lost. Using this information, you know how much water you need to drink to make up for all the water you loss during the workout. This can be a good rule of thumb to know how much hydration you need for a long run or a hard workout!

As always drinking water throughout the day and staying away from soda or other sugary drinks ensures that you’re properly hydrated. This will keep you from having to chug water before a workout or feeling completely gassed afterwards. You’re more likely to bonk and get muscle cramps if you’re not properly hydrated. If you’re a runner and have GI upset during or soon after a run, hydration may also be an issue.

Have you ever done the sweat test? Do you properly hydrate during all your workouts?