Hydration and Exercise
Until the late 1960s athletes were advised not to drink during exercise since it was believed that water ingestion made performance worse rather than better.However since then, sports experts have found that when the body is dehydrated by as little as 1-2 % physical performance declines by as much as 5-10 % and, in competitive sports where margins are very small, this could be the difference between winning and losing! Symptoms of dehydration • Sluggishness • Nausea • Headaches • Light headedness • General sense of fatigue • Feeling excessively hot
When exercising you lose water through sweat and vapour in the air that you breathe out. However much water you lose during this period depends on; how long you and how hard you work out, the temperature, your own body chemistry and humidity of your surroundings. In general, women tend to produce less sweat than men and this is due to both their body size and their greater economy in fluid loss. However there is a wide variability in sweat rates, losses and hydration levels of individuals and it is difficult to provide specific recommendations or guidelines about the typeor amount of fluids athletes should consume. So finding the right amount of fluid depends upon a variety of individual factors as mentioned earlier the length and intensity of exercise and individual differences. There are however two simple methods of estimating adequate hydration. 1. Monitor urine volume output and colour. A large amount of light coloured diluted urine probably means that you are hydrated; dark coloured, concentrated urine probably means you are dehydrated. 2. Weigh yourself before and after exercise. It is recommended to drink approximately 1.5 times the fluid lost during exercise. The simplest way to work out how much you need to drink is to weigh yourself before and after training. Working on the basis that 1 litre of sweat is equivalent to a 1kg body weight loss, you need to drink 1.5 fluid/kg weight lost. Drinking water is essential, and can be of further benefit when trying to lose weight as it is a natural appetite suppressant. Therefore a lack of water can lead to over eating.
Sports Nutrition Hydration
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