Four tips to avoid dehydration during exercise
Water is one of the 7 essential nutrients that our bodies need. With 50-75% of our bodyweight being made up of water (the actual amount varies according to your age and gender), it’s really important that we get enough throughout the day to keep everything working efficiently. In general, we need around 1ml of water for every kilocalorie (kcal) – often known as a “calorie” — that we burn. So, for example, if you burn around 2,000 kcal throughout the day, you should aim for 2,000ml (2 litres) of water per day. However, for someone who is more active, the amount of water needed can quickly escalate.
Our bodies are like a sink without a plug, which means we need to replenish our fluid levels regularly in order to avoid dehydration. This water intake can come from drinking water itself (the purest option), but also via squash, herbal drinks and hot beverages like tea or coffee (however, you want to avoid drinks high in caffeine, sugar, and additives).
We lose water via urination, defecation (diarrhoea can cause excessive water loss), breathing out, vomiting, and sweating. Exercise is one of the times that we find ourselves sweating more than usual; therefore, it’s important to ensure we drink enough water during (and after) sessions in order to remain hydrated. Here are 4 tips to help you do just that:
1) Don’t start a training session feeling dehydrated!
Being thirsty is a sign that you’re already dehydrated. You don’t want to start exercise when you’re already dehydrated as you’ll only get more dehydrated as the session progresses. As much as you can, ensure you’ve drunk enough fluid in the hours before you start training.
2) Try not to wear excess clothing.
When we exercise our body temperature rises and our bodies sometimes sweat to help regulate that body temperature. If you’re wearing too much clothing, this will make you feel even hotter, and you’re likely to sweat a lot more (losing more fluid than necessary). Try to dress appropriately for what you’re doing in a session and depending on your environment (e.g., indoors, or outdoors, summer or winter, etc).
3) Sip water throughout the session
Sipping water throughout the session will help to replace water as it is being lost through your sweat, rather than waiting until you’re thirsty (remember thirst is a symptom of dehydration). Sipping is also better than gulping as gulping water can sometimes make you feel sick.
4) Replace lost fluids immediately after a session.
Weighing yourself pre and post-training will help you identify exactly how much fluid you’ve lost in a session. Unlike many people think, the weight lost during a session is actually water weight. For every 1kg lost in weight, this is the equivalent of 1litre of water. So, if you were 70kg at the start of a session, but then 69.5kg at the end of a session, this indicates that you’ve lost 0.5kg and therefore need to drink 500ml of water to replace the water lost.
So, the next time you train, which of these tips are you going to implement? Let me know in the comments below.
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About The Author: Torema Thompson is an athlete, qualified personal trainer, UKA athletics coach (& nutrition coach in training). She is passionate about helping athletes and fitness enthusiasts go from newbies to masters in their athletics and/or fitness.
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