The Hydration How to Guide For Training In The HEAT!
SUMMER IS HERE, and as you may have noticed - it's harder to push yourself in workouts when it's hot.... But why?
After you read this post you will have a better knowledge of hydration, how it affects your performance and more importantly an idea of how much water you should be drinking. I will also cover how you can use electrolytes to ensure you are well hydrated and safe during hot weather training.
Why Is Hydration Important:
Did you know that WE are up to 60% water?! That means over half of a normal adult human has water ingrained in our tissues. Some parts of the body have an even higher concentration of water. For example, our brain is 73% water and our lungs are about 83% water. This explains many of the symptoms of dehydration - but more on that later.
Not getting enough water can be detrimental to our health and can potentially cause side effects like nausea, fatigue, constipation, headaches, and dizziness.
Staying well hydrated is incredibly important for your wellness and health, as water is needed for a variety of bodily processes and central to nearly every aspect of health and wellness. In particular, staying hydrated helps regulate body temperature, transport nutrients, maintain brain function, and enhance physical performance
I come across many people who are are scared of drinking water, since it makes the number on the scale go up. But those interested it appears that drinking water just before meals can be especially useful for weight management, as it can promote feelings of fullness and reduce appetite.
One study in 24 people found that drinking 500 ml (17 ounces) of water before breakfast reduced the number of calories consumed by 13%. This can be useful if you are trying to reduce portion sizes without feeling constantly hungry.
And similarly, a small, 12-week study showed that drinking 500 ml (17 ounces) of water before each meal as part of a low-calorie diet increased weight loss by 44%, compared with a control group.
Turns out there is more science that backs up it HELPS more than harms….. and if you feel that way make sure to check out my post about more motivating and effective ways to track your progress than using the (useless) scale!
>>>> Throw out the scale, and check out these 3 alternative ways to track progress.
Hydration Basics Every Day, (days where you do not train)
But how much water do we need to consume throughout the day to maintain this fluid balance for optimal hydration? This is where it starts to be fussy, in the science world. And you can see multiple numbers swing around with multiple outside factors that influence the number.
The water we intake does not only come from water we drink. If your diet contains soups, fresh fruit, vegetables or rice, you are getting some of your water through there. But calculating that into the equation would confuse even a PHD in Mathematics so I am going to make it real simple here.
But as a ROUGH guideline females should DRINK 2.5L of fluids per day, that is 5x 500 ml and males should consume about 3L of fluids per day or 6x 500 ml.
Signs That It's Not The Right Amount?
There are so many things outside our control that also affect our hydration. A few worth mentioning are caffeine, menstrual cycles, alcohol, hormones, salt balance from food, heat and humidity. It is important to learn how to monitor your hydration on the fly and observe the signals your body is sending you.
First and foremost your urine should be colourless to pale gold. If it's gold, dark gold or anything darker than that it is a sign that you need to hydrate more.
Too much:
More is Not Better, too much hydration can lead to Hyponatremia - Too much water relative to the sodium and potassium content in our body. The initial symptoms are GI discomfort, nausea, vomiting, headaches, swollen hands, confusion and restlessness. Brain water increases and can also lead to coma.
How to avoid: in extreme conditions and when drinking more than 3l of water per day, use electrolytes to balance out your salt balance to water ratio.
To Little: Dehydration
Its important to note that our bodies do not adapt to dehydration, so if we lose the below mentioned total % of our body water the body WILL react the same for trained or untrained individuals. What we can minimally adapt to not secreting as much sweat and water. However this is extremely depending on OUTSIDE of your control factors, like alcohol, humidity, wind, hormones, time of the day, UV index ect. So preparation and planning is key here.
For Example, night out on the beers and early morning cycle is a poor combination. Drinking Alcohol dehydrates you and you will enter your session at a deficit making your performance worse.
This is what happens when you lose more water than you bring in.
0.5-3% loss of performance aerobic and anaerobic systems impaired
4-5% health risk, cramping, heat stroke, reduced mental capacity
6% Physical exhaustion, heatstroke, coma
10+% Death
How to avoid: You need to drink before you're thirsty. Thirst kicks in when you are already 1-2% dehydrated, so plan your outdoor activities realistically with calculations for intensity and duration (see below). Lastly make sure you have extra water for unexpected events and delays - you can always come home with extra water. It is not always easy to find extra when you are out and about.
Basic Sports Hydration
Indoor Training Moderate To High Intense less than 1 hour.
As you exercise, the core body temperature rises. In response, the body sweats to dissipate excess heat, and to cool down the skin so it doesn't overheat.
There are many different sweat levels for people, some sweat a lot, others medium and some very little. The ones who sweat a lot tend to have an easier time to adapt to extreme heat - as their cooling system is well functioning.
While the person who sweats very little can’t regulate their temperature as well and are prone to heat related issues.
There are a variety of effects that come into play when your body is dehydrated that directly impacts athletic performance. Some effects of dehydration include a reduction in blood volume, decreased skin blood flow, decreased sweat rate, increased core temperature, and an increased rate of muscle glycogen use. All of these will slow you down and make you feel heavy and tired. Sports hydration is ADDITION to your baseline hydration. As the basic hydration is vital to your BASIC BODY FUNCTIONS DAILY!
Simple Calculations For Indoor Training, moderate to high intense.
Drink about 0.5-1 l EXTRA FROM THE BASELINE per hour DURING physical activity.
Drink another 0.5-1 l EXTRA FROM BASELINE post your workout
Female that works out 1 hour on Mondays & Wednesdays moderate intensity
Monday & Wednesdays: 2.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 = 3.5L
Other days 2.5L
Male that works out 1.5 hour on Mondays & Wednesdays HIGH intensity
Monday & Wednesdays: 3 + 1 + 0.5 = 4.5 L total
Other days 3L
Advanced Sports Hydration
For Extremely Hot/Dry conditions, long duration 2+ hours or high intensity for 1+ hour
This is all IN ADDITION TO YOUR BASELINE - see above.
Staying hydrated before, during and after exercise is about replacing the water lost through sweating and is essential for recovery, performance, thermoregulation and in helping to prevent cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Pre Hydration, Before Drink 0.25- 0.5L before activity begins.
During Activity: 600 ml per hour of activity with 30-45 grams of carbs + 10-15 grams protein/bcaa and additional electrolytes (potassium and sodium).
After activity 0.5-1L with 30-45 grams of carbs + 10-15 grams protein/bcaa and additional electrolytes (potassium and sodium)
Simple Calculations For Activities!
50 km cycle @ Moderate —> Hard Pace: 1:30 - 2 hours depending on cyclist.
Pre Hydration, Before Drink 0.25- 0.5L before activity begins.
During Activity: 1.2 l water in 2 insulated sports bottles, with 60-90 g of carbohydrates, 20-30 g of BCAA´s and 2 units (scoops/tablets/drops) of electrolytes. (1-2 sports gels depending on brand/size or as mix in water)
After activity Drink 0.5-1L with 30-45 grams of carbs + 10-15 grams protein/bcaa and additional electrolytes (potassium and sodium)
Hiking 10 km on trails 2.5-3 hours, low intensity, high temperatures.
Pre Hydration, Before Drink 0.25- 0.5L before activity begins.
During Activity: Take With You 3x 600 ml water= 1800 ml and a snack containing 60-90 g of carbohydrates, 20-30 g of BCAA´s and 2 units (scoops/tablets/drops) of electrolytes. (1-2 sports gels depending on brand/size or as mix in water)
After activity Drink 0.5-1L with 30-45 grams of carbs + 10-15 grams protein/bcaa and additional electrolytes (potassium and sodium)
Bonus Tips For Sports Activities!
Plan in advance, do the calculations for each activity, make sure to take a bit extra with you if you are far away from water supply. (better to come home with the rest than run out of water in the wild)
If you want to get even better at this, you can weigh yourself before and after the sports event, to see how much fluids you are losing in that specific activity. (remember to subtract any fluids you drank during the activity) For example I know I need to drink more when running, than biking since I sweat more and even more during mixed module training like crossfit.
What does this look like in practice?
During Crossfit Games prep in 2019, during a 2 hour crossfit conditioning session in hot environment, lost about 4 kg while drinking 750 ml during the session aka, secreted about 4.75 l of sweat!
That is about 6,5% of my total bodyweight, and safe to say I was not feeling great after that session. After this session I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling sluggish and exhausted, unable to join the second session of the day. And continued feeling poorly until I had replenished these fluids.
Better hydration strategy from my side, and equal intake through out that session would have saved me that discomfort and had me back training in the afternoon.
I hope this underlines how important hydration is AND clears up some of the confusion you might have about how much fluids and when you should be drinking. Hope this helps to stay safe, fit and active through the summer.
Until next time stay hydrated my friend!
Any Questions Or Concerns?
Feel free to shoot me a message!
