Hydration for the Warmer Weather

The days are finally getting longer and warmer, but what does that mean for your training? Well with the increased temperature it is likely that your sweat rate is going to increase meaning that hydration should probably take more of a priority for you.

Why Rehydration Matters

Dehydration of just 2% body mass losses can decrease your exercise performance, meaning during training and events maintaining your hydration is super important. The effects of dehydration span beyond your performance by also negatively impacting your recovery, sleep and cognitive function, all important areas for exercise and just day to day life as well. 

So what do I need to do to rehydrate effectively? 

Know your Fluid Loss

The first thing is to know how much fluid you are actually losing in your training. This is really easy to calculate, all you need to do is weigh yourself before your training and after your training, the difference between these values is your fluid loss, accounting for any fluid you take in during your training.

Equation: 

(Weight Pre Exercise) - (Weight post exercise - Fluid intake during exercise) = Fluid Loss

Know how much to drink back

You then need to make sure you drink back the correct amount of fluid. It is typically recommended to consume between 1 to 1.5 X the amount of fluid that you lost.

E.g if you lost 1L of fluid you should drink back between 1L and 1.5L.

It is then important to continue to drink water little and often over the rest of the day to ensure you maintain a good hydration status.

Know what to add to your drink to improve rehydration

We then need to consider how we can keep as much fluid as possible in our system. There are three things we can add to our drink that can help with this. These are carbohydrates, electrolytes and protein. These three also help with other aspects of our recovery so they are super important to consider adding to your drink to help rehydrate and recover well. 

Quick Summary

To make sure you rehydrate effectively after exercise you need to know how much fluid you lose during your exercise so that you can drink back 1 to 1.5 X the amount of volume you lose. You can add carbohydrates, electrolytes and protein to your drink so that you keep more fluid in your body, enhancing your rehydration.

Do you need help structuring your rehydration strategy? Book a session here for hydration advice and nutrition plans tailored specifically to you.

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