Stay Hydrated, My Friends

Significance of Hydration

Staying hydrated and drinking enough water is the first priority when taking care of your body. Since nearly 65% of your body is water, proper hydration will ensure that you are able to function optimally and avoid the negative effects of dehydration. To put the importance of water and hydration into perspective, humans could survive up to three weeks without food but would only last about three days without water. Water is our source of life!

There is no doubt that you have been educated on the importance of staying hydrated to avoid muscle cramps. However, hydration is critical for nearly every function your body carries out. Your body needs water to regulate its core temperature, lubricate joints (including your spine), remove waste from your body, and properly digest your food. And these are just a few!

Effects of Dehydration on Athletes

Dehydration is measured by looking at the percent of body weight lost through sweat. Losing as little as 0.1% can increase cardiovascular strain and limit the body’s ability to perform optimally. At 1–2%, we start to see an increase in the body’s core temperature, and at 3% that increase becomes significant. Think of it this way. If you are an athlete that plays, practices, or trains outside in the heat, failing to properly hydrated will increase your risk of overheating.

If an athlete continues to become dehydrated, aerobic ability and muscular endurance start to decline while also showing a reduction in strength and power. Studies have concluded that a fluid loss of 5% led to a decrease of up to 30% in athletes’ work capacity. This means that by being somewhat dehydrated heading into a competition, you may only be able to perform at 70% of your best!

Further dehydration can lead to spasms and cramps and if the body gets to 10% dehydration, there is an increased risk of heatstroke and other heat-related injuries. If the heat illness becomes severe enough, these issues may become irreversible.

While staying hydrated is beneficial for everyone, due to the demands of their sport and training, athletes need to have an increased awareness of the negative effects of dehydration.

How to Hydrate

You may think that you can stay hydrated by just drinking water during your workouts. This idea is simply untrue. You lose water through sweat when you are working out, you lose water every time you urinate and even small amounts each time you exhale. For these reasons, you must constantly drink water throughout the day to give your body what it needs to thrive. Limiting your fluid intake and trying to make up for it in a short period of time will ultimately lead to poor performance.

To make sure you are drinking enough fluid to avoid the negative impacts discussed above, you need to plan ahead. Depending on your size and level of activity, this will look different for each athlete. Here are a few ways to beat dehydration and to make sure you are prepared to perform at a high level.

Plan for Hydration

Consuming half of your body weight in ounces will be the starting point for everyone. This means that a 150-pound athlete would consume 75 ounces of water daily. Since most of the fluid consumed around your workout or practice will be lost through perspiration, do not count your fluid intake during this time towards your daily ounces.

As soon as you wake up, drink 16 to 20 ounces of water. Make this a routine. Set a glass of water next to your bed or in your bathroom the night before with the intention of drinking it as soon as you wake up. You will have been 8–9 hours without and fluids and you will have lost water through respiration. This gives your body a chance to start the day off on the right track and rehydrate after a night of sleep.

Before your workout, drink another 16 ounces of water. (If you have early morning workouts this may already be covered with your morning hydration routine.) During your workout, consume 4–8 ounces of water every 15 minutes or so. When you are finished, plan to replace the fluids lost through sweat by drinking another 16 to 20 ounces within an hour or so of completing the workout.

For the rest of the day, figure out the numbers and know how much you need to consume to meet your daily ounce requirement. Let’s use the 150-pound athlete mentioned above and breakdown their daily intake:

• They performed their morning hydration routine and consumed 16 ounces of water first thing in the morning.
• Next, they hydrated around (before/after) their workout. Remember, these fluids do not count toward their daily numbers.
• They now have 60 (75–16= 59 rounded up to 60) ounces of water to consume throughout the day to meet their daily requirement of 75 fluid ounces.
• They can fill up a 20-ounce bottle with water and make sure to empty it 3 times before bed.

Pro Tip: Set a timer on your phone or watch to go off every 3 hours. If the timer goes off and you have not consumed your entire water bottle, finish the rest immediately. Refill and reset your timer until the daily requirement has been met.

Other Ways to Hydrate

If drinking enough water is a challenge for you, there’s good news! Fruits and vegetables are made up primarily of water and can help you stay hydrated. Eat oranges, strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, blueberries, peaches, and watermelon. These fruits are made up of at least 85% water. When you eat a salad, you can bet that pretty much every veggie that fills the bowl contains at least 90% water.

What to Avoid

Limit sugar and caffeinated beverages and stick to water. If you are drinking any type of soda, cut it out immediately. The excess sugar found in these drinks is not healthy for anyone, especially someone trying to maximize their full potential. Sports drinks are not much better. Unless you are training for a marathon or have had an intense 2-hour practice in the heat, consuming sugar-laden sports drinks to “rehydrate” will do little more than add unwanted calories to your body.

The natural minerals found in fruits and vegetables will help replace electrolytes lost through sweat. Sodium and potassium are the most common electrolytes found in most sports drinks and can be easily replaced by eating fruits and veggies. Dark leafy greens, olives, bananas, and oranges will give you potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Add a pinch of sea salt to your veggies and you have now replenished your sodium levels.

Pro Tip: Make your own electrolyte replacement drink. Add the juice from half of a lemon and a pinch of sea salt to your morning water. This will give you the electrolytes you need and help you absorb the water you consume.

By making a conscious effort to drink enough water throughout the day, not only will you perform better in your sport, your body will be able to perform the essential tasks needed for you to live an optimal life.

Download the Performance Course Hydration graphic here.

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