It's Hot, Drink Some Water

It’s really hot today – granted, I haven’t been outside since this morning, but it just looks hot.  And my patients are telling me it’s hot.  So despite the heat, I have to go train someone tonight, and then train myself.  How much hydration do we need? 

Here is why drinking fluids before, during and after a workout is important – your body needs those fluids to adequately cool itself – without enough fluids, your core temperature can rise to dangerous levels.  The old standby of 8 glasses of water every day is probably not sufficient if you are exercising.  First, you are losing water, and second, your thirst is not necessarily a good indicator of your hydration needs. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends replacing fluid equal to the rate of fluid loss.  The next time you work out, hydrate prior to exercise and regularly during exercise.  Weigh yourself before and after exercise - each pound you have lost is equal to about 1 pint of water. 

With all this being said, it is also important to not overhydrate, as this can be as dangerous as dehydration – your sodium levels get diluted leading to all kinds of nasty things.  As far as what to drink – sports drink, water, etc, I’m a little more up in the air – that’s a discussion for another day which is continually evolving.  I personally prefer water during exercise and some kind of carbohydrate replacement after exercise.   Here’s an interesting website which has a fairly useful hydration calculator: http://www.bottledwater.org/public/hydratio_main.htm