Water is a macronutrient that is underappreciated. If water loss exceeds fluid intake, then dehydration will follow as a result. Now it would make sense that dehydration can significantly impact your performance. And there’s an even bigger concern in warmer climate conditions.
Hydration & Athletic Performance
Water accounts for more than 60% of the human body and is essential for many different functions. Dehydration is defined as a 2% loss of body weight and this can negatively impact your training. How? It’s associated with a reduction of muscle strength, endurance, coordination, mental acuity and your thermoregulatory processes.
As a general rule of thumb, for every pound of body weight lost between the start and end of exercise, one should replace at least 600mL per 1/5 kilogram of body weight lost. Now during prolonged exercise, fluid and sodium losses occur. So an athlete engaged in prolonged exercise can lose 5L of fluids a day with sodium and smaller amounts of potassium lost. Sodium losses do not directly impact performance, however using salts in fluid replacement is proven to enhance the thirst response and aid in rehydration.
It is important to remember to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance lost in sweat while exercising. This means, regardless of age, to hydrate well before exercise, drink fluids throughout exercise and rehydrate once exercise is over.
Water Content in Foods
Fluid content of foods should not be underestimated either! There are plenty of high water content foods: Iceberg Lettuce (96%), Cooked Squash (94%), Pickle (92%), Cantaloupe (90%), Oranges (87%), Apple (86%), Pears (84%)
As compared with: Steak (50%), Cheddar Cheese (37%), White Bread (36%), Cookies (4%), Nuts (~2%)
That means including the fruit recommendation of 5-9 fruits and vegetables a day also helps with hydration.
In Conclusion:
- 480-600mL fluid: 1-2 hours before exercise
- 300-480mL fluid: 15 minutes before exercise
- 120-180mL fulid: every 10-15 miutes during exercise
In general, start fulid intake 24 hours before exercise event
(Fluid intake coming from food must also be considered.) Hydration right after exercise is the most important for recovery. Within 1 hour, it’s best achieved by having a shake mixed with a glucose-electrolyte solution or a carbohydrate-protein mixture.
Maintaining your body water content and understanding how to rehydrate after exercise is an important aspect of sports nutrition that is underdiscussed and underappreciated.
(original image by new1mproved)
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