How to take your hydration to the next level

Hydration is an often-overlooked facet of sports nutrition. It is super important. You literally couldn’t live without it. It affects performance more than any other nutrient.

An interesting thing about hydration is that humans do not adequately replace water lost from sweat during exercise when it is consumed at will. Most athletes only replace about 2 thirds of water they sweat out from exercise when operating off thirst cues alone. This phenomenon is called voluntary dehydration.

A more systematic approach to hydration can be useful if you wish to take your hydration to the next level. If you measure your body weight before and immediately after exercise (sweaty clothes can skew the result so it is wise to swap out before weighing in) each pound of weight loss (0.45kg) represents 1 pint of fluid loss. This must be replaced before the next training session. This exercise can be very useful as hydration needs can differ wildly from person to person.

It is not feasible to do this every time after a gym session. However, when this protocol is deployed on a hot day or surrounding a particularly tough workout it can be an extremely useful tool in understanding just how much fluid you can lose during a workout.

A loss of water equivalent to as little 1% of an athlete’s total body weight can be associated with increased core temperature.

3%-5% of an athlete’s weight can result in cardiovascular strain and an inability to effectively dissipate heat.

Dehydration is also linked to prolonged muscle soreness after a workout. And it can be a very common limiting factor in recovery from a gym session.

Consumption of at least 1 pint of fluid 2 hours before activity can provide the fluid necessary for optimal hydration pre workout.

Jim “Pure Gym” Ellison

Frodsham Personal Trainer