A question I often receive is whether to drink water or sports drinks. The simple rule of thumb is if you've been working out at a normal pace in normal conditions then drinking water is all you need. If you've worked out at an intense effort or in abnormally hot/humid conditions (or at high altitude) or for more than an hour, you may want to supplement your water intake with a bit of sports drink such as Gatorade or Powerade. The addition of electrolytes found in sports drinks are important if you're super sweaty which depletes your sodium and can lead to muscle cramps and hyponutremia (too much water resulting in a low concentration of sodium).
One other piece of advice I like to offer new-to-walking/running folks is that drinking water the day before, day of and day after the training/race is equally, if not more, important than drinking during the event. Let's say you have a racing event coming up on Saturday. You'll want to ensure you optimally hydrated (at least 64 oz water daily) on Thursday and Friday. Next, you'll want to have some water (not too much to make you sick or have to make a pit toilet stop during the event) before the race. Then, as important as the days leading up to the race are the afternoon of the race and two days after the race. Ensuring that you treat your body well and replensh the lost fluids. Again, 64 ounces is often the minimum daily goal.
Staying hydrated have loads of health benefits including more optimal physical performance. So what happens if you don't like to drink water? You may want to refer to THESE 7 fun tips. Also, you may want to check out THIS post I made last summer about spa water.
No comments:
Post a Comment