Hydration For Athletic Performance

We all know that optimal level of hydration is important. What exactly is happening inside our body when we are dehydrated? We probably have heard many times that our sports coaches, PE teachers or personal trainers reminding us to always keep ourselves hydrated. This is especially imperative if you are training for long hours under hot and humid environment or engaging yourself in a long run. Also, we are going to discuss if sports drink really necessary. Let's find out.

Many studies have shown mild dehydration, representing as little as 2% of your total body weight loss, can significantly impact your athletic performance.

When we are dehydrated, there are few things happening inside our body.

1) As we all know that our blood carries oxygen, when we are dehydrated our blood gets thicker whereby our body has to work a lot harder to pump blood to our working muscles. As a result, we get fatigue quicker. Think of it as though you are trying to squeeze honey out from a bottle, vs squeezing water out from the bottle.

2) When we exercise, our core temperature rise by a few degrees. The reason why we perspire is to allow your body to control its core temperature. Hence, we are losing water weight. Ideally, at this point, we would want to hydrate. Because it acts as a coolant to your body.

3) When we exercise, we not only lose water weight, but electrolytes are lost through sweat. This is where muscle cramp happens when there are deficiencies in electrolytes. Athletes who exercise at high intensity and in a long duration can dilute their blood even more if the athletes only and excessively hydrate themselves with water. This will lead to hypernatremia which means low blood sodium level which could potentially lead to nausea, disoriented, muscle cramp, headaches, seizure and in extreme cases, death.

A word of caution

This does not mean we must drink more water. Drinking more water does not mean the better. In fact, excessive hydration though can cause a quick drop in sodium and potassium level.

Should I consume sports drink?

Keep in mind that athletes who train/exercise at high intensity, prolonged duration under hot and humid environment should consume a sports drink and look out for a good mix of 6 to 8% carbohydrates and combination of sodium and potassium in a sports drink as the NSCA recommends.

The key takeaway from this is, sports drink can be good for an athlete who competes, or trains at high intensity for a prolonged duration (1+hour) under hot and humid environment. However, for a weekend warrior like myself, keeping myself hydrated at a regular intervals will be sufficient.

I hope this post helps. If you would like to know more about the timing of the hydration and recovery strategy + access to running program. Head down to the link below, where you will be coached and guided in the running program + FREE access to our Comprehensive Guide To Recovery & Hydration Strategy.

https://www.jtfsportsperformance.com/running-program

Thank you for investing your time to attain this useful knowledge. Cheers