DRINK UP!

Drink Water, Drink Water Often!

Before Exercise...."Consuming at least 1 pint of water 2 hours before activity provides the fluid needed to achieve optimal hydration and allows enough time for relief of excess fluid."

During Exercise.... You should start drinking before you are thirsty and continue to drink throughout your workout. Continuous sweating during prolonged exercise can exceed 1.9 qts per hour, increasing water requirements signifacantly. You need to replace fluids to maintain body temperature and avoid heat exhaustion, heat stroke, or worse.

After fluids enter the stomach they empty to the small intestine and then nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream for distribution throughout the body. Larger amounts of water tend to empty from the stomach faster, so believe it or not chugging is preferred over sipping. "Research suggests that the cause of stomach discomfort is usually a result of dehydration, not the result of too much water." Keeping up with your water intake before and throughout your workout could avoid any discomfort.

After Exercise....If you weigh yourself before and after your workout, each pound lost should be replaced with 1 pint of fluid.(be sure to remove sweaty clothing for accuracy) "During the rehydration process, urine is produced before full hydration occurs. Therefore consuming 20% more than the amount of sweat loss is an adequate guideline for fluid intake." This being said, weight loss after a workout is not fat loss!

Signs of dehydration include dark yellow, strong smelling urine(should be the color of lemon juice), decreased frequency of urination, rapid resting heart rate, and prolonged muscle soreness.

Thirst is triggered at 1% of dehydration.

All foods and fluids contribute to hydration, it all has some % of water.

"information for this blog came from NSCA's essentials of Personal Training Textbook"

To sum it all up Drink Water,

Drink Water Often,

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!