Hydration for Sport
Whether you are a runner, cyclist, swimmer or all three, we all tend to turn our minds to be sure to fuel our bodies appropriately for the heightened levels of physical stress we are and about to put on our bodies. Now, this is a good thing, but our issues tend to arrive because we end up paying a lot of attention to food and not to our hydration.
Our childhood sports teams had it right, serving us orange slices and encouraging us to have some water at halftime. Hydration is critical to sports performance, so much so that this is my second post about hydration!
When we hydrate appropriately, we can maintain a higher level of performance, our reaction time is on point, our energy levels are stable, and we overall feel pretty awesome.
We have all been there after a hard workout sitting in our dining room stuffing our faces with something delicious and high in protein to recovery and then slowly starting to feel the fatigue and headache set in. Maybe at this point, we think to ourselves, "oh, I should pour myself a glass of water," but then 30 minutes or an hour later, that headache just won't relent. We have more water, but we still aren't feeling like ourselves, so what the heck is happening here?
Water should hydrate us, right? Water "out" in our sweat than water "in"...in our WATER! It seems simple enough but hydrating yourself is just a touch more complicated than just chugging back water endlessly, hoping it will make us feel better.
To remain hydrated, our body relies on what I am going to call "co-pilots" to assist your body in actually delivering water into your cells. It isn't adequately distributed in and out of our cells when we drink water without these co-pilots.
When we consume water, it sits in our stomach for a bit, warming up to our body temperature, and then when ready, it will, ideally, be distributed between our cells, blood, urine, sweat, etc. For water to appropriately enter our cells, we rely on electrolytes like sodium and potassium, and as active individuals, we also rely on the help of one other helper - glucose!
Sodium and potassium work together like a balancing scale to help ensure our hydration levels are distributed adequately inside and outside our cells.
Sodium works at pulling water into our cells. When we consume too much sodium, our cells end up swelling and retaining moisture. Think back to the last time you had a particularly salty meal, the following day, you likely felt like your rings were fitting more snugly and perhaps even like your pants became more fitted. This is an excellent example of too much of a potentially good thing being a bad thing because electrolytes work as a balancing scale. Too much of one of the other will offset that scale and deliver not-so-desirable results.
Potassium, our other primary electrolyte, assists in muscle function. One of its leading roles is helping our hearts keep beating. It also has a pretty substantial role in neurological function. When in the extreme, an imbalance can cause some pretty catastrophic things (heart issues) to happen, but even a slight imbalance can drastically affect your athletic performance, remember. It is involved in neurological function.
When it comes to dehydration, a dip in our overall hydration level by just 2% can affect your athletic performance by 10-15%. When trying to achieve personal goals, set new PRs or qualify for that next big race, that 10-15% is the boost you need to get you there.
OK, so now we know how our electrolytes are helping to maintain our muscle function, keep our reflexes heightened, and make sure we can focus and function as we hope to; what role does glucose (sugar) play.
Glucose has long been a simple source of fuel for our bodies and our brains, but it also goes the extra mile in helping us to utilize the water we take in a speedy kind of way. Without getting to science like here, glucose helps to change the pressure levels between the inside and outside of the cell, helping to speed up water delivery to the cell.
Great, now you know the science behind what is going on; what are some race time strategies to keep you hydrated and feeling great. When it comes to racing or training, please do not attempt a new hydration strategy on race day. Testing new systems should occur during training so you can watch for digestive disruptions, unplanned bathroom stops, cramping, bloating and anything else that might slow you down on race day.
What you can do is focus on your water and hydration-rich food intake BEFORE your race. For about 5-7 days leading up to your race, be sure to get your two or more litres of water in a day, add in some extra fruits and vegetables. By focusing on your hydration levels ahead of time, you are more likely to be adequately hydrated and ready for your race, plus you don't have to play that horrible catch-up game post-race.
Pick a good hydrate. Now, this is for those of us out there doing more prolonged, more strenuous runs. If your run is likely to take less than 45 minutes, you will probably be OK with water and an excellent post-activity meal. But for those triathletes, marathoners, ultra-marathoners, etc., out there, a good hydrator will make a world of difference.
When we select premade hydration beverages, be mindful of the extras, hydrogenated oils, artificial colourings, preservatives, the wrong types of sugars, etc. When choosing an electrolyte tablet, powder or beverage, look for something basic, you want your electrolytes, and you want a bit of glucose, and that is it. Or better yet, if you are racing at home, make your beverage! Here is a super simple recipe that provides potassium, sodium and a hint of glucose to help keep you hydrated on training and race days.
Hydration Beverage:
1/2 cup Grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed (generally about 1)
2 cups Coconut Water*
1/8 tsp Rock Salt, like pink Himalayan salt
2 tbsp Maple Syrup, 100% natural and hopefully local
Directions
Place grapefruit juice, maple and salt into a large container and stir until the maple and salt are completely dissolved.
Add in coconut water and stir to mix everything thoroughly.
This will be kept in a sealed container for up to 5 days in the fridge. This makes about 4 servings.
Depending on the length of your activity, you may want to use all four servings, but be sure to test this out before putting it into practice on race day.
*if you would like, you can do 1 cup coconut water and 1 cup water. Additionally, if you aren't a fan of coconut water, you can do 2 cups of water. There is potassium in your grapefruits, so although you will be getting less potassium without the coconut water, you will still be getting some.
