The Imporrtance of Staying Hydrated

Wondering whether you should drink water or sports drinks when working out? It can be difficult to determine which is best, especially when there is so much information out there and come of it is contradictory in terms of which is best for your body and your performance.

First, understand that it is extremely important that you stay hydrated when exercising or participating in any type of sport. Dehydration can lead to muscle cramps and a host of other health problems. Taking the time and effort to keep your body hydrated can also help you to increase your performance and possibly even prevent and delay fatigue as well. Toward this end, it is important that you consume the proper amount of water BEFORE you exercise as well as during exercise. Experts recommend that you drink at least twelve ounces of water about an hour or so before you start working out. This is known as prehydrating your body.

If that sounds like too much, keep in mind that your body can lose a lot of fluid when working out through the process of sweating. When you sweat, your body also loses electrolytes, which need to be replaced.

Some people may need to replenish their fluids by drinking more water than others. You’ve probably noticed after working out that you seem to weigh less than you did before working out. Of course, this sudden weight loss is due to your body losing fluids. Step on the scales before and after working out to determine how much ‘weight’ you’ve lost and you’ll know immediately how much water you need to drink in order to replace your body’s fluids. Remember that a pound is 16 ounces.
All of this is not to say that sports drinks do not have their place in replenishing your body when exercising. If you work out at a high intensity level for more than 90 minutes, sports drinks can be quite beneficial. These types of drinks are specially geared toward helping you to achieve on-going performance. If you don’t think that you’re going to deplete your body of important minerals while working out such as potassium, sodium and electrolytes then you don’t need to try to replace them with sports drinks. Individuals who work out for several hours at a time; however, definitely need sports drinks to replenish their electrolytes. This can help to prevent major health problems as well as help you to achieve continued performance.

 
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