How much do you think about Hydration?
“Drink more water.”
We hear this all the time, but what does it mean and why is it important to do so?
Water is the lifesource to our bodies. We can go almost 21 days without food, but you can’t survive more than 3 days without water. Water helps our bodies function at their best and highest levels, keeps our blood volume at proper levels and from a training perspective, helps us perform our best.
Lack of hydration can lead from performance related issues in our training to the worst case scenario of death. But how much water should I be drinking?
There are several thoughts and opinions. It is recommended that Men drink about 15.5 glasses (8 ounces) per day and Women drink 11.5 glasses. There are others who say drink 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces … so if you weight 150lbs, you would drink 75 ounces or roughly 10 glasses of 8 ounces each.
Now realistically most of us are drinking out of glasses that are more like 12/16/20 ounces in size, so measure one out and then figure out how many glasses you should drink based on it’s volume.
Here are some tips for getting adequate hydration:
Drink water first thing when you wake up - yes, even before coffee. Your body has been dehydrating overnight so starting off with 8-16 ounces immediately gets you back on track. This also aids in more digestion and bowel movement and helps reduce some of the acidity from your cup of Joe.
Set a reminder to drink every hour. Even if it’s 1/2 a glass, if you stay consistent throughout the day it is much more manageable to get in your required amount.
Take into fact your workouts (inside vs outside), the weather (hot vs cold). Here in Texas you may need more hydration than you would in Portland, OR due to the heat and humidity here.
Other sources count, but water is still your best bet. Juices, coffee, tea, even soda offer you hydration, but be careful on these other sources as they can also act as a dieuretic like coffee and some sods, but can also be loaded with sugar (sports drinks). You probably don’t need to drink a sports drink unless you are doing longer duration outdoor activities (like training for a marathon). Anything under 1-1.5 hours and water is generally fine.
Add a pinch of salt to your water and this can help with absorption or if you want to add a little flavor, try something like a Halo Hydration packet that you can add.
STOP drinking about 1.5 hrs prior to bedtime so you don’t wake up in the middle of the night to have to pee.
So how will you know if you hydration is going well? Take the pee test.
If you pee is clear you are more than likely hydrated adequately.
If your pee has a very faint yellow tint, you are close.
If you pee is yellow to anything getting darker yellow to almost a light brownish color, you are dehydrated.
So, there ya go. Start early, stay consistent and getting in good hydration throughout the day will serve you very well.