Hydration is more than just drinking water. Many foods contain water and additional nutrients that are vital for good health!
A combination for these foods, water and hydrating drinks are an athletes best friend!
De-hydration can have negative impacts on performance such as:
Impairs cognitive function (reaction time / decision making)
Decreases sweat rate (ability for the body to cool down)
Increases core temperature Decreases blood flow to muscles /skin
When dehydrated our core body temperature rises faster and when it reaches its limit then fatigue will hit
Even Mild De-hydration (2%) can cause a noticeable decline in performance.
Losing 5% body weight can cause up to 30% decline in work capacity.
In some sports like swimming, it can be hard to know how much you are sweating (and dehydrating). So it is super important to make sure you are well hydrated in the lead up to an event/training session. Along with during and after the sessions completion.
Here are some strategies you can try to keep hydrated:
Check you urine colour, or use urine dip testing kits.
Drink 1.5 X the amount of sweat lost in the session.
Minimum 2-3L of water daily leading up to a comp (more if you are a heavy sweater, or sweating more often)
Maintain hydration on multi-training events/days
Add in some high water content foods to your day to increase over-all hydration (see below)
Along with water, electrolyte and sports drinks, hydration can come from the foods we eat too. Some foods with high water content include;
Lettuces
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Tomato
Watermelon
Rockmelon / honeydew melons
Celery
Oranges
Strawberries
Milks + More
If you are sure you are fuelling well and still find that your performance is not where it can be, it could be a tweak in hydration strategy needed.
That's where we can help! Working out your individual sweat rate, your intake and energy expenditure we can work out what hydration requirements YOU need.
Book in a free 15 min teleconsult now to discuss
www.jvia.com.au - Click here and select Book Appt (free 15 min)
Julia Higgs
Accredited Sports Nutritionist (Grad Dip).
Founder, JVIA Nutrition.
@jvia_nutrition - (Check out more info on our Instagram)
