Exercising the body is essential for keeping the body active and healthy. Working out causes a quick loss of body fluid, which needs to be replenished for peak performance. Without proper handling or understanding of the notable signs, dehydration during workouts may cause huge health issues.
At Sully Innovation, we created this guide to provide you with insights into how you can stay hydrated during a workout.
5 Ways to Know If You Are Dehydrated
Dehydration can turn into a problem when it goes unnoticeable. It occurs when your body water level reduces. Often than not, humans are aware of what happened to them before it occurred. Same for dehydration. There are few things you can look into as signs of body dehydration. We include five things to check on to detect dehydration.
1. Dry mouth
One of the major signs that you are becoming dehydrated is a dry mouth. When you realize that your mouth is dry, saliva becomes thicker, and your mouth is getting dusty, do not ignore that sign. You are becoming dehydrated, and your performance will reduce.
If you feel as though your head is spinning or lightheaded, it is time to take a break from your workout. This is an indication that your brain doesn’t have enough oxygen supply. It is best to stop the workout at this stage because it is dangerous if you continue. However, your willpower may want you to go for more, DON’T.
3. Muscle cramps
When your muscles are contracting and causing you pain, step away from the treadmill for a drink break. It would help if you didn’t rush your drink. Take the sips at intervals, and don’t rush into exercising the moment you feel refueled. You don’t want to cause a muscle tear by being an overdoer.
When you are dehydrated, your body may not regulate its temperature effectively by itself during your workout. As a result, you may experience headaches, rapid heartbeat, and nausea. And this may result in heatstroke if not taken care of.
Your skin elasticity is an easy way of detecting body dehydration. If you pull your skin for about five seconds, and it doesn’t return to its original position upon release, you are dehydrated. You can try this with the back of your hand.
The overall importance of hydration is to increase our performance. We must have enough fluid in our body to aid some internal, systemic processes. When we are well hydrated, we perform exercise effectively, have a good sleep, enhance weight loss and improve body detoxification.
But most often, we ignore staying hydrated during a workout because we push beyond our limits and bank on willpower. It is unhealthy.
4 Ways to Stay Hydrated During Workout
A very quick health warning before you continue reading.
It is unhealthy to drink soft drinks during a workout. It has high carbohydrate content and low sodium content.
It is advisable to avoid consuming caffeine because it makes you release more fluid by passing more urine.
Now, we will move unto how you can stay hydrated during a workout.
Ultimately, you need to consume water or liquid-containing electrolytes. But human nature makes you demand a difference in the taste of things and the ability to consume their varieties. Therefore, we are compiling different liquid options to consume to stay hydrated during a workout.
1. Drink lots of water
Water is the first and the best liquid to consume for your rehydration process. It is advisable to take it at intervals of 20 or 30 minutes to ensure efficient regulation. However, it is important to avoid consuming too much water, leading to over-hydration.
You can avoid over-hydration by filling your Volta Bottl with water and consuming little quantity over certain time intervals. This bottle size is a great fit for this goal. It will help keep your consumption in check and prevent over-hydration.
2. Sports drinks
If you engage in a long-hour workout session, you should consider putting your favorite sports drinks in a Kyoga Sport BottleLong-hour exercise causes us to lose electrolytes, which are essential for internal regulations.
Kyoga helps you hold your sports drinks in an appropriate size, and the outlet from its lid makes it easy to gulp your sports drinks without opening the lid.
3. Coconut water
Are you looking for a natural alternative to sports drinks? Coconut water is a good alternative. It contains electrolytes that enhance hydration and fluid regulation in the body. The Roxen Bottleis a great fit to keep your coconut water cool without losing its natural taste. You will be able to consume your coconut water while being contaminant-free.
4. Fruit extract
If you combine different fruits to make personal fruit extracts, you should start including fruit extracts in your hydration goals. Fruits contain electrolytes and fluids that help the body to stay hydrated all day.However, the content level varies with each fruit. One way to store your fruit extracts is by keeping them in a Napa Tumbler. Simply add your favourite fruits and enjoy throughout the day.
What Happens Post-Workout?
While it is essential to stay hydrated during a workout, it is equally important to rehydrate after a workout. This is important because intense exercise can make you lose more fluids after the workout session. You may lose fluid as sweat or urine. Thus, it is important to consume enough water and electrolytes after a workout.
Since you are now aware of how you can stay hydrated during a workout, you should also stay hydrated after a workout. You can use one of the methods listed up there to stay hydrated after a workout.