Hydration Hullabaloo
There’s a lot of black and white thinking when it comes to hydration during exercise, such as:
“Drink to thirst” or “Follow a fluid plan”
“You don’t need to replace electrolytes” or “Always have supplemental electrolytes”
“No problem to mix calories & fluid together” or “Food in the pocket, hydration in the bottle”
Of course, many athletes end up with the advice to “find what works for you,” which isn’t all that helpful when we have struggled with getting our hydration right… and we’re tired of the trial and repeated error process.
Let me share a few common hydration-related questions I commonly get from a variety of athletes and a few tidbits for you to ponder:
Can I just drink when I’m thirsty? For shorter duration exercise (let’s say less than 2 hours) in non-extreme environments, you can usually get away with drinking fluids as you feel thirsty. However, once we introduce longer duration exercise and/or other environmental considerations such as high altitude or very hot/humid conditions and/or we have ourselves a “heavy sweater” type, hydration (and thus, performance) can be better optimized with a fluid intake strategy rather than strictly relying on thirst to guide intake.
Is drinking water okay? You can actually suffer not so favorable outcomes by strictly relying on plain water for your hydration, especially for exercise longer than 2 hours and in hot/humid conditions. There is exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) that most everyone has heard of by now, which essentially involves overdrinking plain water or other types of fluids and/or possibly under-consuming adequate sodium intake when sweat sodium losses are high.
How much electrolyte do I need? This one could be a looonnnnggg response in order to address all of the scenarios, but the roll-your-eyeballs-now response is “Oh heck, it depends!” We have to consider you sweat rate for the given situation, your “salty-ness” level (that’s a thing), duration of exercise, and environmental factors to name a few. Some athletes may not need much at all and can get ample electrolytes through standard sports nutrition or food products. However, some endurance athletes actually have a higher need for sodium in particular due to an above average sweat rate and sweat sodium concentration. And some athletes are way overdoing their electrolyte intake and need to be brought back down!
Do I need a hydration product or sports drink? But first, what are these? It’s important to know we now recognize a difference between these two types of drinks. A classic sports drink (think Gatorade or Powerade) aims to provide carbohydrate (sugars) and electrolytes (and sometimes more stuff like protein, caffeine, amino acids, etc.) all in one formula. In contrast, a hydration product (think Skratch) does not intend to be a sole calorie source. Its job is to provide a low osmolality formula to promote efficient uptake of fluids and sodium to aid in fluid retention. Athletes tend to have significantly less gastrointestinal distress when choosing a hydration product, especially in conjunction with a smart fueling plan. Hydration products also work better to support cardiovascular function. In essence, your body will perform better, not just when fueled optimally but when given a quality hydration formulation.
My hope is that these nuggets get you thinking about your own hydration and some of the nuances we each need to consider for optimum performance. There’s a lot more to the hydration story, but I’ll save that for a Part 2…and maybe a Part 3!
Hit me up if you want to delve in further and we’ll schedule a hydration consultation.
Dina Griffin, MS RDN CSSD
Performance Dietitian
The Nutrition Mechanic
dina@nutritionmechanic.com