Water is crucial to our survival. Because our body is made up of 60% water, it is important to be aware of our body’s need for hydration. Each day we need to replace about 2 liters of fluid to balance general body losses. For athletes it is well established that dehydration can have detrimental effects on sports performance. Even in the presence of available fluids, that lowers blood volume and negatively affects performance. Given the tremendous amount of heat that must be dissipated during exercise through sweat evaporation, athletes must pursue strategies that will sustain the hydration state. Failure to do so will result in poor performance and may also lead to heat illness.

Fluid needs are important to your competition strategies, so start developing good drinking habits in advance. Look forward to better training when you are better hydrated. Be organized with drinking plenty of fluid over the day.

In general life, athletes should drink around 1.5 liters of water a day to help maintain hydration status. This baseline amount must be increased in hot conditions. Athletes should also avoid alcohol, tea, coffee and cola drinks, because these have a diuretic effect which increases dehydration.

Water is the appropriate drink before, during and after exercise. However, for exercise lasting longer than one hour and after exercise, it is important to replace electrolytes lost. Sodium replacement not only maintains blood concentration but also increases palatability, and therefore the desire to drink.

The addition of carbohydrates will delay the onset of fatigue and help to maintain blood glucose concentration. A sport drink with 4%-8% carbohydrate is recommended for replacement during exercise, especially with exercise bouts lasting longer than one hour. Gatorade, All Sport and PowerAde are all great choices. Coke, normal Lucozade and fruit juices are not suitable for rehydration because their concentration of CHO (carbohydrate) is too high.

Please be aware of the importance of hydration. It is a simple step that can save your life!

Calories burn in physical activities used

A 154-pound person will use up about the number of calories listed doing each activity below.

Those who weigh more will use more calories, and those who weigh less will use fewer.

The calorie values listed include both calories use by the activity and the calories used for normal body functioning.