Staying Hydrated When It’s HOT HOT HOT!
With the weather changing for the hotter, the need to hydrate appropriately is much more vital to the track athlete this time of year, and that is certainly true for all you hurdlers out there. The higher temperatures and scorching sunlight can increase the onset of dehydration during workouts and at meets without the athlete even realizing that it’s happening. You know the feeling – you’re just standing there, haven’t even started warming up yet, but sweat is dripping down your face. With this thought in mind, I decided to ask my wife Joy – my resident health expert – about the do’s and don’t’s of hydration, particularly when it comes to the late spring and into the summer months.
Before I got going with the questions, Joy pointed out to me that studies on hydration have been going on since the world wars of the 20th century, as scientists were trying to discern how much dehydration affected soldiers’ ability to stay alert while engaging in battle. So the interest in hydration and how dehydration affects performance started way before it was sports-related.
The interview is below:
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Question: I’ve heard it said that athletes should drink as many as eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. Is that fact or fiction. If fact, explain why. If fiction, how much water per day would you recommend for a track athlete competing in sprinting and hurdling events?
McGill: The answer to that question is actually very gray. A lot of studies have been done. The general consensus is that the lowest amount for males would be about 13 cups per day, or 3-3.7 liters. For females, the minimum would be 9 cups, or 2.2-2.7 liters.
The eight 8-ounce glasses equals 1.9 liters, which is actually less than the general consensus. That’s neither bad nor good. You may need more, you may need less. They say eight 8-ounce glasses because, for the average person, that’s it’s easy to remember. Athletes do need more than average person. They’d be on the higher end (3.7 liters for males, 2.7 liters females). Here’s a chart to make it simple:
1 Cup = 8 Ounces
Male: 3 to 3.7 liters = 13 to15½ cups
Female: 2.2 to 2.7 liters = 9 to 11½ cups
And the amount includes all beverages that contain water. So if you drink a sports beverage, that contributes to your water intake.
Question: Should an athlete’s water intake increase during the summer months? If so, by how much?
McGill: First, don’t think just in terms of water intake, but of fluid intake. Yes, you definitely want to hydrate more in the summer because you’re sweating more, so dehydration happens more frequently. And the consequences are worse. You’re going to suffer more for it.
Question: What are some of those consequences?
McGill: The clinical signs of dehydration include thirst, dizziness, headaches, increased heart rate, dry mouth. You really have to watch carefully for those things. What it comes down to is balance. Don’t wait until a meet to start focusing on hydrating properly. You have to know how you’re feeling during your regular workouts. If you’re feeling thirsty, drink. Don’t let it get to those other symptoms. That’s when you’re in serious danger of getting dehydrated.
Question: Should Gatorade be a part of daily fluid intake?
McGill: Gatorade and similar sports drinks are good to drink. You sweat, you’re losing the sodium – which you can see; your skin gets salty. And the sodium is important for muscle regulation. There’s something that’s become popular called mouth-rinsing sports drinks. Instead of drinking a lot at one time, you drink small quantities – like 20-25 milliliters.
With sports drinks, it’s not just the electrolytes they replenish, but also the carbs, the glucose that you need that help with the energy levels. You do lose all of that more frequently with heavy exercise and sodium loss in the summer. Also, while it’s true that sprinters and hurdlers don’t need as much as long distance folks because they’re doing shorter bursts for shorter amounts of time, they do need it too.
Question: Should water intake decrease as Gatorade intake increases?
McGill: Again, it should be called fluid intake, not just water intake. The Gatorade intake counts as part of the total of your water intake. You don’t want to end up with too much fluid intake, which can happen too. It seems that the current thinking is to take in just enough. A whole bunch of fluids doesn’t necessarily enhance your performance. Drinking less than what you need is bad, but so is drinking too much. That’s why you have to listen to your body and monitor when you’re thirsty.
Another good indicator of fluid intake on a daily basis is what your urine looks like. It should be light yellow. If it gets too dark, that probably means you need to increase your fluid intake. That’s for everybody, not just athletes. If it gets perfectly clear, that means you’re taking in too much. And you’ll feel like you’re gonna pee on yourself every minute. Fluid intake also helps regulate your body temperature, which is very important in the summer months – to keep your core temperature cool, so you don’t get those signs of dizziness, headaches, etc.
Question: What drinks would you recommend for post-workout recovery?
McGill: Gatorade and similar sports drinks help you to keep the carbs up and to get the water intake up. It’s not a horrible thing to drink water, although an hour or more of working out in body-stressful conditions means you need the sports drinks.
Question: I’ve heard it said that chocolate milk is good for post-workout recovery. What are your thoughts on that?
McGill: It’s not particularly bad, but it’s not good for everybody, especially the lactose-intolerant. There are plenty of people who have problems with milk tolerance. Maybe a soy product would be better. Of course, the sugar, the chocolate gives you a lift. Chocolate also works on the brain, gives you feelings of reward, happiness. It also has Vitamin D and calcium, which is good for the bones. But if you’ve been outside training you don’t really need the Vitamin D that you get from milk.
Question: What about Pedialyte?
McGill: I don’t see how that’s better than a sports drink. It’s not as sugary, but depending on how intense your workout is, you might need the extra carbs that sports drinks give. You might need less sugar intake during everyday life, but post-workout is a time you could use the extra carbs, especially after an intense workout or competition.
Question: Discuss the pros and cons of fruit juices.
McGill: They’re not bad. They have extra carbs that you need. As for sodium, it depends on which fruit drink. I think it’s better to do the sports drinks because they’re more geared toward athletes. In order to get the proper balance out of fruit juice you’d have to drink a blend of them. Some of the fruit juices can cause gastrointestinal problems. Apple juice can cause diarrhea-like symptoms. Stay away from apple juice. Orange juice can cause acid reflux.
Question: What about soft drinks? Does soda have any redeeming qualities?
McGill: Soda can cause acid reflux. The carbonation in soda – with the gas and the bloating alone, soda is just not good. That doesn’t happen with sports drinks. Acid reflux tends to be more severe with people who are in sports. You don’t want to go down that road. It could interrupt your sleep and cause you to have to go to the doctor. And athletes need their sleep.
Question: What about coffee, lattes, etc.?
McGill: Caffeine isn’t great, but recent studies indicate that moderate use of caffeine isn’t necessarily bad. What they say is that it can act as a diuretic, meaning it makes you want to pee. The problem is, younger people want to drink energy drinks, and they don’t do it in moderation. The occasional cup of morning coffee won’t ruin your day, but the energy drinks tend to have a whole bunch of caffeine in them. Energy drinks with the extra caffeine also cause jitteriness. You can’t get to sleep at night. And before meets you don’t need to be jittery.
Question: What about tea?
McGill: Well there’s regular tea and there’s herbal tea. Regular tea has caffeine in it, so you have to treat that like coffee. Herbal tea doesn’t have the caffeine, but be careful. It tends to be unregulated. Make sure you know what’s in it. You can be allergic to things in herbal tea – things that can trigger a reaction. Don’t all of a sudden drink herbal tea on race day.
Question: What about smoothies and protein shakes?
McGill: Anything with protein additives – you have to watch stuff like that. Dietary supplements are really unregulated. You don’t know really what’s in it. They’re not required to put everything on the label. If you don’t know what’s in it, don’t take it. Don’t be the dumb one drinking something that’ll get you in trouble.
Question: And alcohol?
McGill: No. It causes dehydration, and fools you into thinking you need less water than what you really need.
Question: Let’s say an athlete is competing in a meet that will last most of the day, with long breaks between races. How should the athlete hydrate prior to his or her first race? How should he or she hydrate between races?
McGill: It depends on what the weather is like. If it’s hot, drink more. There is no specific amount. It’s more about paying attention to what you need. An hour prior to your racing, start upticking your fluid intake, but smaller intakes, more frequently. You don’t want a sloshy stomach. Water or Gatorade is fine. There’s never a “bad” time to drink water. A sloshy stomach is more the result of drinking too much, not drinking the wrong thing. Smaller amounts over smaller intervals of time are always better than large amounts over larger periods of time. That goes for eating, drinking, everything. Smaller gives your body a chance to use what you put in it.
You need to have a hydration strategy. Maybe keep a journal. It may be what you have to do to get your optimal level, since everyone’s optimal level is different. Most studies are done in the lab, which is not the real world, so the results aren’t always reliable. Journal your workout, the length of it, what you drank and when, and how you felt, and what the temperature was like. See the pattern develop so you can make informed decisions. You have to personalize it to yourself. Everyone’s different. Muscle mass, body weight, males vs. females, etc. There are a lot of variables.
Question: What roles does hydration play in injury prevention?
McGill: It definitely plays a role. Consider that 60% of the body is water. All of the body’s major functions need water, especially the skeletal-muscular system. You could be more prone to muscle strains without proper hydration. You wouldn’t have the electrolyte replacement that you need, on a cellular level.
***
Sources:
Baker, Lindsay B. and Asker E. Jeukendrup. “Optimal Composition of Fluid-Replacement Beverages.” Comprehensive Physiology. March 19 2014.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cphy.c130014/full
Goulet, Erica DB. “Dehydration and Endurance Performance in Competitive Athletes.” Nutrition Reviews. pgs. s132-s136. November 2012.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2012.00530.x/full
Shirreffs, Susan M. “The Importance of Good Hydration for Work and Exercise Performance.” Nutrition Reviews. pgs s14-s21. June 2005.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2005.tb00149.x/asset/j.1753-4887.2005.tb00149.x.pdf?v=1&t=hv58mq1j&s=cfe138f97eb0be82966be7ea316b8c21db419f6f
http://www.ebscohost.com/biomedical-libraries/the-cinahl-database
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