By now most of us know that we need to drink water regularly in order to keep our bodies hydrated and working at their peak. Our bodies are around 70% water, but the body cannot store water. We lose water throughout the day via sweating, urinating, and various other bodily functions, which is why we need to drink water regularly in order to stay hydrated.
This is even more important when we are putting or bodies through some sort of physical stress such as physical work or exercise, even more so when it is prolonged such as running a marathon.
When subjecting your body to a sustained period of physical exercise, it is vital that you ensure that you take the necessary steps to hydrate your body and keep it hydrated. When training for a marathon, the length and efficiency of such a training session can be vastly improved by sipping water before, during and after the exercise.
Professor Tom Sanders, adviser to the Natural Hydration Council and emeritus Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Kings College London, says: “Staying well-hydrated throughout training is important. If you sweat more than you drink while exercising, you can start to become dehydrated, which can affect performance and can also have negative effects on the body. Sipping water during and after exercise helps you to train more efficiently and recover more quickly from sessions.
While sports drinks have a role to play, particularly for elite level endurance athletes, they are often used inappropriately as recreational drinks. It is important to remember that these drinks can contain quite a lot of sugar which adds calories to the diet.”
Some Excellent Hydration Tips are:
- The best way to hydrate is by drinking plain water;
- Hydrate well about two hours before the marathon;
- Sip water regularly in small amounts during and after;
- Replenish fluids regularly especially if you are sweating a lot and if you are running in hot and humid conditions or at altitude
If you are undertaking regular high-intensity training for more than an hour at a time, sports drinks may be beneficial after your exercise regimen, or after running a marathon.
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