Pre-Exercise Strategies – Hydration
Your performance during a workout, training or competition, depends more upon your normal dietary patterns and behaviors than on your practice right before the workout
or event. The ingestion of fluid (as well as carbohydrates and proteins) BEFORE exercise has been demonstrated to enhance both physiological and metabolic performance and recovery post-exercise.
The pre-exercise phase begins 24 hours prior to exercise and continues until the beginning of the actual training session or workout.
Hydration is vital. 2-3 hours prior to exercise, you should consume 17-20 oz of water or sports drink. This is an adequate amount to achieve optimal hydration and allows sufficient time for urination. This means, don’t get on a treadmill first thing in the morning without consuming some water and don’t wait until the morning before a workout to hydrate. Make sure to consume the daily recommendation of 8-10 glasses of water a day and start hydrating during the couple hours immediately before your physical activity.
Dehydration is the greatest concern during exercise. It is influence by body size, gender, environment, exercise intensity and conditioning status. The sensation of thirst normally coincides with 1% dehydrated state. Exercisers should plan to consciously drink water beginning 24 hours prior to a training session or workout. Dehydration of >2% diminishes exercise performance.
Unless you are taking vitamins, protein supplements or mediations that affect urine volume, urine color can be used as an accurate and consistent marker of hydration status:
Hydrated: Clear to lemonade color
Dehydrated: Orange-yellow to apple juice color
