Drink, drink and drink again
Did you know?
- The human body is made up of 70-80% water.
- The amount of water depends on the size and body composition.
- An increase in the amounts of muscle is associated with an increase in the total amount of water.
- Sweating is a mechanism to dissipate the heat generated during exercise
Losing more than 2% of body mass during exercise can affect many aspects of performance: including running performance, cognitive function (decision-making), and skill performance.
To avoid the consequences of dehydration, athletes should increase their fluid intake BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER exercise.
Rapid and complete rehydration can be achieved by drinking 1.5 L of a liquid - containing sodium - for every 1 kg of body mass lost. Isotonic drinks can be as good as salt tablets. The muscle needs sodium and potassium and with them you can avoid ramps and even fainting.
Ideally, what a nutritionist can help you with would be to measure sweat rates before and after exercise because this is the way to identify the athlete's loss of body mass. For example, if they lose 1.5 kg of body mass, athletes should drink ➡ 1.5L x 1.5 kg of lost body mass. That is, 3 liters of a liquid that contains sodium.
Adding sodium to the drink is important when the workout lasts more than an hour. Remember that also in many other cases, carbohydrates must be added.
Most sports events are in hot weather, where you sweat more. As we have said, each person is different, but to give a general example, to face a cycling race in summer lasting about 6 hours, you should ingest a bottle with a salt pill every 45 minutes.
Do not forget to constantly hydrate, even if you are not thirsty.
Here is a recipe to help you maintain good hydration at the same time, help you recover after the bike.
ENERGY DRINK
Ingredients:
150 ml of vegetable drink.
20gr of chocolate flavor protein
2c / p tahini cream
2c / p cinnamon
1c / p of grated coconut
Preparation:
Blend all the ingredients
Enjoy!