The Big Rocks of Recovery - Part 2: Hydration
Staying hydrated is one of the most fundamental and effective ways to support your body’s ability to perform, recover and thrive.
In this article, we’ll explore the importance of proper hydration and share some practical tips to ensure you’re getting enough water.
Benefits of Adequate Hydration for Performance and Recovery
Energy Levels and Performance
🚰 Proper hydration keeps your energy levels up and helps you perform at your best during workouts.
Water is essential for transporting nutrients to your muscles and removing waste products, allowing you to sustain endurance and strength.
🚱 Effects of Dehydration: Even mild dehydration can cause a noticeable dip in energy, leading to sluggishness and reduced exercise performance. Your muscles may fatigue more quickly, and your focus can wane.
Muscle Function and Recovery
🚰 Water plays a crucial role in muscle function by maintaining electrolyte balance and preventing cramping. It also aids in the repair and recovery of muscles after intense physical activity by facilitating the delivery of essential nutrients and oxygen to muscle tissues.
🚱 Effects of Dehydration: Dehydration can lead to muscle cramps, stiffness, and a longer recovery time, making it harder to bounce back after workouts.
Temperature Regulation
🚰 Hydration helps regulate your body temperature, particularly during exercise. Sweating is your body’s natural cooling system. Without enough water, you can overheat.
🚱 Effects of Dehydration: When you’re dehydrated, your body struggles to cool itself, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion and even heatstroke during physical activity.
Cognitive Function
🚰 Staying hydrated supports better focus, decision-making and overall mental clarity. When you’re properly hydrated, your brain cells maintain their shape and structure, allowing for efficient communication between neurons. Adequate hydration ensures that blood flow to the brain is consistent, delivering the oxygen and nutrients needed to keep you mentally sharp.
🚱 Effects of Dehydration: The brain is about 75% water. Even mild dehydration of as little as 2% can impair cognitive function, leading to difficulties in concentration, slower reaction times and a general feeling of mental fog.
Practical Applications
While the classic advice is to drink eight glasses of water a day, your needs may vary based on your activity level, climate and individual physiology.
Monitor Your Hydration
Pay attention to your body’s signals. Thirst might seem an obvious one, but by the time you start to feel thirsty you’re most likely in the early stages of dehydration already.
Consider the colour of your urine. A light yellow colour is typically a sign that you’re well hydrated. If it’s darker, it’s time to drink more water.
Check in with how you’re feeling and operating mentally as well. If you’re feeling a little bit ‘fuzzy’ or having trouble concentrating, there’s a good chance you might be mildly dehydrated.
Incorporate Hydration into Your Routine
Make hydration a habit. Carry a water bottle with you, set reminders if necessary and incorporate hydrating foods like fruits and vegetables into your diet to support your water intake.
A water bottle of around 250 ml is great because you also get the added bonus of getting up and moving around when you need to refill it.
Add Carbohydrate and Sodium if Highly Active
For those regularly exercising at moderate to high intensities, adding carbohydrates and sodium to your water can significantly enhance hydration and performance. When you consume carbs during exercise, the glucose is absorbed into your bloodstream and transported to your cells for energy. To maintain proper intercellular balance, sodium (salt) follows the sugar into the cells. Since water naturally follows sodium, this process results in more efficient water absorption into your cells, leading to faster rehydration. This combination not only replenishes your energy stores but also ensures that your muscle cells remain hydrated, supporting better performance and quicker recovery.
Guidelines for a homemade sports drink :
Don’t exceed 6% carbohydrate content. You can use cordials, fruit juices etc - whatever you find pleasant to drink
A maximum of half a teaspoon of salt per litre
Staying hydrated is one of the simplest yet most effective strategies to ensure you’re performing at your best and recovering well. Just like sleep, it’s a free and essential component of your overall fitness and well-being.
