Carolyn Bell, RDN – Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Everyone sweats differently and much depends on your body weight, temperature and genetics. The best way to know if you are hydrating properly is to weigh before and after your training session, check the color and quantity of your urine.
- For every pound lost during exercise, you should drink 80-100 percent of that loss while exercising. Your heart has to beat an additional 3-5 times per minute with just 1% body weight loss from sweat.
- If you are not drinking enough fluids, your urine will become dark in color as it fills with metabolic wastes. (Urine may be dark from vitamin supplements.)
If dehydration occurs, the body temperature rises, our heart beats faster, you burn more glycogen, you have trouble concentrating and exercise feels harder.
All of the above are great reasons to hydrate properly!
