So, what’s an athlete to do? Based on what they learned, the authors of this April 2015 study suggested an easy approach to developing individual hydration plans.

The Dehydration Dilemma

Dehydration can cause significant performance degradation. In other research, loss of only 1-1.8% of body weight caused sharp performance declines.² Worse, dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion and potentially life-threatening complications. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association recommends ensuring that weight loss does not exceed 2% over the course of an event.

“Replenishing water without adding salt and other electrolytes can be as dangerous as dehydration.”

For a long time, therefore, endurance athletes were told to drink as frequently as possible. Marathoners, for example, were advised to stop at every available water station. Unfortunately, replenishing water without adding salt and other electrolytes can be as dangerous as dehydration. The body’s fluids can become too dilute, a condition known as exertional hyponatremia. It, too, can have life-threatening consequences.

So what’s an athlete to do? Is there a general rule? “Drink x amount of water per ten miles?” “Per hour?” “Per ten pounds of body weight?”

No, there is not.

Monitoring Water Balance in Endurance Cycling

In this new study, researchers recruited 26 participants in the Wichita Falls, Texas Hotter’n Hell Hundred, a hundred-mile cycling event held in August. Temperatures on race day routinely exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. At the particular event being studied, the race day high, low, and mean temperatures were 108, 78, and 96 degrees, respectively. Humidity ranged from 58% just after the start, down to 17% in the afternoon, with a mean of 29%.

Participants were weighed before and after the race, as well as at multiple aid stations for riders who stopped. (Eight of the study participants completed the race without stopping.) Water and food consumption were monitored, as were perceived thirst, urine color, urine volume, and other parameters. The participants were all experienced endurance cyclists, and were told to follow their usual eating and drinking routines.

“Thirst is not reliable, but neither are estimates based on the athlete’s weight or fitness, or on the event distance and terrain.”

By monitoring both food and water intake, the researchers were able to calculate both weight loss and water balance. Solid food increases weight but adds little water, so measuring weight loss alone generally underestimates water loss. Over the duration of the event, participants lost 2.7% of body mass on average, or about 3.4 quarts of water over the duration of the event. Thus, most participants experienced dehydration in excess of National Athletic Trainers’ Association guidelines, sufficient to undermine performance.

Thirst Is a Lie, and So Is Everything Else

There were few correlations among the variables considered. Thirst did not predict either fluid intake or body mass change. While fluid intake did correlate with sweat loss, athletes who drank more fluids were no more successful in maintaining their overall water balance. Physical characteristics like weight and body mass index were not predictive, nor was time spent on the course. Contrary to conventional wisdom, neither larger nor slower cyclists consumed more water or experienced more severe dehydration.

“Researchers concluded that sweat-loss rate is extremely individual, and no helpful generalizations are possible.”

Instead, the researchers concluded that sweat-loss rate is extremely individual, and no helpful generalizations are possible. Rather, they suggested that a simple measurement of approximate sweat-loss rate be used to plan water intake. If the athlete exercises for an hour under near-event conditions, his or her sweat rate can be calculated from the amount of weight lost and used to plan hydration needs for the event itself. Because weight loss is not the same as water balance, this measurement will tend to underestimate sweat rate, helping to ensure the athlete avoids hyponatremia.

Though this method can be applied to any endurance sport, the researchers pointed out that cyclists are unique in their ability to carry water on the bicycle frame. Athletes with less ability to drink as much and as often as they like will need to plan water stops more carefully.

The Individual Approach

To summarize, then, it appears that most common rules of thumb for judging hydration are wrong. Thirst is not reliable, but neither are estimates based on the athlete’s weight or fitness, or on the event distance and terrain.

Instead, the best hydration approach is always going to be individual, based on the athlete’s sweat rate under race conditions.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• Drinking to Thirst: Is It Enough?
• An Athlete’s Guide to Hydration: When, What, and How Much
• How Long Does It Take to Get Hydrated
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Armstrong, L.E., et. al. “Ultraendurance cycling in a hot environment: thirst, fluid consumption, and water balance.” J Strength Cond Res 29(4), 869–876, 2015.

2. Bardis, C.N., et. al. ”Mild dehydration and cycling performance during 5- kilometer hill climbing.” J Athl Train 48, 741–747, 2013.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

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That being said, there are a few critical steps involved in training safely through the winter and coming out stronger. When training in the winter, you need to make sure you can manage your internal temperature, keep extremities warm, stay hydrated, and avoid injury. Training in adverse conditions requires proper equipment and clothing, awareness of how to deal with the cold, and knowing the difference between the uncomfortable and the potentially dangerous.

Tip #1: Dress Appropriately

Cold feet are one thing; completely numb feet are another. When dressing for cold temperatures you should feel cold when you start a run or your warm up. If you are warm when you leave the door, then soon you will get hot and start to sweat. Once you begin to sweat, your body can cool down rapidly and become cold. Training in the winter takes a balance of not getting too cold, but not getting too hot either.

Experiment with different layers and types of material until you find what works well with your body. Also be ready to head back in if you need to get warm. There is a difference between tough and stupid. Those days when your hands are so cold you can barely open them to get your key out and opening the car turns into a five-minute game probably erred a bit on the not-so-smart side.

Making sure your core temperature is within normal range is the biggest priority, but keeping your fingers and toes warm is important too. I’ve found spending a bit more money on some high-quality gloves makes all the difference in the world.

Tip #2: Stay Hydrated

Even in the winter you need to stay well hydrated. You still lose a significant amount of fluid during exercise even if it doesn’t feel like it. Thirst is not a great indicator that you should drink. By the time you are thirsty, you’re already behind the game. Thirst means you’re running low on fluids. You want to avoid letting the tank run too low by replenishing and keeping it topped off. Good hydration means better performance and faster recovery. Overall, it means less stress on the system with the same benefits gained.

Keep a water bottle with you at all times. A simple trick is to put warm or hot water in your bottle when you leave the house, then by the time it cools down it’s not an ice block.

Tip #3: Remember Metal Gets Cold, Too

Your body will take time to adapt to the colder temperature. You will go through many different changes the more time you spend in a colder environment. These changes allow you to deal with the colder temperature more efficiently. Running in the cold is probably the easiest training. Dealing with metal weights becomes a whole different matter.

In the cold, barbells become stiffer and bumper plates are not as effective. Olympic lifts and drops should be left to indoor training for the sake of your body and the equipment. Using weights in the cold is okay, but you need to make sure your hands are not going numb. Either keeping your core temperature high enough or wearing gloves is critical. If your hands become numb it is unsafe to lift weights because you may lose control and drop them.

Tip #4: Beware of Explosive Movement

You need to make sure you don’t become too cold and then perform explosive activities such as plyometrics, sprints, or gymnastics. There is a greater risk of muscle and tendon damage (tears, in particular) when trying to use cold muscle explosively. Athletic clothing these days is form fitting, designed with proper vents and added material to keep joints warm. Spending a little bit of money on the proper training gear is worth it. Depending on the activities, knee sleeves or arm sleeves can also be a lifesaver.

Get to know your body, adapt gradually, and enjoy the cold season. Don’t let the winter cold stop your training, but rather, come into spring with a great base for the year. Use the winter as a training cycle and not a period of hibernation.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Hydration, Energy, and Performance

The usual guidelines given to instructors and coaches are that a person should drink approximately two liters of water per day. Exercise and heat increase the demand for fluids. As the body works harder, more heat is created, which needs to be lost. Approximately 75% of the energy used in exercise produces heat, with the remaining 25% going to useful work. The heat loss occurs when we perspire and also when we exhale. Although it is common to think of dehydration in the context of heat and exercise, if the environment is arid then significant fluid loss can also occur through the skin and exhaled breath.

Proper functioning of the body relies on numerous chemical reactions to take place while the materials reacting are transported and suspended in solution. A reduction in the amount of water available to the body starts to affect the concentrations of these solutions quite quickly and this in turn can affect the rates of the various reactions that occur. These include the generation of energy and the removal of waste.

A reduction of just 2% of fluid can result in degraded performance by as much as 10-20%. This is a significant amount. Consider for a moment the amount of effort that goes into training to improve by just 5%. All that, and more, can be lost by inadequate hydration.

Water is also used to cool the body through perspiration. A lack of water reduces perspiration and leads to fatigue. As fluid is reduced, the body is less able to perspire and so internal heat rises further. If this cycle is not corrected, overheating and in the worst cases hyperthermia can occur.

How Much to Drink

A general rule of thumb is to consume 500ml per hour of vigorous exercise in addition to the two liters per day. In practice, the need varies from person to person and the best thing to do is to measure yourself. This is quite easy to do with a simple test. One liter of water weighs one kilogram. By measuring your weight before and after training or a test event and correcting for any fluids taken in, you will get an individual rate of fluid lost for those conditions.

For example, a 70kg athlete who loses 200 grams during a one hour training session whilst drinking a 500ml drink will have a gross loss of:

(Finish weight – start weight) – (weight of amount drink) 

or

69.8 – 70.0 – 0.5 = -0.7kg or -700g

This gross loss is equivalent to 700mL of fluid per hour. This figure would help the athlete plan fluid needs during an event. A further adjustment would be needed if the conditions of the test training were different to the event. A 70kg 2:30 marathon runner can lose as much as 5L (5kg) of body fluid in that time!

Dealing With Hyperthermia and Dehydration

Heat exhaustion occurs when fluid intake does not compensate for perspiration loss. Symptoms can include cool and clammy skin, weak pulse, nausea, dizziness, weakness, and anxiety. If left unattended this may progress to heat stroke when the body’s temperature control system fails. Heat stroke is a life threatening condition and should be treated as a medical emergency. Avoidance is the best course of action by taking appropriate precautions.

This means drinking fluids, but there’s more to it than that – drinks are absorbed by the body at different rates depending up on their concentrations. Osmolality is a measure that compares the concentration of the drink with the concentration of the body. Osmosis is a process where water will move from a more concentred solution to a lower concentrated solution across a boundary.

• Hypotonic: Has a concentration that is lower than the body and will be absorbed quickly. This is a good mixture when fluid loss is likely to occur at a high rate.
• Hypertonic: Has a concentration higher than the body. This is slower to digest and a very concentred solution may result in water being drawn out from the body. This is undesirable in situations where we are trying to rehydrate the body. This mixture often occurs by mixing sports drinks with too much powder by mistake.
• Isotonic: Has the same concentration as the body and can be readily absorbed. This is a good concentration to maximise transport of electrolytes or carbohydrates.

Electrolytes

The body uses electrolytes to help regulate nerve and muscle functions and maintain the right amount of alkalinity. Electrolytes also help the body maintain volume in the body cells, the liquid in the spaces between the cells and the blood. Electrolytes include sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chlorides, phosphates and iron. These are usually maintained adequately by a varied diet of proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Excessive perspiration during long events can lead to a loss of salt (sodium chloride) and so some additional electrolytes, in small amounts, can be added to ones drink.

When to Drink

Hydration starts well before you train or enter an event. In the early morning, your body may be slightly dehydrated, so it is important to drink as soon as you get up.

During long events, it is best to keep sipping to keep pace with the loss. I use a timer on my watch that is set to fifteen minutes so that I remember to drink each time it rings. I have found it easy for time to pass far too quickly. Taking smaller drinks more frequently also helps prevent feeling bloated.

At the end of an event, your body may still be slightly dehydrated and so drinking afterwards will not only help replenish body fluids but also help the body flush through accumulated waste metabolic products.

References:

1. Anita Bean, The Complete guide to Sports Nutrition. AC Black. Chapter 6.

2. Sharon Plowman and Denise Smith, Exercise Physiology for Health Fitness and Performance. Third Edition 2011 Ch. 14 p. 422.

3. Maughan RJ.,Fluid and electrolyte loss and replacement in exercise. J Sports Sci. 1991 Summer;9 Spec No:117-42.

4. Michael Sawka and Scott Montain, Fluid and electrolyte supplementation for exercise heat stress1,2,3,4. Am J Clin Nutr August 2000 vol. 72 no. 2 564s-572s

5. Asker Jeukendrup and Micheal Gleeson. Dehydration and its effects on performance. Accessed on 30 July 2013

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There’s definitely a wrong way to cut weight, and there’s also definitely a better way. However, according to a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, if you are losing a substantial amount of weight when cutting, you may not be fully recovered by the time the fight comes around, even with a full day to recover.

In the study, the researchers looked at forty MMA fighters, including a few WMMA participants. The testing was simple. Researchers looked at the athletes’ physical characteristics, like their weights, and took a urine sample to measure dehydration around weigh-in time the day before their fights and then again about two hours before fight time.

The focus of the study was on the weight gained between weigh-in and competition, as well as the competition hydration status. This is a refreshing change over the usual weight cutting study that is only interested in how much weight has been lost initially. This study discovered an average of about 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs) was restored between weigh-in and two hours pre-fight. This amounted to about 4.4% of the fighter’s bodyweight on average.

That much weight gained back doesn’t quite sound like enough compared to how much people typically cut for MMA fights. Sure enough, the researchers found that as of two hours before their fights, 39% of the athletes were still significantly dehydrated, of which 11% were considered seriously dehydrated.

Of course competing in a dehydrated state isn’t the best for your health and probably negatively impacts performance as well. It’s best to avoid this, of course. Putting the weight back on most efficiently and getting back to where you started from would seem like the best option, but the researchers looked into that as well.

In perhaps the most interesting part of the study, the researchers claimed that there was no correlation between changes in body weight and dehydration. They don’t cover this in much depth at all, and it rings false. Perhaps, however, what is meant is that putting the weight back on does not necessarily mean that the athlete has become hydrated.

One potential reason for this finding might be that when the athlete begins eating again the increase in glycogen stores and other nutrients will absorb much of the water consumed during that period. That would contribute to bodyweight but not hydration status. This is speculation, as the researchers don’t mention this at all.

Ultimately, the bottom line is that weight cutting may be a part of the sport, but for health and performance, it’s important to not go overboard. When recovering from the weigh-in, be sure to take in more fluids than you are inclined to. Competing dehydrated is worse than just being dehydrated.

References:

1. Adam Jetton, et. al., “Dehydration and Acute Weight Gain in Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Before Competition,” Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(5), 2013

Photo courtesy of Stryder1975 at <a” href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page”>en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], from Wikimedia Commons.

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The study was conducted on ten recreationally active men and women, each about 25 years old and weighing close to 160 pounds. They were all instructed to arrive at the testing lab dehydrated. Hydration status was determined by measuring urine specific gravity – they peed in a cup. Then the subjects were fed a variety of water-based solutions: pure water, Gatorade, and something in-between. Hydration was measured again at 30, 45, and 60 minutes after drinking.

Participants went from mildly dehydrated to fully hydrated in 45 minutes by consuming 600mL of water. That’s less than two bottled waters. Researchers also found no difference between water and Gatorade for achieving hydration. What does this mean for you?

First, this study is only applicable to getting hydrated before exercise, and the participants were only mildly dehydrated. They had not just finished a half-marathon in the Mojave Desert, which would have required more than 45 minutes and 600mL of water for recovery. So as your workout approaches, drink a couple glasses or bottles of water in the hour prior. This will ensure you perform your best.

Finally, don’t worry about drinking some magic concoction of salt, ginseng root, and unicorn blood to get hydrated before your workout. Plain old water will work just fine. But post-exercise is a different story. Research has shown that after you lose significant water during intense exercise, a drink containing electrolytes will help you rehydrate more quickly than water alone.

Personally, I’m stoked that I don’t have to visit the urinal every thirty minutes starting at 8:00AM just to get hydrated for my afternoon workout. Of course, for that half-marathon in the Mojave I might get started early, but it appears that a couple glasses of water and 45 minutes are plenty to prepare most of us for training.

References:

1. Heather Logan-Sprenger and Lawrence Spriet. The Acute Effects of Fluid Intake on Urine Specific Gravity and Fluid Retention in a Mildly Dehydrated State. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: April 2013. Vol 27. Issue 4. p1002–1008. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31826052c7

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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The human body is composed of up to 70% water. Therefore, as an athlete, staying hydrated is of great importance in order to maximize your performance. Water is involved in so many processes in the body that being just 2% dehydrated can start to hinder your body’s ability to perform. Being only slightly dehydrated can slow the activity of enzymes in the body, including ones responsible for the production of energy. This can even lead to a lower metabolism and reduce your ability to exercise efficiently. Every cell in your body needs water to function – your body uses water to maintain temperature, remove waste from the body, and even to help lubricate joints.

Hydration is key to some of the main processes in the body. Stomach health, skin health, kidney and urinary health, and cholesterol regulation are all affected by hydration or the lack thereof. You lose water every day through breathing, sweating, and waste removal, so the need to replace the water lost through bodily functions is quite important.

How to Tell if You Are Dehydrated

Symptoms of dehydration include:

• Thirst
• Dry mouth
• Headache
• Constipation
• Dizziness
• Muscle cramps
• Impaired memory and concentration
• Fatigue

How to Tell if You Are Hydrated

There are a few ways to tell if you are properly hydrated and that are quite easy to do:

Color of urine– The color of your urine can be a good indicator. If it is clear, straw-colored then odds are you are properly hydrated. If it is a dark color then this is a sign you are dehydrated. Please note that if you are taking a supplement with vitamin B12 this can affect the color of your urine, making it appear fluorescent yellow to green in color.

Sweat rate– Another way to measure your hydration is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. The difference in weight will give you a reasonable indication to your hydration level. If you have put on or maintained weight, then you could assume you are properly hydrated. If you have lost weight, then you need to drink fluids in order to replace what you have lost.

How Much You Should Be Drinking

There are all sorts of recommendations for exactly how much water you should consume on a daily basis. The general consensus is that you should drink around eight glasses of water a day. This is a pretty good goal to attempt to maintain. However, different people have different requirements and will need different amounts of water in order to stay properly hydrated. Most healthy people can stay hydrated by drinking water and other fluids when they feel thirsty. For some people less than eight glasses a day will be enough and in other people eight glasses a day won’t suffice and they will have to drink more.

People who are at a higher risk of becoming dehydrated are those who exercise and work out regularly, have certain medical conditions, are sick, and those who just can’t maintain adequate fluid consumption throughout the day. Older adults are also at a higher risk of dehydration, as when you age your brain may be unable to sense dehydration and not send the appropriate signal for thirst.

People who will need to drink more water are:

• People with kidney or bladder conditions
• People trying to lose weight
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women
• People who are exercising
• People who are in hot conditions
• People who have been sick with either vomiting or diarrhea

Tips for Staying Healthy & Hydrated

• Keep a bottle of water at your desk so you remember to drink water throughout the day and refill it often.
• Make sure to drink water before, during, and after working out.
• Start and end your day with a glass of water.
• Try to eat two to three servings of fruit and vegetables with every meal. They are loaded with water and are packed with vitamins and minerals needed by the body.
• Set up an alarm in your phone to establish regular water breaks
• Cook with a good quality seas salt, as it is rich in trace elements that are the basis for optimum cell health and hydration.
• Have a glass of water before each meal.
• Drink a glass of water after each trip to the restroom.
• Reduce your caffeine consumption as it can cause you to urinate more often. The same can also be said for alcohol consumption.
• Sports drinks should be limited to use when training for more than 60 minutes of an intense nature. A sports drink can help to replace lost electrolytes, but they are often high in calories from the sugar content, so they should be used sparingly – especially if you are trying to lose weight.

If you find drinking plain water all the time is getting boring, try the following tricks to spice things up:

• Add slices of lemon or lime to your drink to give it a great citrus kick.
• Try drinking coconut water. It’s rich in electrolytes, particularly potassium and sodium, and it tastes great.
• Make flavored ice cubes. Add fruits like strawberries, kiwi, or lemon to ice cube trays and fill with water and freeze. If you don’t want to add fruit, try adding mint leaves. Then pop a few cubes in your water to not only chill your drink, but also give it a great subtle flavoring.

Now you know why being and staying hydrated is important and the effects it can have on you. So do you think maybe it’s time to go have a nice, cold glass of H2O?

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

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(I know this is all basic stuff, but bear with me because the simplest stuff really is the best, right? Just like focusing on the fundamentals in your sport makes you a great athlete, focusing on the basics in science makes you a better academic.)

All this heat results in a loss of water. Why is that exactly? Looking at atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, and the evaporation point of water, it just so happens that this amazing fluid is the perfect thing to leave your body and evaporate readily into the air most of the time. And when water changes states from liquid to gas it takes energy with it. So, all that wasted energy that was supposed to work your muscles floats away harmlessly into the air.

Now it’s known that this dehydration can lead to a decrement in performance and even your health. What’s amazing is that a recent article in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition studying the effects of an isotonic solution (think: sports drink) on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) during exercise represented the first study of its kind. Your ANS, by the way, controls all kinds of things, including digestion, sex, hormones, fight or flight, your organs and most of your body’s unconscious processes.

In this study of the ANS athletes exercised for 90 minutes, and some of them drank Gatorade before and after their workout and some didn’t. Despite a scientifically insignificant improvement in performance, the extra hydration didn’t make a lot of difference during the workout. It helped the athlete’s maintain their bodyweight by maintaining hydration status, but otherwise didn’t have a huge impact. Where the benefit came was after the workout. The athletes drinking the Gatorade had a more rapid recovery in several of their indices that influence the ANS, specifically cardiac modulation – meaning, their heart rate recovered faster.

As a coach, I have long believed that recovery is the name of the game. If you can recover faster, you can do more exercise sooner and that equates to better results every time. More rapid recovery of the part of your nervous system that controls your internal organs is a critical avenue for improved performance. And all you have to do is stay hydrated. Simple and very effective.

This isn’t an ad for Gatorade, either. I think water alone will work just about as well, and there are better sports drinks out there, but the point is critical: Don’t forget to bring your water bottle with you.

References:

1. Isadora Moreno, et. al. “Effects of an isotonic beverage on autonomic regulation during and after exercise,” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2013, 10:2

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Many of your body’s chemical processes operate like a lock and key. When one molecule in your body fits together with some other molecule of just the right shape, like a puzzle piece, important things happen. Things like your nerves keeping an electric charge. Things that mean the difference between life and death. When your body temperature changes even a seemingly small amount the shapes of these molecules start to change. When they change the key no longer fits in the lock. At lower levels of hyper- or hypothermia (being too hot or too cold, respectively), the processes in your body won’t work as effectively. If your core temperature changes just a few degrees further, it will kill you.

For athletes this usually means performance suffers from overheating. When your muscles produce mechanical energy, they also produce a lot of heat from inefficiency. The heat is especially hard to keep under control in a hot external environment. There are two ways to keep hyperthermia under control. One is to remove heat into the surrounding environment, which is what happens when you sweat or get in an ice tub. The other is to introduce something cold internally.

Although there has been a fair amount of research on drinking cold fluids to reduce hyperthermia many of the methods have been inconsistent. One recent study, published by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, reviewed the impact of drinking cold water on body temperature during cardio exercise, and then performance on subsequent resistance exercises like the bench press. The study found that drinking very cold water in intervals during cardio helped substantially to keep core body temperatures closer to normal than room temperature water. There was only a small improvement in subsequent resistance exercise performance, but this was likely due to the fact the body temperature extremes in this particular study weren’t as divergent from normal as in some other recent studies.

Although the resistance exercise wasn’t importantly impacted in this study, the more important factor was elucidated. Cold water ingestion is effective at helping athletes maintain an ideal body temperature for exercise. On a hot day or when exercising intensely, be sure to keep some cold water on hand to stay hydrated, and to prevent hyperthermia from bringing your performance down.

References:

1. Danielle LaFata, et. al., “The effect of a cold beverage during an exercise session combining both strength and energy systems development training on core temperature and markers of performance,”Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 9,44 (2012)

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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The study included 45 physically fit adult males who completed two 60-minute exercise sessions per week in a moderate climate. The sessions consisted of a 5 minute warm-up with dynamic stretching, 5 minutes of medicine ball exercises, 35 minutes of full body strength training, and 15 minutes of conditioning. The participants consumed randomly assigned cold or room temperature water during rest periods. Every 15 minutes core temperature was measured using an ingestable thermometer. Upon completion of each exercise session 3 performance tests were performed: bench press to fatigue, standing broad jump, and bicycle time to exhaustion.¹

The results of the study showed that both groups significantly increased their core temperature during the exercise session, and demonstrated a significant decline in hydration status. The participants who had consumed the cold water during rest periods had a significantly smaller rise in core temperature compared to those who consumed the room temperature water. The cold water consumers were able to delay their increase in core body temperature for at least 30 minutes, while the room temperature consumers increased body temperature from baseline after just 15 minutes.²

There was no significant difference between the cold water and the room temperature group in the standing broad jump or bicycling time to exhaustion, but the bench press actually did show a small decrease in performance when drinking cold water. Subjects participating in the room temperature condition were able to perform significantly more bench press reps to failure than when they participated in the cold condition. The range varied from 15-30 reps during the cold condition, compared to a range of 17-31 in the room temperature condition.³

This study indicates that drinking cold water during an exercise session can significantly delay the increase in core body temperature in a moderate climate with normally hydrated subjects. Although it was marginal in this study, cold water consumption may actually decrease performance in the bench press.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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A recent study published in the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests mineral waters with high concentrations of calcium and bicarbonate can improve hydration in athletes after short term anaerobic exercise.

The mineral water is known as Acqua Lete and the aim of the study was to test its effect on acid-base balance and specific urine gravity, compared to a minimally mineralized water. Acqua Lete has a very high concentration of both calcium and bicarbonate, as well as high levels of carbon dioxide, and low contents of sodium and potassium.¹

There were 88 amateur athletes (either swimmers or runners) who participated in the study, and each executed two experimental trials performed on an ergometer at 85% of their maximal workload.

Each trial was performed using a modified Wingate protocol: five sessions of cycling of 60 seconds with a mean speed of 80 RPM, with 60 seconds of rest between each session.

The subjects were randomly placed into two groups, which consisted of 1.5 Liters a day of Acqua Lete (Group A) or 1.5 L/day of a very low mineral content water (Group B).

The participants received 750 ml of water one hour before exercise and 250 ml of water 30 minutes following exercise. Those in Group A received the very low mineral content water, and those in Group B received the Acqua Lete.²

The results of the study revealed that all the athletes hydrated with Acqua Lete showed it had a positive impact on hydration status after anaerobic exercise.

There was a significant decrease of urine specific gravity and positive effect on pH (an increase), which are two urinary indicators of hydration status. Urine specific gravity measures the concentrations of all chemical particles in the urine.

An increased urine specific gravity is a sign of dehydration. In the athletes hydrated with Acqua Lete, urine pH was more alkaline than those who drank the low mineral content water, another indication that hydration had improved.³

Consequently, this study confirms that Acqua Lete mineral water intake is correlated with an improvement in hydration in short term exercise.

Proper hydration is vital to an athlete’s performance, and he or she cannot afford to neglect this aspect of exercise. Regular bottled water and sports drinks have often been the tools used by athletes to rehydrate, but now the evidence has been presented that a bicarbonate mineral water such as Acqua Lete may actually turn out to be more beneficial.⁴

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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We all know how important it is to drink water, but sometimes drinking water can feel like a chore. Water just isn’t that exciting and there are a lot of other, and not nearly as healthy, things out there to drink. SodaStream offers an excellent solution to this problem.

Seltzer water tends to be a lot more fun to drink than plain water. I find with myself and my training clients, we are more likely to drink enough water when we drink seltzer water. But, buying all that water can get expensive and you might not be sure about the quality of water that is being sourced – not to mention the environmental effect of all those bottles. SodaStream offers a way to easily make the water yourself and address all these obstacles to water drinking.

There are a number of different models available from SodaStream; the one we tested was the Genesis model. Right from the start our experience with the SodaStream was a positive one, as there is almost no set-up involved in putting a SodaStream together, aside from inserting the carbonator. The SodaStream also comes with a bottle, so you don’t have the problem of consuming and recycling bottles from buying your seltzer water pre-made at the store. All you have to do is fill up your SodaStream bottle with plain water (I use the filtered water we have delivered here at the office), attach it to the SodaStream, and push the button a couple times. It will clearly buzz when the water is ready.

If you don’t like unflavored water, even if it’s seltzer water, there are many flavors available from SodaStream to spice up your hydration even further. The majority of these flavor syrups, however, are not particularly healthy options. It’s a bit like making paleo brownies – just because you made it at home doesn’t mean it’s healthy. The root beer flavor, for instance, contains sucrose, caramel coloring, sucralose, and preservatives, among other things. The diet version will save you from the sucrose, but still contains the rest of the laundry list of not-so-great to consume items. That being said, one of my officemates upon trying the diet root beer did declare it “the bomb.”

In addition, though the directions that come with the SodaStream are very clear, it would have been nice to be warned about the potential for creating a carbonation fountain when adding the flavored syrups. The directions simply state to carbonate the water first and then add the syrup, but when I did this the water instantly turned into a geyser. I recommend still following this order of steps, but adding the syrup very slowly so as to avoid my Diet Coke + Mentos reenactment.

To avoid both the unhealthy ingredients and the soda geyser, what I recommend instead is the SodaStream My Water Flavor Essence. These are unsweetened flavors and the only ingredient is “natural flavoring.” I find when I use a few drops of these in my water it makes for a nice light taste, more interesting than even just plain seltzer water. I tried the raspberry, orange, and lemon-lime flavors and found the lemon-lime to be most enjoyable.

The SodaStream Genesis is available starting at $99.95 on the SodaStreamUSA.com website.

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