How to Hydrate for Optimal Health and Performance

The official first day of Summer is now only a few weeks away and we’re already beginning to see the signs of summer upon us with warmer temperatures starting to roll in. With the heat picking up and more outdoor exercise opportunities on the horizon, now is a good time to give a reminder on the importance of proper hydration and how to effectively hydrate for optimal performance.

Clearly, dehydration (lack of adequate fluids and electrolytes) poses a very serious safety risk. We’ve all, unfortunately, seen stories about athletes suffering from heat stroke in hot summer practice conditions.

However, did you know that hydration status also affects how well we perform in our chosen sport or exercise activity? Both physical and cognitive functions can suffer from dehydration. As an example, this study found a progressive deterioration of timed basketball drills and basketball shooting drills by basketball players as dehydration accumulated, just by 1-4%. Exercise physiologist and Kinesiology professor, Dr. Andy Galpin (who we will hear more about in a minute), adds in this video that a loss of just 1-3% in body weight from water loss (sweat) can result in decreased exercise capacity while also increasing perception of effort. This means even mild levels of dehydration can negatively affect your workout abilities.

So how do we hydrate to maximize our performance, stay healthy, and stay safe in the summer heat? Enter the Galpin equation.

The Galpin equation for hydration

As mentioned above, Dr. Andy Galpin is an exercise physiologist and professor of Kinesiology and consults as a coach for professional athletes competing in the UFC, MLB, and even the Olympics. Based on the findings of a study performed by Fallowfield et al in 1996, Dr. Galpin developed an equation for determining how much fluid to ingest to remain properly hydrated during intense exercise.

The equation is as follows: take your bodyweight (in pounds) and divide that number by 30. That gives you the number of ounces of fluids you should be ingesting every 15-20 minutes during intense activities (physical or cognitive). For example, a female weighing 150 lbs should be drinking 5 ounces of fluids every 15-20 minutes during exercise. Over an hour-long training session, this individual should drink 15-20 ounces of fluid.

Not all fluids are created equal

So, what type of fluid should we be using to hydrate with? Water? Gatorade? There are tons of options out there.

The answer to this question comes down to one word – electrolytes. While it’s an important factor that we are losing water when we sweat while exercising, the fact that we are also losing electrolytes in our sweat is just as important. It is the loss of  sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and calcium that negatively affects muscle and cognitive function and reduces our body’s ability to perform. For example, in 1 Liter of sweat individuals can lose as much as 2,000 milligrams of sodium (salt). Sodium aids in sending nerve impulses in the brain and contracting skeletal muscle. So, if we are draining our body of these vital nutrients, we must replace them to maintain physical and cognitive function. If we are hydrating with water only, we are replacing lost fluid, but we are missing out on this vital piece of the puzzle. So, in general, it is a good rule to hydrate with fluids that include the above-mentioned electrolytes. Drinks such as Pedialyte, Gatorlyte by Gatorade and powder packets such as LMNT are all good options.

For more specific recommendations, you can watch Dr. Galpin discuss specifics on electrolyte ratios to consider with intra-workout hydration drinks in this video.

Other hydration considerations

To close, here are some other things to consider and quick tips when it comes to hydrating optimally for best performance:

·         A good target for daily hydration to allow for optimal functioning is to take in half your bodyweight in ounces of fluid per day.

·         Pay attention to how thirsty you are and the color of your urine, these can be good easy indicators of hydration level. At a basic level, if you feel thirsty and your urine is dark, it is likely you are lacking and need to hydrate and take in fluids.

·         If you enter an exercise training session dehydrated it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to “catch up” during the session. For this reason, it is vital to also maintain good hydration throughout the day.

Use these principles to hydrate optimally in the coming months and your training won’t miss a beat. Happy hydrating!

Chris Stires, PT, DPT