The biggest challenge while working out in hot and humid conditions is to keep your hydration levels in-sync with your exercise routine. That doesn’t mean planning your water intake just during the workout, but preparing your body for it from the point you wake up. This means avoiding exhaustion or dehydration when you do workout, with the muscles also ready for the stress they’re about to go through. But it also means tracking the kind of fluids one is consuming, and if you want to go the extra step, figuring out how much sweat the body has lost during the workout.
While there are ballparks about how much water and other fluids like electrolytes should be consumed, this could be different for everyone. But the guidelines are quite easy to follow, and it also depends on how you feel afterwards. There is some excellent advice from an old Jeff Cavaliere video in which the Athlean-X founder mentioned how he starts his day, and it has worked for me. So irrespective of the workout coming up and at what time, I start the day with a 400ml glass of water, followed by a protein shake (in water) after a few minutes. Try to look at it this way: we wake up and wash our faces, but forget the internal organs need a refreshing start to the day. If you’re aiming to drink between 2-3 litres of water a day, this habit gives a great headstart, completing about 10 to 15 percent of your overall intake. It would be foolish to go into a workout without having hydrated yourself through the day, but this trick works even for those who prefer morning sessions.
So how do you know if you’re drinking enough water? “The truth is that the best way to hydrate depends on your specific physiology, exercise routine, and even the environment in which you live. Think of your hydration plan as a bit of a science experiment. Start by aiming for half your body weight in ounces, then take note of how you feel throughout the day and your workouts. If you rarely feel thirsty and your urine is pale yellow, you’re probably drinking the right amount of water for you,” says a Peloton.com article titled, Your Ultimate Guide to Hydrating During Every Part of Your Workout.
One of my old trainers told me during a session that he drinks 1.5 litres of water during the workout. This was a bit of a shock, and it’s not necessary to hit these numbers. Instead, consider all the factors determining your hydration: the weather, the type of workout you’re doing (sports or heavy lifting, plyometrics etc), the timing of day, and how much you sweat. Most research suggests that you can drink between 400ml to 1 litre of fluids in a 60-minute workout. Anything less than that could be problematic. “The potential for dehydration to impair cognition appears small and related primarily to distraction or discomfort. The impact of dehydration on any particular sport skill or task is therefore likely dependent upon the makeup of the task itself (e.g., endurance, strength, cognitive, and motor skill),” says a research paper titled, Dehydration: physiology, assessment, and performance effects published by the National Library of Medicine.
It’s also worth tracking fluid loss after a workout. A simple way to do this without a fitness watch is to weight yourself with clothes before and after a session. You don't have to do this every day, but you might want to track this with different kinds of workouts. The difference in weight is clearly the amount of fluids lost, and this number should not be more than 2 percent of the body weight. If it crosses this threshold, then performance can be significantly affected. “Our findings suggest that dehydration of 2.9% body mass decreases the ability to generate upper and lower body anaerobic power. Coaches and athletes must understand that sports performance requiring anaerobic strength and power can be impaired by inadequate hydration and may contribute to increased susceptibility to musculoskeletal injury,” says a paper titled, Active dehydration impairs upper and lower body anaerobic muscular power published by the National Library of Medicine.
And now comes the after care, and this includes more than just fluids. The body needs carbs post workout as much as it does water, and if you’ve had a particularly heavy routine, then add some electrolytes either from energy drinks and gels or go for coconut water. Consistently denying hydration and not tracking it can lead to a long-term effect on performance. The key once again is to listen to the body and learn how it reacts to different activities. It might take a little extra effort, but given that muscles need water to thrive and grow, this is as important a factor in working out as technique, form and goals.
Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator and writer.