Bright sunny mornings, beautiful sun rays in the afternoon reflect on your window, and warm nights to dance away are here. Yes, it’s summer. Everyone is out to play, and so is the heat. Along with the summer sun comes heat cramps, exhaustion, and sunstroke. Not the ideal picture of a fun day!
With all the summer outdoor activities, dehydration can take you from ten to zero, especially during a workout. Your body is 65% water at the cell level. To maintain a cool body temperature during your workout, you must replenish these cells. How do you do that?
Pick The Best Hours To Avoid The Heat
Running or doing some jumping jacks under the sun seems ok, you can do it the rest of the year just fine! But on the contrary for these few months, working out under too much heat poses risks of heatstroke and excessive exhaustion as your body tries to keep cool.
Generally, between 10 am and 5 pm the sun starts blazing. Pick morning or evening hours to burn those calories, plus being away from the sun during peak times will help protect your skin as well!
Drink Enough Water For Your Sessions
Water intake boils down to personal preference, but the recommended average is at least 15 glasses for men while women take about 11 per day. However, according to the Centre For Disease Control and Prevention, only 36% of adults drink about 1-3 cups per day.
Drinking enough water before working out, and drinking more every 15 minutes during your session, ensures your body performs at it’s optimum. One of our favorite work out water bottles is the stainless steel bottle at YourSuper It is lightweight, has a great message on it “create your own magic” and holds enough water for a good workout.
Stay Alert For Dehydration Symptoms
Any of the below sound familiar?
- Unbearable Thirst
- Fatigue and Dizziness during your exercising
- Headache – (not a prolonged one, that could be a different condition, and please consult a professional if that is happening)
- Dark yellow – colored pungent urine or extremely faint yellow-colored urine as well (this could mean you are taking in too much water)
Yes, all the above are signs of water dehydration in your body. If you experience any of the above symptoms, not necessarily in that order, stop your workout immediately, and drink water to stay hydrated. But we also know that sometimes water isn’t enough! Try the Hydrant Rapid Hydrant Mix for when you need to boost your levels fast! There are 3x the amount of electrolytes of a traditional sports drink and they are way less sweet, they also come in 6 delicious flavors!
Replenish Lost Water
Ideally, for every lost pound during a workout session, you should drink two cups of fluid to replenish the water in that pound. Excitement over losing weight when exercising can cause many to forget that drinking water is still important, even though most of what is lost during a workout is weight water. Drink more to keep your organs energized, and your body working properly. Pretty soon you won’t notice the water weight as much since you will be gaining muscle!
Look Out for Hyponatremia
While not drinking enough water can be a problem, drinking too much can also have serious side effects, so don’t get carried away and drink TOO much water. If you do drink too much, you may end up experiencing low sodium levels in your bloodstream, causing hyponatremia. Too much water in the body dilutes sodium, causing cells to swell due to excess water in them. Which poses health problems, some of which can be fatal. A great way to protect yourself while also rehydrating is to supplement water with a sports drink when working out intensely. Switching between water and a sports drink can help keep you properly hydrated.
While all the above are excellent ways to keep your body hydrated in the moment, your diet plays a major role overall. Introduce more vegetables and fruits or Opti-Greens 50 (the best -and affordable- greens powder on the market) to your daily diet. Not only will they help you stay hydrated, but you will also be getting all of the other important nutrients fruits and veggies provide that help support a healthy workout!
