Preparing this article I have been able to read many theories about hydration, rehydration and dehydration, formulas for calculating sweating rates and even different hydration patterns in the race, postJergicio ... A madness! So I tried to encompass and summarize everything possible to give simple guidelines on how to get good hydration in a triathlon.
Hence, I have been left with several things in which all these articles, books, blogs and scientific studies coincide.
Dehydration is something that happens naturally, it cannot be avoided, because sweating, it is the natural response of our body to maintain a body temperature of 37-38ºC during exercise, but, help you maintain an optimal balance of liquid and mineral salts (Euhydration), is our responsibility.
But what is dehydration? Summarizing it a lot:
It is a negative balance of water inside and cell exterior.
Data on hydration/dehydration in most studies coincide:
- A loss of 2% of body water is already considered dehydration.
- The more dehydrated it is, the less he sweats.
- Drinking only water is not an intelligent measure to hydrate.
- Sweat contains water and electrolytes.
- Being well hydrated, helps not only to maintain a good performance, but to improve it in combination with carbohydrates.
- Sports drinks, or pre -effort drinks, if they have a pleasant taste of our palate and are neither very cold nor very hot, help us ingest more fluid.
- Sports drinks must contain sodium, to prevent loss of fluids or help rehydration.
- One of the causes associated with digestive problems in the race is due to bad hydration or dehydration.
- The use of alcoholic beverages to recover is a big mistake, they can even make us lose more liquid through urine.
- You have to train to drink large volumes of liquid in competition and in this way we also train our intestines to absorb nutrients.
Do you know how much you sweat?
If you want to know how much you sweat during your workouts, then I explain
How can you know your sweating rate.
- The first thing, empty your bladder before training and write down your weight. Then record what you have drunk, the exact time of exercise and if urinas during training, also records the total/measured volume as urination.
- Give yourself again after ending the training (without clothes and completely dry).
Next, I indicate how to do the calculations.
Calculation of the Weight loss
| Body weight before (kg) |
- Body weight later (kg) |
= Weight loss (kg) |
Calculation of Total sweat loss
To know this figure, we will need to make two different calculations:
1. Calculation of the liquid consumed:
To do this, weigh the content of your bottle before and after training and write down the difference, which will be the
volume of liquid consumed (Here you have to equate 1 g = 1ml).
| Bottle weight before (kg) |
- Bottle weight later (kg) |
= Volume of liquid consumed (kg) |
2. Loss of
liquid through urine:
Ideally, try not to go to the bathroom during training, but if you have to go and you don't know how to calculate fluid loss, 300 ml (0.3 kg) can be subtracted for each urination. It is a good estimate to make this calculation.
| Weight loss (kg) |
+ Liquid consumed (kg) |
- Urine loss (kg) |
= Total sweat loss |
Calculation of sweating rate (TS)
|
Total sweat loss (kg)
|
/ Training time (hours)
(It is calculated as the amount of minutes divided by 60) |
= Sweating rate (kg/h) |
If we want to know our sweating rate per hour, it would be to divide the total loss of sweat for 60 minutes and so you will have the result of your sweating rate per hour.
It is recommended to make this measure two and three more times, to have a more accurate average sweating rate.
This estimate helps us to objectively establish our sweating levels and with this information generate specific recommendations for fluid replacement and avoid dehydration. It also allows us to assess whether we present a greater risk of dehydration and thus determine if we require an additional strategy.
You can have as a reference that
For every 0.5 kg lost you have to drink between 400 and 500ml of liquid. Expressed in percentage, it would be to drink 80% or 100% of the loss of sweat/liquid that is estimated.
Some curiosities about hydration
-
Be thirst is not a reliable indicator of the need to hydrate, This is replenished long before he could recover all the lost liquid. In well -trained athletes, it may happen that when they receive the alarm message is late. This is because these can support dehydration rates higher than the lowest levels.
- When the alarm is triggered, that is, When we are thirsty, It means that there is a very, very low concentration of water in blood and it has to recover, in other words, there is a high concentration of sodium (salt) in blood and this gives us thirst.
-
In the past, athletes worked according to the principle that we had to avoid drinking during a competition because ingesting liquids worsened. It was not surprising to see some marathon runners lose coordination or collapse before reaching the finish line, produced by severe dehydration or hyponatremia (Too low concentration in blood sodium) And, as numerous scientific research concludes: An adequate fluid intake improves performance.
-
Both hyponatremia and dehydration can occur, as long as things are not done well. To avoid one or another condition, it is as easy as drinking the amount of liquid necessary and this is also trained, and this is that this happens when competing or training making prolonged efforts with great heat (such as, for example, in the Triathlon of Lanzarote) or moisture in the environment, conditions to wait in the Ironman of Hawaii.
How to know if we are dehydrated?
The more time we spend without drinking, the greater the dehydration we will have. Thirst, as I have indicated above, warns us that we have to take liquid. But sometimes, we can be dehydrated without thirst.
Next, I indicated the
Types of dehydration That we can suffer, according to the symptoms and severity that they entail:
MILD:
- Dry or sticky mouth or swollen tongue.
- Headaches
- Constipation.
- Dry skin.
- Weight loss.
- Dark yellow urine or decreased urination.
Moderate:
- Pulse higher than usual.
- Dizziness or vahidos.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Fatigue or weakness.
- Excessive loss of liquid at the end of an event.
- Digestive problems
- Worsen performance.
- Loss of concentration.
Serious or extreme:
- Extreme thirst.
- Low blood pressure.
- Fever.
- Fast heartbeat
- Lack of urination for more than 8 hours.
- Sunk eyes, blurred vision.
- Inability to sweat, with which we enter the body overheating zone.
- Inability to produce tears.
- Disorientation or confusion.
- Disordination of movements.
- Fainting or suffering a collapse.
- And in very, very extreme cases: death.
What should we look for in hydration products?
I will try to summarize
What should we look for, why and what products to take in each case.
When we exercise, not all exercises affect our body, it is not the same to make a soft training at home, than to make an hour of functional training in the gym, than to run soft running, make intervals on the athletics track, run by mountain or go to run a marathon or a long distance ironman ...
Each training has different energy demands.
If we look at the products in the market we can classify them into 3 types: hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic. In the following table we will find some relevant information for the proper use and thus help you decide for one or the other.
| Product |
Types of training/ competitions |
When to use it? |
Main functions |
Absorption rate |
226ers products |
| Hypotonic |
Very soft training |
Less than 60 ' |
- It helps retain fluids.
- Hydration.
|
Very fast/ snapshot |
Hydrazero
|
| Isotonic |
Medium-high intensity |
Between 60-90 ' |
- They help maintain performance.
- Fast energy.
|
Fast |
ISOTONIC DRINK
|
| Hypertonic |
In training and/or competitions very hot.
Medium-low intensity, but long lasting |
More than 90 ' |
- They help retain electrolytes.
- Give long -term energy.
|
Slow |
Energy Drink
Sub9 Energy Drink
Sub9 Race Day
|
#FeedYourDreams
Bibliographic references:
- Gil-Antuñano, N.P. & BONAFONTE, L.F. & Manonelles, Pedro & González, B.M. & Villegas, José. (2008). Consensus on Drinks for the Sportsman. Composition and Guidelines of Replacement of Liquids - Document of consensus of the Spanish Federation of Sports Medicine. Sports Medicine Archives. 25. 245-258.
- Below, P. R., Mora-Rodríguez, R., González-Alonso, J., & Coyle, E. F. (1995). Fluid and Carbohydrate Ingestion Independently Improve Performance During 1 H of Intense Exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 27 (2), 200–210.
- Baker L. B. (2017). Sweating Rate and Sweat Sodium Concentration in Athletes: A Review of Methodology and Intra/Interindividual Variability. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 47 (Suppl 1), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0691-5
- Hawley, J., Burke, L., & Pedro González del Campo Román. (2000). Maximum sports performance: Strategies for training and nutrition in sports. Paidotribo.
- Laursen, P. B., & Rhodes, E. C. (2001). Factors Affecting Performance in an Ultraendurance Triathlon. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 31 (3), 195–209. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200131030-00004
- Bean, A. (2022). The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition. Bloomsbury Sport.
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