Dehydration
It is important to understand the need to keep your body hydrated. Whenever you exercise you lose fluid, not only through sweating but also water vapour in the air that you breath out. The harder and longer you exercise and the hotter and more humid the environment the more fluid you will lose. If this fluid is not replaced then dehydration will follow. This will have an adverse effect on your physical performance.
The main cause of fluid loss is through sweating. When you exercise your muscles produce extra heat, this extra heat needs to be dissipated to keep your inner temperature within safe limits (around 37-38degrees C). If this is not done then heat stroke can occur. Water is therefore carried to your skin via blood capillaries and as it evaporates you lose heat.
THE AMOUNT OF FLUID LOSS DEPENDS ON FOUR FACTORS:
1: How hard you are exercising
2: Length of time exercising
3: The surrounding temperature and humidity
4: You as an individual
During 1hours exercise, an average person will expect to lose around 2pints of fluid.
WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF DEHYDRATION?
Dehydration impairs performance and has an adverse effect on health. It places extra strain on the heart, lungs and circulatory system, which means the heart has to work harder to pump blood around the body, which causes exercise to become harder.
A loss of just 2% in your weight will affect your performance by 10-20%. If you lose 4% you may experience nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. At 5% your performance will decrease by 30%, while at 8% you will become dizzy, weak and confused.
As the body becomes dehydrated the less able it is to be able to cool itself, causing your body temperature to rise. If you carry on exercising without replacing fluids your body temperature will continue to rise until you suffer fatigue or heat stroke.
WHEN SHOULD I DRINK?
1: Make sure you are well hydrated before you start to exercise
2: Drink whilst exercising, take as much fluid as you feel comfortable with.
3: drink freely after exercise to replace fluids lost. Do not wait until you feel thirsty, as this means you are already dehydrated.
It is virtually impossible to drink too much – drinking too little is more often the problem.
Category: goodHEALTH
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