The importance of staying hydrated

As the mercury creeps northward, our exercise routines seem a little more tiring. A vital factor here is dehydration and you must take care that you stay hydrated enough to avoid doing harm to your body. Exercise causes the body to build up heat, which we lose when evaporation of sweat causes the temperature to cool. Now, when the ambient heat and moisture is high, we still sweat and lose fluids, but the temperature doesn’t come down since the sweat can’t evaporate. So, we keep losing fluids until the body is dehydrated. To beat this you must put effective checks in place.

Danger zone
The fluid we lose through dehydration comes from blood plasma, the vehicle that reaches oxygen to muscles. With dehydration, blood volume reduces as does oxygen-carrying capacity. This leads to drop in blood pressure and causes dizziness, nausea or fainting.

There is also a strain on the cardiovascular system and the heart rate goes up because the body tries to maintain blood flow to vital organs and muscles. Also, when fluid loss causes 2% to 5% drop of bodyweight, performance is impaired, as is reaction time, judgement, concentration and decision making — which makes it all the more dangerous for athletes. For boxers, dehydration presents a risk of brain injury too.

Plan of action
The thumb rule is to keep drinking one glass of water for every fifteen minutes that you exercise. And don’t wait to feel thirsty till you start drinking fluids. By the time your brain signals thirst, you are already dehydrated.

Drink two glasses of water two hours before you exercise and keep sipping on water during. But if your exercise routine extends to more than an hour or involves being outdoor then opt for sports drinks.

You need to continue drinking water after your exercise routine wraps up. For people who follow a rigorous routine, it is advisable to weigh yourself before and after your session and drink two cups of water for every pound of fluid loss. Also, cut down on diuretics like coffee. And if you can’t do without, then have an additional glass of water for each unit consumed.

Beat the heat
If you can help it, work out indoors, rather than outdoors. But whatever you do, follow some simple precautions. Allow yourself extra warm-up time to adjust to the heat and work out the optimum intensity. Go for a shortened session, so that you do not get exhausted by the heat. Stay tuned to your body and at the first sign of dizziness or nausea, go indoors and drink plenty of fluids. Discretion is indeed the better part of valour here.

Choose to work out in the morning — it is cooler and gives a kickstart to your metabolism, so you lose weight faster. But if you do not have a long stretch of time at your disposal, try and split up your routine between day and night.