Hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise

You are going out for a run without grabbing your bottle of water. Does it matter? Yes, you need to avoid the hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise to get the best results, avoid getting sick, and ensure your health.

Tahoe Springs Water brings whatever you need to know in this article.

Hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise

How to have a good life? As Rolf Dobeli explains in his book The Art of Thinking Clearly, this is a hard question to answer. But what is a bad life? Well, there are various answers to it. Rolf says that you can have a good life by avoiding mistakes, biases, and fallacies. So it can be with your exercise. You avoid hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise, so you can have an efficient and successful exercise and get the desired results. Here are the hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise that you should avoid:

Considering thirst as the only indicator that you are thirsty

What does the body do when it needs water? Well, the first thing is to send the signal of thirst. But, when the body sends that signal, you might already be dehydrated. The current level of dehydration is enough to impact your performance. It could make your work out harder and more challenging. You have to use more energy to complete your moves, and it is not good for your body.

When dehydrated, muscle spasms could happen as the number of fluids and electrolytes are not balanced.

One of the hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise is to wait until you feel thirsty and drink enough water. When you are far behind your hydrate, it could be hard to make it up and catch up on the lost amount of water. The following are some of the impacts of dehydration on your body due to dehydration:

• Reduced Blood volume
• Low skin blood flow
• A reduction in sweat rate,
• increased core temperature,
• an increased rate of muscle glycogen use

Don’t let yourself get thirsty, and drink water during a workout. As an athlete and working for the long term could have more effects on your body. So ensure your hydration.

When you rest, try to drink and make up for the lost amount of water. This is an essential point we explain more in the below section.

Not drinking water a few times the day.

One of the other hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise is drinking all the water you need at once. This is a hydration mistake, even if you are not an athlete. You need to drink water a few times the day and spread the amount throughout the day.

Drinking before, during, and after the exercise is essential to keep you hydrated.

Create a mental model and try to remember that you need that amount of water three times. The amount you need to replace is up to the amount you lose through perspiration, visiting the bathroom, and the severity of the exercise.

Learn about drinking water before sleep.

Not having a mental model of when and where to drink water.

I have just finished reading Smarter, Faster, Better, The secret of being productive in life and business by Charles Duhigg. The one chapter is about how some people, like nurses, are more successful than others. Have you ever wondered why some people reach a level of automation in their jobs? The nurses know whether a patient is well or not, even without tests.

Duhhig explains that these people create a mental model of the possibilities and things they will face.

For instance, you are going to have a meeting with your boss. Will it be disappointing that he/she asks a question that you don’t know, or do you find yourself in a situation that is not prepared?

What about while driving, visualize the meeting and try to predict what will happen? Then, have a scenario for the things that might happen. Plan your moves, words, and sentences in advance. The book explains better than I how such people who have a mental model are successful.

You can take the same mindset on your exercise. Plan ahead every part, practice, and have a solution for obstacles.

The one hydration mistake you’re making during exercise is not to plan drinking water and make up for the lost amount of water. I have seen some athletes that don’t take a bottle of water around. They rely on tap water or wherever they get to drink water.

This is a mistake that can lead to your dehydration. Have a bottle of water around and plan to drink it regularly to avoid dehydration.

Alcohol consumption after exercise

One of the enjoyable hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise is drinking alcoholic drinks after the exercise. Alcohol is dehydrating, and combining it with all of the work out that you lost water can lead to further dehydration. It worsens when you have not had enough water before, during, and after work out.

According to Susan M. Shirreffs research at Loughborough University, a beverage that contains 4% of alcohol and more can cause dehydration. You would better know that the normal beer you have contains about 2% alcohol.

The point is that when you drink alcoholic drinks, you need to drink more water to get hydrated. You need twice as much water before drinking alcoholic drinks.

Remember that once in a while, treating yourself with an alcoholic drink might not have long-term effects. But if the ending of your workout has become a drinking ceremony, it is likely to cause you some problems.

You would better wait for an hour after the exercise to have your alcoholic drink.

If you are trying to cut down on your drinking habits, exercise is helpful.

According to Evelyn B Parr, Donny M Camera, and their team research, alcohol consumption after working out can reduce your:

• recovery,
• muscle growth,
• adaptation to exercise,

Although there are some other researchers that say alcohol doesn’t affect recovery.

You don’t know how much water you drink per day

“The process of change starts with awareness .”This is one point I learned from Atomic Habits by James Clear. He explains how to develop good habits and prevent bad ones by being aware of what you do. One of the hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise is not knowing how much you drink or need.

So it is with your hydration. Do you know how much water you drink per day or how much water you need? Have you ever counted the amount or talkies with a health expert?

There are different misconceptions about the amount of water you need. But the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that men need about 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) while women need about 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) per day.

Remember that the amount is subject to change and is to various factors. You can see some of them below:

• Age
• Weather
• Physical activity
• Temperature
• Humidity
• Altitude
• Overall health
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Type of exercise

You might have to drink more water. Each of the above factors influences the daily required amount of needed water.

Are you asking how to know you are drinking enough water? If you don’t have the signs of dehydration, then you are drinking enough water:

• Extreme thirst
• Less frequent urination
• Dark-colored urine
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Confusion

Only sticking to sports drinks as a source of hydration

“Professional athletes need something better .”You might have heard this or whispered it to yourself; if it’s true, preferring water over sports drinks is another hydration mistake you’re making during exercise.

Sports drinks are not a substitute for water. Most of them do not have the electrolytes you need. If they have sugar, it can cause more dehydration.

According to Dailymail, the followings are some of the side effects of sports drinks:

• High in Sugar
• Tooth Erosion
• Slows Dehydration
• Hyponatremia
• Not Enough Electrolytes
• Added Sodium
• No Protein

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The final word on hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise

Hydration is essential for every person. It is particularly important for athletes as they lose more water and need to watch over hydration more carefully. There are some hydration mistakes you’re making during exercise that you’re not aware of. This article brought you some of them to know and avoid.

If you don’t watch over your hydration, you can have serious health problems.

Now, are you looking for a bottle of water to quench your thirst?

Tahoe Springs Water has provided the best alkaline, spring mountain, and purified water in Las Vegas for 28 years now.

Give us a call at 702-903-1433 and order your water now. Nothing can make up for the lost water like water. So get your water delivered and ensure your health and safety.