With the temperatures hotter than we’ve seen them for a while, it seems like a good time to be talking about hydration. Unsurprisingly, Team GB don’t let a bit of hot weather get between them and their training, but they have to be careful to stay hydrated and avoid fatigue, cramp and all the other nasty things that could slow them down. As a national squad, they take their nutrition very seriously (not just from a performance point of view, but to make sure what they’re taking on board doesn’t carry any risk of breaking doping rules).
Here’s a nice little SiS video featuring Katherine Grainger and Alex Gregory about what motivates them and how they achieve those marginal gains – the GB rowers use SiS products for their sports drinks and supplements. Here it is:
And what about the rest of us? Well, marginal gains can make the difference between winning and losing even at a local regatta, so here’s some advice on hydration from SiS. By the way, I’ll be trying out a few of their products over the summer and will report back in the autumn.
Water – Aim to drink 500ml-1000ml of fluid per hour during exercise. The amount of fluid you need to drink will vary according to the temperatures, humidity and your own sweat rate so it’s a good idea to try out your plan in training before competitions to strike a balance that suits you. As a basic rule, your urine should be straw-coloured before you commence exercise and throughout.
Electrolyte Intake – Your hydration strategy should go further than water. During exercise you can lose up to 1-2 litres of sweat per-hour and this can accelerate in warm temperatures, so it’s essential to replace lost salts, particularly sodium (electrolytes) which affect the body’s thermoregulatory system. SiS Go Hydro tablets replace the electrolytes lost through sweating to reduce the risk of dehydration, which can improve concentration and cognitive performance.
Energy Fuel – Taking on carbohydrates will provide you with the energy and help you absorb fluid and electrolytes more effectively during exercise that lasts over 90 minutes. SiS GO Electrolyte helps you hit both your energy and hydration goals to fuel you for endurance exercise.
Before you all tweet me to say you don’t need fancy products to get electrolytes and carbs, I ought to say that of course you can add sugar and salt to a bottle of water and it’ll do the job pretty well (though you have to be pretty hard not to want any flavouring!) so I’ll be interested to see how I get on with the SiS products. Watch this space.