The importance of hydration should never be underestimated. In fact, it’s of equal measure to nutrition and training when it comes to making progress. Being properly hydrated aids in the digestion process and impacts your training intensity. Unfortunately, even those who take their nutrition and training seriously often overlook hydration. Rather than just tell you hydration is crucial I’m going to explain why with three important factors.
1. Athletic Performance
Studies done have found that a fluid loss of 2-3% of an athlete’s total body mass results in a decrease in performance. Specifically, fluid loss negatively impacts an athlete’s VO2 max output. In hot climates, this impact could be even greater. For trained athletes who are looking to make each session better than their last, this is an important factor. If aerobic power suffers, your strength and muscular endurance will also be impacted. This will also slow down recovery between sets. Training depletes fluid, in addition to what you lose throughout the rest of the day, making it easy to become dehydrated. For these reasons, it’s critical that you pay attention to your water intake all day long.
2. Muscle Glycogen Usage
When you're dehydrated there is an increased rate of muscle glycogen usage. The problem this presents is a loss of energy while training. Once muscle glycogen becomes depleted, performance will drop sharply. While this is relevant for anaerobic based weight training, it is even more impactful for those doing endurance exercise. As a hybrid athlete who crushes weight in the gym and hits long distance trails, I must ensure that I sustain a constant state of hydration otherwise my energy stores won’t allow me to make it through my entire training session.
3. Blood Volume
Science explains that the most typical cause for performance loss due to dehydration is a reduction in blood volume. This refers to the heart’s ability to distribute blood at its highest capacity. If this mechanism becomes impaired then it will be harder to distribute oxygenated blood around the body, leaving the muscles more vulnerable to lactic acid accumulation. To sustain performance you must be able to constantly pump oxygenated blood to the working muscles, enabling them to complete the work demands, and removing the toxins which will sabotage performance.
Getting Hydrated Properly
There are many other ways which dehydration negatively impacts performance, but these are the most commonly cited issues. For an athlete, these are vital aspects of your performance. Now that you understand the mechanics of how important hydration is, let’s discuss the solution.
Getting adequately hydrated starts by analyzing what you require. As a baseline prescription, anyone who trains with intensity on a regular basis will need a minimum of one gallon per day, although this could be closer to two gallons for some. Climate also plays a big part in hydration. Those who live and train in hot, humid climates will naturally require a higher intake to balance what is lost. Assessing your personal needs starts with basic checks. Are you meeting the baseline quantity I outlined above? If not, increase your intake. Is your urine clear? It should be and if it isn’t, you need to drink more.
Now let me explain why Hydra-Charge can be so beneficial for achieving a higher state of hydration. Hydra-Charge is loaded with electrolytes. Electrolytes are required to function at a basic level and once we reach higher performance thresholds, increasing the dosage can have a profound effect on physical ability. Electrolytes work to distribute fluid to the areas of the body which require it the most. For example, during intense exercise the working muscles will need more fluid, and the electrolytes facilitate this biological process. Other noticeable benefits include improved muscle contractions and less cramping. Consuming Hydra-Charge with your water every day should be a must for anyone who takes their athletic performance seriously.
