In healthy people water makes up to approximately 50 - 60% of total body mass and plays a critical role in almost all physiological functions, from ensuring normal cognitive function to helping cool you down during exercise.
During exercise our body temperature rises. This causes our body to sweat. Sweating is the most effective way for our body to cool. If sweat losses are not replaced by consuming suitable fluids, dehydration can occur.
Your body works best when it is fully hydrated. A loss of 2% of body weight as a result of dehydration (which in an average female is as little as 1.2 kg) can cause your heart to work harder and your muscle to fatigue. In other words you don’t feel at your best and exercise becomes harder.
It is important you listen to your body and know the signs of when you need to take on fluid. This can be practised during training.
Our sensation of thirst is less sensitive during exercise, meaning you may already be dehydrated by the time you feel thirsty. Drinking little and often from the start is a smart way to stay hydrated but also prevent stomach discomfort and sudden requirements to use the toilet during training and the race!
For effective post-exercise rehydration, you should aim to consume 150% of the fluid lost as sweat.
So, bearing in mind that 1L of water weighs 1kg, if an athlete weighs 1kg less after exercise, they need to drink 1.5L of fluid (about 6 glasses) afterwards to fully rehydrate. Sip little and often over the following hours to achieve this.
Aim to consume 5-10ml of fluid per kilogram of your body weight before training or competition which will allow enough time for fluids to be absorbed.
Lucozade Sport has teamed up with materials engineering start-up Notpla to trial plastic-free containers called ‘Oohos’, made entirely from seaweed extract. We use these Oohos for our revolutionary Lucozade Sport Pods. Not only are they 100% edible and compostable, they also biodegrade naturally in 4-6 weeks.
Lucozade Sport Pods are a completely new way to reduce plastic use in the long term at mass-participation sporting events.