Keeping Fluids and Electrolytes in Balance

By: Christopher D. Jensen, PhD, MPH, Nutrition & Epidemiology Researcher

RD

I ts no surprise that fluid/electrolyte balance is critical to performance for endurance athletes. After all, water is your #1 ingredient, and every cell and tissue in your body bathes in it. The fluid that circulates throughout your body also includes dissolved minerals known as electrolytes. These electrolytes help properly regulate the fluid levels inside and between cells, and theyre absolutely vital to the proper functioning of your cells and tissues, including muscle tissue. Dehydration Ironically, as an athlete, your fluid/electrolyte balance is challenged on an everyday basis. During exercise, your muscles generate loads of internal heat that can quickly build up and become toxic if not promptly released. Fortunately, your body cools itself by sweating. But in the process, you lose the very fluids and electrolytes, especially sodium, that are essential to keeping you properly hydrated and cooled. Your body can stand to lose a certain amount of sweat without your performance's being affected; but at some point, that loss of fluid and sodium takes a toll. The dehydration that can result forces your heart to work harder to keep up, your core body temperature rises, and the exercise youre doing feels increasingly more difficult. As a result, your athletic performance falls off dramatically. If allowed to progress, dehydration can also have very serious health consequences. Overhydration If dehydration is at one end of the spectrum, overhydration is at the other end. And the consequences, both athletically and healthwise, are on a par with dehydration. Overhydration during exercise is caused by drinking more fluid than your body is losing due to sweat. Too much fluid causes the electrolyte concentration in the body to become overly diluted. Here again, sodium is a major player. If the sodium concentration in the blood becomes too diluted, a condition known as hyponatremia, or low blood sodium, develops. As with dehydration, in the early stages of overhydration, athletic performance is hampered. If allowed to progress, there can be very serious health consequences. The hydration zone The key to avoiding both dehydration and overhydration is to stay in your hydration zone. Your hydration zone is that level of hydration that enables you to perform at your best. The high end of your hydration zone is your usual pre-exercise body weight. In other words, you never want to consume so much fluid during exercise that you actually end up gaining weight. And the threshold for fluid loss beyond which performance is measurably hampered is 2% of your body weight. For example, if you typically weigh 150 lbs (68 kg), 2% of your body weight is 3 lbs (1.4 kg). So your hydration zone would be a high of 150 lbs (68 kg) and a low of 147 lbs (66.6 kg). If you stay within that weight range during exercise, chances are good that you wont suffer a fluid/electrolyte imbalance that would otherwise undermine your performance or health. Having established the importance of the hydration zone and how to calculate it, the next hurdle is staying in that zone when training and competing. That can be challenging because your sense of thirst during exercising is a very poor gauge of your fluid needs. Its well established that when athletes rely on thirst alone during endurance exercise, they fall far short of meeting fluid needs, and dehydration is common. Instead, whats required is a hydration plan.

Tips for Developing Your Hydration Plan Start hydrated. If you go into workouts fully hydrated, youll be able to train harder and realize better gains. The same goes for endurance competitions youll be better able to sustain your race pace and achieve that personal best. Make up for any previously incurred fluid deficits by consuming 1420 fl oz (400600 ml) of water or sports drink 23 hours before a competition or training session. Keep hydrating as needed prior to a workout or as youre warming up before a competition, especially if conditions are hot or humid. Check your hydration status before exercise. You can monitor your hydration status before exercise by checking the color of your urine. A light-yellow color is consistent with adequate hydration. If your urine is darker, more like the color of apple juice, thats typically a sign that more fluids are needed before you start exercising. Know what to hydrate with. Water is usually fine for short workouts or events (e.g., less than an hour) in mild weather. However, for intense workouts, long competitions, and anytime youre exercising in the heat and humidity, a sports drink that provides carbohydrates, fluids, and sodium, such as PowerBar Endurance sports drink, is a much better option than plain water. The advantages are many: First, a sports drink provides carbohydrates to help sustain your blood glucose level during exercise. Second, athletes typically consume more fluids when their hydration beverage is flavored, as is the case with a sports drink. Third, the sodium and carbs in a sports drink cause the fluid in the beverage to be absorbed more quickly. The sodium also helps maintain your drive to continue drinking fluids during exercise, which is crucial to meeting your fluid needs. Finally, the sodium also helps you retain the fluid that youve consumed. Another option for rehydrating and refueling, especially in longer training sessions or events, is to consume an energy gel and chase it with water. Make sure to select an energy gel that provides sodium along with carbohydrates, such as PowerBar Gel. These gels are designed to be consumed every 2045 minutes during exercise and they provide the sodium and carbohydrate similar to that of a sports drink. Know how much to drink. As distance, temperature, or humidity increases, the need for fluids increases as well. To stay hydrated in these circumstances, youll need to consume fluids at a rate that keeps pace with your sweat rate so that you dont end up outside of your hydration zone. This generally requires about 1326 fl oz (400800 ml) every hour of exercise. Its generally preferable to consume smaller amounts of fluid more frequently, such as 37 fl oz (100200 ml) about every 15 minutes. But keep in mind that fluid needs can vary considerably based on factors such as body size, pace, and weather conditions. Therefore, you may want to calculate your actual sweat rate for the various conditions in which you train and compete. Calculating your sweat rate is really quite simple. For a step-by-step guide, use the PowerBar Sweat Rate Calculator at PowerBar.com. Rehydrate during recovery. Get into the habit of weighing yourself before and after exercise. The difference in your weight is how much fluid you lost. Replace this fluid after exercise by gradually drinking 23 fl oz (690 ml) of a sports drink, recovery beverage, or water for every lb (1,500 ml per kg) of weight lost. Consume sodium sources along with your fluids, as rehydration will be more effective when sodium is included with the fluid and food you consume as you recover. If you find that your net loss of fluids consistently exceeds 2% of your body weight, try to bump up your fluid intake a bit during exercise. If you find that you actually gain weight during a workout or competition, cut back a bit on your rate of fluid intake during exercise.

Ateneo de Davao University College of Nursing

Fluids and Electrolytes

Submitted by: Edelou A. Jumawan

Submitted to: Mr. Ronald Rebollido, Rn., Mn.

July 19, 2012

Ateneo de Davao University College of Nursing

Fluids and Electrolytes

Submitted by: Edelou A. Jumawan

Submitted to: Mr. Ronald Rebollido, Rn., Mn.

July 19, 2012