WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF DEHYDRATION WHEN TRAINING INDOORS?
One of the most important signs of dehydration for athletes is a drop in performance. Even as little as a 2% loss of body weight due to dehydration has been shown to impair performance, so let’s take a closer look at why this happens.
As we start sweating, blood flow has to split itself between our organs, working muscles, and our sweating skin. As we sweat more to accommodate higher body temperatures, blood volume and stroke volume reduce. The heart must then work much harder to deliver oxygen to working muscles, lowering the intensity of exercise we can maintain.
And it’s not just fluid that we lose through sweating, but electrolytes too. The primary electrolytes present in sweat during exercise are sodium and chloride, with smaller amounts of magnesium, potassium, and calcium also present. It’s when this electrolyte equilibrium is not maintained during exercise, often through erroneous feeding strategies, that performance is further compromised.
More general signs of dehydration to look out for while training indoors include:
- Intense thirst
- Dry mouth
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Disorientation
HOW TO MANAGE CORE BODY TEMPERATURE DURING INDOOR TRAINING
There are two important practical options for ensuring indoor training sessions are safe and effective, so let’s begin with the first: managing body temperature. Here are a few tips and tricks you can use to help stay cooler during hot, humid, and potentially uncomfortable indoor workouts:
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Utilise Temperature Controls: If your gym or leisure centre has air conditioning, use it to your advantage! Set your thermostat to a lower temperature so that you feel comfortable at a higher body temperature.
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Set Up Multiple Fans: If you don’t have fancy air conditioning, a couple of fans positioned around the room can create a refreshing, cooling airflow.
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Let Natural Air Inside: Opening a window can let in cool, fresh air that feels great on the skin during a workout.
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Get Inventive With Towels: Instead of using your towel just to dry yourself off, why not wet it with cold water and put it on your neck during breaks to cool down?
HOW TO STAY HYDRATED THROUGHOUT INDOOR TRAINING
The second option at your disposal is implementing a tailored hydration plan into your indoor training. Knowing how to stay hydrated during exercise is our bread and butter at OTE Sports, so let’s break down how you can hydrate most efficiently at each stage of your training.
Pre-Workout Hydration
The importance of pre-hydration for indoor running sessions or gym workouts can’t be overstated, so it’s always a good idea to try to start every session fully hydrated. We recommend adding one of our hydration supplements to your water and sipping steadily leading up to your workout. These products are designed to replenish fluids more efficiently and provide vital electrolytes lost through sweat.
Hydration During Your Workout
Due to huge variation in individual sweat rates and indoor training conditions, it’s impossible to provide an exact amount of fluid that should be consumed during a session. Differences in individual sweat rates can range from 0.4L to 1.8L per hour, so the best thing to do is to develop a hydration strategy tailored to your own sweat rates.
One simple method for doing this is to weigh yourself before and after a training session. To keep it simple, a one-hour session can give you a good idea of your sweat rate during an indoor training session.
Follow these simple instructions:
- Weigh yourself immediately before exercise.
- Train for one hour and monitor how much fluid you take on board.
- Weigh yourself again immediately after exercise.
- After exercise, the calculated change in body weight will give you an indication of fluid loss.
Post-Workout Hydration
Any weight lost directly after exercise is water loss, rather than weight loss, so the importance of hydration after exercise can’t be overstated. We advise replenishing this water loss with 1.5 times the amount lost (1 kg lost = 1 litre lost) as soon as possible. Remember: sipping little and often is better to help our bodies retain the water.
PERFECT YOUR HYDRATION PLAN HERE AT OTE SPORTS
Hydration is the cornerstone of an effective nutrition plan. It ensures that your body has the fluids and electrolytes it needs to perform at its best, and our sports drinks are specifically designed to replenish the body as efficiently as possible.
Ready to start your sports nutrition journey? At OTE Sports, we’ve got the expertise and products you’ve been looking for. Whatever you need, be your best with OTE Sports.
