That good old Kentucky heat and humidity are now upon us. And you all are aware how hot it can get during a workout. While we can tell you all day to drink water during your workout, there are several other things you need to do to stay hydrated during the next several months.
1. Heavy caffeine and alcohol consumption will cause dehydration. While a lot of us love a good preworkout or caffeine heavy energy drink, the next few months may require you to scale that back a bit. And drinking heavily the night before a workout can lead to depleted hydration as well. Be smart and plan accordingly.
2. Don’t wait until you walk in the door to start consuming water. Try to drink water consistently for a few hours prior to your gym session. Your body needs some time to process.
3. Check the toilet after you urinate. Yeah, that’s not glamorous. But it’ll give you a very quick snapshot of how hydrated you are. With the exception of those on a heavy dose of vitamins(which can turn urine almost neon yellow at times), you should be aiming for very light yellow urine. It should almost look like lemonade. If it’s very dark yellow to almost brown, you need to up the water intake immediately.
4. Don’t like chugging water constantly? Up your fruit intake. Quite a few fruits have 85% water content or higher. Watermelon, apples, peaches, and cantaloupe are great options. They’ll help boost your water intake without you getting bored
5. Try to avoid the hottest parts of the day for workouts if you can. Obviously, if you workout when the sun is highest and hottest, you’re going to sweat much more than someone who worked out at 6:00 am or 6:00 pm. If you can adjust your schedule, try to.
6. If you have extremely vigorous workouts and high temps, you may actually need something with electrolytes. Water is great, but you lose a lot of salt in your sweat as well. If you have a particularly long workout, drink water ahead of time, and opt for something with added electrolytes to keep you feeling good.
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