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You Asked: Drinking Water While Running

FitSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:36:41 -0700

A while back I wrote a post about the Nathan Speed 4 Water Holder. I thought this nifty gadget was great for long-distance runners, since it holds a total of 40 ounces of water. After reading the post, a user had a great comment.

How much/often should you drink while running?
— bicyclebeth

I'm sure many of you are wondering the same thing. To find out what I think,

Are You Drinking Enough?

FitSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:30:00 -0700

Warm weather means exercising outdoors and sweating more. Sweating more translates directly into losing fluids. Your body needs to stay properly hydrated to function and perform well. Through all that sweating, it is important to know how much you should be drinking to replenish your body.

The method of determining this is pretty simple. Weigh yourself before you work out and again when you are finished. The difference approximates the amount of body fluid you lost while exercising. If you weigh more after your run or ride, you drank too much water. You never want to lose more than two percent of your weight during any workout; a 130-pound woman should lose no more than 2.6 pounds. While working out your goal is to replenish at least 50 percent of the fluids you are losing, so you would want to drink a little over 16 ounces.

I know this is a lot of numbers and percentages, and if you don't like weighing yourself, then you should drink when you are thirsty.

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Fit Tip: Hydrate Before Exercise

FitSugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:00:00 -0700

At my gym, you are required to bring water to a spin class, because an hour of profuse sweating means you are going to have to sip regularly to stay hydrated. But here's a thought: Make sure you start you workout well hydrated. This will seriously improve your performance and help your precious bottle of water last a little longer during your workout.

To do this you need to stay hydrated during the nonexercise times of your day, and if you exercise daily you will be drinking more than the average sedentary Joe or Jane. Lance Armstrong's coach Chris Carmichael recommends drinking around a gallon of water a day – that's 128 ounces – not including the fluids you drink while exercising. If you are planning on sweating later, go ahead and drink up now.

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Don't Drink Too Much Water When Running

FitSugar — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:30:00 -0800

It is important to keep hydrated when running a marathon but did you know that too much water can be a bad thing?

A good rule of thumb is to drink about one cup of fluid every 20 minutes during a marathon, anything more than that could be dangerous and could cause hyponatremia — when you have low amounts of sodium in your body. It can be fatal if not treated immediately. To prevent it, be sure to drink sports drinks during training and, as long as you don't have high blood pressure, increase your salt intake a few days before the race.

For symptoms of hyponatremia just

Travel Tip: Stay Sane on the Plane

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:30:00 -0800

Flying can be one of the most stressful parts about the holiday season. Airplanes are hardly conducive to getting around and moving. Use these tips before and during flying to get the most of your flight:

Book a daytime arrival if possible. Once you arrive, do your best to drag yourself outside and do something active while it's still daylight — this should help you recover from jet lag much more quickly.
Book an aisle seat and walk the length of the plane every hour to prevent back strain, loosen your muscles, and get blood circulating.
It's no surprise that cabin air is super dry. To combat dehydration (which contributes to jet lag), drink a 16-oz. water before boarding. Then be sure to stay well hydrated in flight. I try to drink one small water bottle (airplane special size) every 30 minutes.

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Get in Gear: Camp Inn Hydr8r on Sale

FitSugar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:30:00 -0800

As the weather has gotten a bit chillier I have started wearing thin gloves during my runs after work with my husband. It's been great except that the gloves have made it hard to keep a grip on my water bottle, and last night I dropped it about four times. So today I have decided I need a hydration pack, especially since I am the type of runner that needs to stay constantly hydrated while running.

On my hunt for a hydration pack, I came across the Camp Inn Hydr8r Hydration Pack, which to my delight was on sale for $9.93! I am thrilled because I am not yet sure how much I am going to love running with something on my back so I don't want to invest a lot of money on a product that may not be the right solution for me. This particular hydration pack holds 100 ounces (or just under three liters), which means it won't be too heavy when it's full. I love that it comes in a bunch of fun colors, which means now my only issue is deciding which color I want.

Stay Hydrated With Platypus

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:30:00 -0700

Since we all know how bad disposable water bottles are for the environment (since most of them end up in landfills because they don't get recycled), it's a great idea to use a reusable water bottle. Both Nalgene and SIGG bottles are great, but if your goal is to stay hydrated during some kind of strenuous activity, lugging around a hard bottle can be kind of annoying.

Check out these bottles made by a company called Platypus®. Their water bottles and carriers come in a range of sizes and shapes, and they're all collapsible, "taste-free," lightweight, easy to fill, and rugged enough to handle temperatures from freezing to boiling.

Want to know what else? Then

Three Ways to Stay Hydrated at Work

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Hydrating at work is just as important as hydrating while exercising. Office environments are notorious for being some of the driest places on earth, particularly with air-conditioning and heat going at full blast. Hydration is simple to do, but if left undone can leave you feeling less than stellar. So stick to this 3-point plan to focus on hydration from RealBuzz.com:

Limit caffeine intake. Caffeinated drinks including cola, tea and coffee, all dehydrate your body. This can result in headaches, dry and sore throats, and lethargy.
Don’t lose your bottle. Always keep a bottle of water at arms reach. Take frequent swigs and you’ll keep your fluid levels topped up.
Don’t neglect activity. However, just because you have water close at hand and don’t need to move away from your desk for a drink, still make sure that you take regular exercise and mobility breaks.

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Multitask: Drinking More Water During the Day

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:30:00 -0700

I've recently discovered that by adding one healthy practice for myself, I am actually adding two healthy practices.

It's not rocket-science, I know, but I have realized that drinking more water throughout the day does more than just keep me hydrated. Drinking more water also enables me to take more steps throughout the day. How you ask? Well, the more water I drink, the more I have to actually get up from my desk (gasp, I know) and walk to the bathroom. An added bonus: In our office the bathrooms are on another floor entirely, which means I end up taking the stairs. After a few extra trips to the bathroom I've gotten a few extra hundred steps closer to reaching my goal of 10,000 steps per day. I am not saying drown yourself in water, since drinking too much water can lead to water toxicity. However, if you're only going to the bathroom once or twice a day, chances are you're not drinking enough water. Check out Fit's Calculator to see how much water you should be drinking.

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Get in Gear: CamelBak FlashFlo

FitSugar — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Running outside is wonderful, but the one drawback is water. I have yet to find a water fountain when I am out trail running. Now, you could wear the Terminator FuelBelt like Fergie Ferg, or you could opt to use the FlashFlo ($40) by CamelBak.

The FlashFlo is a fanny pack designed to hold water that has a built in drinking tube with an easy to use valve. Clip the tube to your shirt and you are good to go. You can easily slip the tubing to either side of the pack so it easy to use if you are right or left handed. The FlashFlo also has a zippered pocket for your keys and a secure outer pocket for your iPod. The fanny pack style is better suited for walking, hiking and trail running than the backpack style hydration units made by CamelBak.

So run those trails carrying 45 ounces of water sitting comfortably on your waist. Buy one directly from CamelBak.