Top Tips for Good Hydration

" Aim to be well hydrated by knowing how much you should drink every day - look at the facts on fluids to find out how much you need

" Know the warning signs of dehydration

Thirsty

Headaches

Dark coloured urine

“Always take a full drinks bottle to training and matches”

“Choose a drink that you like”

“Practice taking fluids during training”

“Drink often during sessions; don’t wait until you are thirsty”

“Don’t share your bottle with other players - infections get passed on very easily!”

"Start re hydrating after sessions - the more you sweat, the more you need to drink!”

Performance Nutrition / Fluids

Go with the flow...the facts about fluids

Fluid is a vital part of exercise. In fact, fluid is vital for life and makes up about 60% of body weight. Good hydration helps to maintain an efficient cooling system and keeps the kidneys, respiratory system and cardiovascular system working. However when exercise is added into the equation, fluid becomes more important and more complicated to calculate. During exercise, muscles only use about 25% of the energy for work, with the rest released as heat, which is why exercise makes you hot! Heat from the working muscles is transferred to the blood. The blood flow to the skin is increased and heat is lost by evaporation -

sweating. Sweat comes from water in the blood, so you need to replace this vital fluid to prevent dehydration.

How much do you need?

You can work out your basic daily fluid needs by multiplying your body weight in kilos by 50 ml, for example, a player who weighs 75 kg will need almost 4 litres of fluid a day to stay well hydrated (75 x 50 = 3750 ml). Fluid is anything liquid, so includes water, juices, milk, tea and coffee. Food can also contain some fluid (e.g. fruit, vegetables), but most of our fluids come from the liquids we drink. On top of this, you will need to take more in to deal with the amount of sweat you lose during an exercise session, and this varies a lot between players. The fluid needed for a specific training session will depend on sweat rate, session length, surrounding temperature and humidity and intensity. Everyone sweats but some sweat more

than others. The easiest way to get an estimate of how much sweat you lose is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. Each kilo of weight loss is equal to a litre of fluid lost. However, you will also lose fluid as urine, so you should drink 1½ litres of fluid for every 1 kilo of weight lost.

What to drink?

Which fluid you opt for depends on how hard you exercise, and for how long. It is important that you choose a flavour that you like to encourage you to drink more. If you’re exercising at low-to-moderate intensity for less than an hour, then water is fine. If you are working out for more than an hour, then a fluid with some carbohydrate for fuel, and sodium (salt) for improved absorption is recommended.

There area whole range of sports drinks available that are generally divided into 3 types:

Hypotonic

These contain very small amounts of carbohydrate - about 2 to 5 gm per 100 ml - and electrolytes such as sodium and potassium. Some players find these more palatable during hard sessions and matches. Examples available are Lucozade hydro active and Club Energise Sport Low Calorie;

Isotonic

These contain around 5 to 8 gm of carbohydrate per 100 ml and sodium and potassium. They provide fuel and can be used before, during and after exercise. Examples are Powerade, Lucozade Sport and Club Energise Sport.

Hypertonic

These drinks have a high carbohydrate content - above 8 gm carbohydrate per 100 ml - and are designed as a refuelling drink rather than for hydration.

Drinking commercial sports drinks can work out to be expensive, so another option is to make your own home-made drink.

Hypotonic drinks

Recipe 1

100 ml fruit squash

100 ml water

pinch of salt

Recipe 2

100 ml fruit juice

750 ml water

pinch of salt

Isotonic drinks

Recipe 1

200 ml fruit squash

800 ml water 

pinch of salt

Recipe 2

500 ml fruit juice

500 ml water

Pinch of salt

Hypertonic drink

Recipe 1

400 ml fruit squash

1 litre water

pinch of salt

Is it possible to drink too much?

Technically, yes it is. There is a problem called hyponatraemia which occurs when the concentration of sodium in the blood falls to an abnormally low level. This can be caused by drinking excessive amounts of fluid that contain no sodium. This is only likely to be a potential problem in endurance events of longer than 4 hours, particularly when undertaken in hot conditions where sweat rates are very high, and water is taken in large volumes. This problem has never been reported in rugby.

However it is good practice to use a drink that contains some sodium (either home made or commercial) when exercising for long periods, especially in the heat. A useful way to check your hydration quickly is the Pee test. Quite simply looking at the colour of urine shows how well or poorly hydrated a player is. To show good hydration, the urine should be a pale straw colour; the darker the colour, the more dehydrated you are.

Dehydration - the ugly facts

Any degree of dehydration will impair your performance. With every level of dehydration, there is an increase in your heart rate and body temperature. This also makes the exercise session feel much harder.

The effects of dehydration are most noticeable when exercise is done in a hot and humid environment.

Dehydration reduces mental functioning and skill co-ordination, so dehydration will have an extra impact on your skills and decision making.

High levels of dehydration increase the risk of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea during exercise and slows down the rate you can absorb fluids.

It is impossible to train or toughen up your body to handle dehydration so don’t bother trying.

Practice makes perfect

Follow these guidelines to develop a fluid plan that suits you.

" Always take a full drinks bottle to training and competitions.

" Choose a drink that you like. Cool drinks are more refreshing and palatable.

" Practice your drinking routines in training.

" Always start an exercise session well hydrated. Drink 300 - 500 ml of fluid before your session.

" Aim to drink regularly to offset fluid losses - this will be governed by the rules of your sport, but make the most of all opportunities such as injury  time, half time and natural breaks. Remember the more you sweat, the more you need to drink.

" Start rehydrating after exercise - how much fluid you need will depend on how much you have lost in sweat.

" When travelling, take extra drinks with you. Air travel, air conditioning and altitude will all increase you fluid requirements.