It’s pretty common knowledge that proper hydration is important for your general health. Most of your body is made of the stuff, and we simply need to drink enough every day. The Mayo Clinic recommends 15.5 cups of fluid a day for men, and 11.5 cups for women (that includes all fluids, 20% of which come from food).
When you’re exercising though...things get a little more complicated. Sweat’s our way of regulating body temperature, and the more you sweat the quicker you become dehydrated. Knowing how much you sweat makes adequate rehydration much easier.
Learn Your Sweat Rate
Sweat rate measures how much water leaves your body while you’re exercising. Next time you exercise, do these steps to calculate it:
- Head to the bathroom and empty your bladder.
- Find your initial weight — weigh yourself in as little clothing as possible.
- Write down the ambient temperature.
- Go through a 1-hour exercise routine, recording any fluid intake.
- After your routine, towel off any sweat and weigh yourself again in the same clothing as before. This is your final weight.
- Convert weight loss to fluid ounces or milliliters. (1 lb = 16 oz = 454 ml)
- Add fluid lost to fluid consumed during exercise to find your hourly sweat rate at that temperature.
Average people sweat 27 – 47 oz/hr during exercise, but sweat rates as high as 125 oz/hr have been recorded (that was Alberto Salazar while training for the 1984 Summer Olympics). It’s important to remember that climate affects sweat rate. Temperature, humidity, and airflow are all important variables to consider.
Once you know your sweat rate, you’ll know exactly how much water to replenish during your exercise!
Besides water, post-workout you’ll want protein to help your body repair and regrow your muscles. Snacks like our Wag Bars are the optimal choice.