The Importance of Hydration
It’s important to maintain proper hydration every day for a variety of reasons, including controlling body temperature, lubricating joints, preventing infections, supplying nutrients to cells, and maintaining healthy organs. Drinking enough water also enhances mood, thought process, and quality of sleep. So when taking exercise into consideration, hydration becomes an essential component that many undervalue.
During exercise your body perspires in an attempt to get back to its ideal temperature. Heat is removed from the body when sweat evaporates from your skin, but you also lose bodily fluids and essential sodium and electrolyte levels. To restore the fluids you lose through perspiration during exercising, you must consume fluids and essential electrolytes. In this manner, you’ll lower your chance of heat stress while maintaining regular bodily functions and potentially increase performance levels. As a general guideline, you should be consuming fluids if you perspire.
Some studies have shown that hypohydration (the uncompensated loss of body water) can reduce force production in muscle tissue by around 3% and reduce high-intensity endurance by around 10%. These numbers may not sound high, but for any athlete or fitness enthusiast trying to reach their goal, these numbers could be the factors stopping you from reaching your goal.
There are countless hydration products available on the market, all claiming to be able to offer the best hydration possible. It is important to remember the body can only use what it needs, all else will be removed as waste. So the product containing incredibly high doses of electrolytes and other ingredients may not always be necessarily the best for you. Finding a well balanced product that contains a range of quality ingredients is what I would recommend searching for. The main components of any electrolyte product should contain Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium. Some additions may include Vitamin C and B vitamins such as B12.
I personally use The Buzz! Hydration as it contains a range of essential vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. The addition of highly-dosed Taurine, which is an ingredient I highly recommend for anyone training consistently, was a key factor in my decision to use this before every training session. Taurine is thought to boost athletic performance by reducing muscular fatigue, thus allowing an athlete to hold a given intensity for a longer period of time. Taurine can also increase force generation in muscles so avoiding a deficiency can help maintain strength of muscular contractions.
