Regardless of your fitness levels, how long you’ve been exercising or what kind of exercise you do, it’s so important to keep on top of our hydration levels. We’re recommended to drink between 10 – 15 cups of water a day, however this can vary greatly based on your lifestyle, body size and other factors. But how much are we supposed to drink during and after exercising? We break it down below:
In one hour of exercise, our bodies can drop a decent amount of fluids – meaning we need to replace this. A good ballpark figure is to drink around 250 milliliters per 15 minutes of exercise – so that would mean drinking about one liter over one hour of exercise.
It’s not common knowledge, but our bodies are actually three times more effective at losing water than absorbing and storing it, so how on earth can we keep hydrated if we lose so much during exercise?
Because we’re not losing fluid rapidly in every part of the day, we are usually able to steadily and slowly maintain fluids throughout the day from drinking and eating. The fluid recovery stage after exercise lasts for about 10 hours – this means that for 10 hours after you finish your workout, your body is searching high and low for water. If you don’t give your body the fluids it needs after a workout, your exercise won’t be as effective as it could be.
Keeping up your water intake is one of the most important aspects of overall wellness. You can exercise as hard as you like and hit as many personal records as possible, but if you’re not replenishing those fluids, it won’t matter.