Health and Beauty

Curious how important triathlon hydration is? How about how much you should actually be drinking during your triathlon? This article from the Rock Star Triathlete Academy coaches at will teach you everything you need to know about triathlon hydration.

The facts about triathlon hydration:

* Your cycling and running speed decreases about 2% for each 1% of body weight lost through dehydration.

* By the time you feel thirsty, you can already be at 2% body weight loss .

* A 3% weight loss indicates dehydration has occurred.

* Loss of fluid during exercise varies, but averages about 34 ounces per hour (and can be 3x that much in hot and humid conditions!).

* Hyponatremia, which is just as dangerous as dehydration, is a term used to describe “water intoxication” and can occur with excess water intake above 30oz of water an hour.

People acclimatized to the heat may reduce there own fluid loss up to 50% in hot conditions.

As you can see it is important to make sure you triathlon hydration is properly planned. Here is how you can do it.

Take your body weight and cut it in half. That is how many OZ’s you should aim to drink a day. Some nutritionist will say to drink more but you will get about 20% of your fluid in take from eating alone so consuming half your body weight in liquid should get the job done.

* During exercise, your triathlon hydration goal should be to consume about 17-25 ounces per hour, or around 4-8 ounces every 15-20 minutes. A typical large water bottle is 20-25 ounces. During hot and long races such as Half-Ironman and Ironman, you can shoot for closer to 28-30 oz of water per hour although smaller individuals will need to take caution with this level of fluid intake.

* Before a long exercise session, such as a multi-hour workout, race or trip to the gym, your goal should be to consume 17-25 ounces per hour for 2-3 hours leading up to event (but always taper off fluid consumption about 20 minutes before to eliminate “stomach sloshing”).

* Over 30 ounces of fluid per hour can cause water dilution in the blood, which disrupts normal cellular metabolism and physiology, often with dangerous consequences, such as swelling around the brain. High-end intake above these values should only occur during exercise in hot and humid conditions.

There are a few other good triathlon hydration tips you need to take into account:

* To avoid taking in too much water, you can combine your triathlon hydration with doses of external water to control heat stress, such as squirting some cold water over your head, putting ice in your jersey or uniform, or using ice sponges.

For excessive sweaters and those who tend to cramp easy, glycerol supplementation can maximize water storage however this is illegal in some events so use caution.

* Cold water is absorbed more rapidly than warm water giving you a good excuse to use thermal water bottles and freeze them overnight.

Make note of your urine color and to keep it a light to pale yellow.

* You can lose up to a pound in glycogen, fat and muscle tissue during a 3+ hour training session, so account for this when re-hydrating, or when weighing yourself after exercise to see how much you’ve lost

You will loose fluid in cold conditions as well so be sure to hydrate in cooler training and racing conditions as well.

No discussion of water would be complete without emphasizing that liquid compounds that are full of fructose, glucose or artificial colorings and sweeteners are not to be considered normal triathlon hydration methods, and should only be consumed when completely necessary, such as during a multi-hour training session during which calories are necessary, or when no form of pure water is handy.

Finally, whenever possible in your triathlon hydration, choose clean, filtered water, and avoid heavy consumption of water from plastic bottled sources, especially those that have been exposed to heat.