Can you can relate to my pain of training through the brutal heat this summer? Hooray for fall!
It felt like it came out of nowhere and then just smacked us down hard right through September. It was a treat when I escaped to Seattle in August. I felt amazing in my runs out there, not something I could say during any of my runs at home.
As hard as it can feel during the oppressive heat, many athletes can make it even harder on themselves and their progress by not knowing how to appropriately hydrate.
Yes, it’s true that you can still perform well with some dehydration, you usually can’t avoid finishing a race or long workout without being dehydrated. But there is a point in time when dehydration does impact your performance. Do you know when that is for you?
In addition to impacting performance, dehydration will also hamper recovery and physiologic adaptations if you don’t rehydrate properly. This key piece of recovery is often overlooked by athletes, which impedes your progress in your training. I’ve seen this first-hand in my practice, once we adjust the athlete’s hydration strategy to align with their biology it makes the difference between years of chasing the Kona dream and actually fulfilling the dream. Not just because of better race performance, but primarily from better recovery which leads to better quality workouts all season long.
There are two important factors in knowing your appropriate hydration strategy:
1. Sodium concentration of your sweat
This is genetically determined so it won’t change much over your lifetime. You can find out by doing our advanced sweat test. One surprising fact about this test, is that you don’t have to exercise. It’s a simple 20 minute test where we induce sweating on your arm, collect, then analyze the sweat on the spot.
2. Sweat rate
This will vary based on your fitness level, hydration status, weather conditions, and intensity of your effort. This is easy to track on your own to know how to apply your sodium concentration amounts for various activities and various conditions.
Putting the two of these together will give you a hydration strategy for all conditions and all seasons. No guessing anymore.
If you are interesting in learning the sodium concentration of your sweat, take advantage of our special for the NYC Marathon Expo. The discounted rate ends on October 31st. Find out more here – elevatebynicci.com/sweat
The off-season is a great time to start learning more about your sweat!