It’s always important to keep our bodies hydrated, especially when exercising, when the body loses a lot of fluid through perspiration. But how much water should you drink when you exercise? Does it depend on age, gender, type of exercise or weight? We have all the answers.
The question of drinking water, before, during and after exercise concerns almost everyone who works out and doesn’t always end with an unequivocal answer. So we sat down for a chat with Hagai Lefler, a prominent athlete and blogger, and left with quite a few conclusions
Drinking water during a workout (including before and after) prevents the body from getting dehydrated. Trainees who don’t make sure to drink water before, during and after a workout are liable to suffer from fatigue, decreased performance and even coordination problems. But dehydration is also liable to affect the internal body systems and their functioning, for example: decreased cardiac volume and decreased cardiac output, shortness of breath, increased blood viscosity and more.
So how much water should you drink?
The general amounts recommended for trainees and athletes are:
- Half a liter to a liter two or three hours before working out
- A quarter of a liter during warmups or half an hour before working out
- A quarter of a liter every 10-20 minutes during the workout!
Yes, that’s a lot of water! And people who tend to perspire a lot or have high body mass need even more. But what about the differences between women and men and the effect of factors such as the difficulty of the workout, weight and height? In order to address all these questions, consult the following chart for trainees whose average age is between 25 and 30:
Not only at these ages
Although we’re focusing on this particular age range, let’s not think that only young people work out and that only they need to drink water before, during and after working out. Everyone who exercises needs to consume enough water in order to benefit from a healthy, effective workout, and definitely not rely on the sensation of thirst which is usually suppressed while the person is active. If you’re looking for a rule of thumb that can help you figure out the amount of water you need, consult this general chart:
To sum up, in order to keep up a healthy exercise regime we need to maintain a healthy water-drinking regime! With a Tami4 Water Bar at home you can go to your workout equipped with the right amount of water and enjoy clear, delicious water before, during and after your workout.
Want to know how much water a day you should drink? Check our Water Calculator, input your gender, age and the amount of exercise you get a day, and you’ll get the recommended amount.
