Chances are, youve been and feltdehydratedat some point in your life.
The difference between first and tenth place is seconds.
For a regular person, that difference is not as big of a deal.
Amber Venerable
For an elite athlete, it could be their livelihood.
), making sure youre properly hydrated can help.
The basic form of energy our muscles need to function is called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
If youre dehydrated, the Krebs cycle cannot work properly to create energy, Wells says.
This can leave you feelingtired and fatigued(during your workout and in daily life).
This means, ultimately, that you may feel like your cardiovascular system is working even harder (i.e.
higherheart rate) than it should be.
A workout that shouldnt feel so intense has your heart pounding.
Blood volume, which drives all pressure in the body, is primarily fluid based.
If we start losing enough fluid, cardiac function is going to go awry.
When we exercise, several areas of our body fight for fluid, Casa says.
The skin is trying to cool the body down, and it needs fluid to sweat.
Muscles need blood to carry them oxygen and nutrients and also remove waste products.
And the heart needs blood to maintain cardiac output, Casa explains.
If youre exercising in a cool environment, thats not a big problem.
If you fight through it without slowing down or rehydrating?
When its mild, you may not even realize you have it.
In general, experts agree that its not something most non-endurance exercisers need to worry about.
Elite athletes monitor their body weight and calculate their sweat rate to determine how much hydration they need.
Thats pretty unnecessary for the rest of usyou really just need to listen to your body, Casa says.
During activity, your thirst is a fantastic cue.
Thirst kicks in when youre somewhere around 2 percent dehydrated.
If you meet your thirst, then you wont over hydrate.
Regular water isusually sufficientfor most of us.
People who are exercising for 60 to 90 minutes dont have to worry too much about electrolytes.
