A hydration strategy plans fluid and electrolyte intake around exercise. Pre-exercise: arrive well hydrated (pale straw urine). During: for sessions over 60-90 minutes, replace roughly 80% of sweat losses with fluid containing sodium, drinking to thirst as a guide. After: rehydrate with around 1.25-1.5 litres per kg of bodyweight lost, including sodium to aid retention. Individual sweat rate and sodium concentration vary enormously, so personalising the strategy (using a sweat-rate test) improves accuracy. Both under-hydration (impaired performance) and over-hydration (hyponatraemia) carry risks.
Key points
- Plan fluid + electrolytes around exercise
- Pre: arrive hydrated; during: ~80% of losses
- After: 1.25-1.5L per kg lost, with sodium
- Personalise using sweat-rate testing