Dave McGovern is a Private racewalking and marathon coach, a 25-year veteran of the US National Racewalk Team and author.
Stay hydrated! It seems like such simple advice, but many walkers don’t drink enough. Dehydration can lead to fatigue, muscle cramps, headaches, decreased performance and possibly even heat stroke, so it’s important to drink enough to keep pace with sweat loss.
Weighing yourself before and after workouts is the best way to track your hydration state. Losing as little as 2% of your body weight in fluid—3 lbs. for a 150 lb. person—can lead to problems, so try to drink enough while walking to prevent such losses, and rehydrate afterwards if you come up short. On the other extreme, it is possible to drink too much. Hyponatremia is a condition of dangerously low sodium levels in the body, and it can be caused by drinking too much of a good thing—plain water.
The solution to both dehydration and hyponatremia is to drink fluids containing sodium, potassium and other electrolytes. Sports drinks are designed to replace lost fluids, and also electrolytes and carbohydrates. You can save money by making your own by mixing half orange juice, half water plus a pinch of sea salt in your drink bottle.
Did you remember to drink enough water today? What's your favorite way to rehydrate?
Good idea! However, I have high blood pressure and am prone to kidney stones. My Dr.'s want me to stay away from too much sodium and drink approx. 1 gallon of water per day! What do you do in a situation like this?
I agree with Bobbi that it is a good idea for the extra water. I aslo have high blood pressure and avoid adding salt to every thing I eat. I have been getting more headaches and started walking earlier when I can to avoid the heat. Bobbie I think you should try eating a banana for potassium and avoid ALL extra sodium.
Hi Bobbi - It's always best to follow the advice of your doctor, and generally, unless you are professional athlete or are pushing yourself to the extreme, you should be fine drinking regular water. Happy Walking!
Agreed! Again, it comes down to your individual sweat rate, and how "salty" that sweat is. If you don't take in much sodium, your body compensates by greatly reducing the amount of salt in your sweat. If you are on a very low sodium diet you should be fine drinking plain water. Just be careful if you ever do decide to do anything "crazy"* like walk a marathon. ;-)
DMcG
*I'm a marathon walking coach!
I like to mix it up a bit; I will take in a small amount of drinks with sodium, so when I walk I pack both sports drinks and water.
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