Boot Camp Hydration 101

If you are new to boot camp this session and are still in it, congrats!  You have survived the first three weeks!  Fortunately, the mornings and evenings have been cool enough so far that no one is concerned much about dehydration.  As summer approaches in Atlanta, that's all about to change...

As temperatures climb, your body dissipates heat through sweat.  Like it or not, it's an essential process that cools your skin, which cools your blood, which cools your core.

So how can you start to prep for warmer temps?

• Drink half your body weight in ounces of water or other calorie-free beverages each day.  For example, if you weight 200 lbs, aim for 100 oz of fluids daily. 
• In general, most people will lose between 1-4 lbs of water weight during one hour of exercise.  Body size, intensity, clothing, and environment (hot vs. cold temps) will all impact how much you lose.  To determine your sweat rate, weigh yourself before boot camp, then again afterwards.  If you aren't losing much weight, you are probably hydrating well.  If you do lose 1 lb or more, try the following:
• For every pound of weight lost, drink 80-100% of this during exercise to continually replace losses. So, if you lose 2 pounds of weight during boot camp (32 oz), you should drink 24-32 oz throughout camp to avoid the fluid losses from sweat.   (One pound = 16 oz.)
• If you need a larger volume that you are used to drinking, increase fluids slowly.  If you body isn't used to you drinking a large volume during exercise, it may reject it in a not-so-pleasant way.
• After exercise, most people can rehydrate through usual meals, snacks and fluids.  If you are a boot camp overachiever doing "two a days", or training for an endurance event, you may need a more aggressive plan!