To get the most accurate profile of your sweat / sweat loss you can and should complete a ‘sweat test’… our friends at Koda Nutrition have a DIY sweat test that you can order online. They will then analyze your sweat, talk through what it means and work with us to help refine your nutrition and hydration strategy for training and racing.
We can get part of the way there with a couple of simple steps and by ensuring we are ‘nailing the basics’…
There are two main components of hydration – fluid and electrolytes.
Simply by weighing ourselves pre and post sessions we can start to work out the fluid loss via our sweat.
Working out the amount of electrolytes lost through sweat is a little more tricky and that’s where the aforementioned test comes into play.
If you know the volume of fluid you loose in an hour then you can aim to replace 50-60% of this from the fluids consumed. This rule applies whether the session is short or long, you’re training indoors or outdoors, or whether the conditions are warm or cool!
You can also think about the ‘saltiness’ of your sweat… do you clothes have ‘white’ stains after training, does it taste salty etc. Another option is to sample some electrolyte tablets and play around with the concentration… if it tastes ‘too strong’ for you then it often is!
Appropriate hydration will consider:
– pre session hydration status
– understanding sweat loss in different conditions and for different session types
– considering fluid and electrolyte intake
– understanding that both volume loss and electrolyte loss can vary GREATLY between individuals
Here are some general rules:
– Sessions of 60mins of less will likely only NEED water
– consider SOME electrolyte for sessions 60mins or longer
– nutrition and hydration should be kept separate
– the volume of fluid AND electrolytes the more you sweat – whether that be the way you are, due to higher intensity or due to warmer temperatures
Happy sweating!