Whether it’s falling into it, splashing through it or making sure you’ve drunk enough of it, water and hydration play a very important part in your Tough Mudder experience, and not just on course. When facing Tough Mudder, you’ll be putting your mind and body to the test and you bet you’re going to want to hydrate right. Understanding the importance of hydration will help you get the most out of your Tough Mudder challenge.
We’re made up of approximately 60% water and should aim to consume 2 litres of it every day (yes, that much). This ensures we’re at our best in everything we do, be it at our desk, at the gym, or beasting your way through a Tough Mudder course in the coming months.
How to Stay Hydrated When Exercising
Your body works best when it is fully hydrated. A loss of just 2% of body weight as a result of dehydration (which in an average female is as little as 1.2 kg) can cause your heart to work harder and your muscles to fatigue. In other words, you don’t feel at your best and exercise becomes increasingly strenuous. With that in mind, we caught up with our pals at Actiph Water and they shared the following tips to make sure you’re taking care of yourself the best you can. Take note Mudders.
Before Exercising
If you know you’ve got a big sesh coming up, then make sure your body is fully hydrated and ready to face whatever you’re going to throw at it. You should aim to consume 5-10ml of fluid per kg of body weight, 2-4 hours before training or an event. This will allow enough time for fluids to be absorbed, and make sure you don’t feel bloated or uncomfortable.
Not sure what that means for you? As an example, for a 70kg Mudder that equates to 350–700ml of fluids, or 1-2 glasses.
During Exercise
Whatever kind of exercise you’re doing you should always be listening to your body, which knows exactly what it needs. If you feel thirsty – you need to drink, it really is that simple. Try to avoid taking on large amounts of fluid while you’re exercising as it could make you feel uncomfortable or queasy. Instead try to drink little and often, if you’re on course make the most of our water stations and keep a fresh bottle to hand whenever you’re working out.
After Exercise
This is the big one. After you’ve worked out, or finished your Tough Mudder you should be aiming to consume 150% of the sweat loss to ensure you’re effectively rehydrated. If that sounds a bit complicated then let’s use our imaginary Mudder once more. If a 70kg Mudder lost 1kg of body mass during exercise, they would need to consume 1.5L fluid after exercise to fully rehydrate. This is equivalent to around 6 glasses of fluid.
It may sound a lot but it’s important to take this seriously, without proper hydration your body won’t be able to function to its highest capability. Find out more about Actiph Water and their alkaline ionised water, supercharged to a pH 9.0+ to help you take your day to the next level.
Start putting your training to good use and sign up for a Tough Mudder event. See you in the mud.
