Facts about Fluids

1. The most important component of nutrition is water.To achieve optimal performance low levels of body water are not acceptable. Imagine a full glass of water with a pin hole in the bottom of the glass. This represents your body in an optimal state of hydration. When exercising the glass of water will have a hole the size of a pencil in the bottom of the glass. If you do not continually hydrate during exercise you will quickly lose water. If you wait too long to hydrate it becomes very difficult to replace the water lost, which can negatively affect performance and endurance. If an athlete waits until they are thirsty to drink they have already begun dehydrating. Once this occurs an athlete cannot return to adequate hydration while exercising. It is critical that you develop a drinking plan! Dehydration negatively affects performance causing premature fatigue. Once an athlete starts to dehydrate they will lose strength, speed, and experience slower reaction times as well as increase their chances of muscle strains and pulls, and begin to develop mental fatigue. A 2% drop in body fluid results in a measurable reduction in athletic performance. Facts about Fluids