How to Hydrate During Exercise

There are many different brands of sports drinks to choose from, but how do you know if they're for you? Why are they important?  When should you reach for water instead?
Sports drinks, like Gatorade, contain necessary ingredients like sodium and potassium; electrolytes that help maintain the body's hydration. These electrolytes also serve to keep nerves and muscles functioning properly.
As beneficial as sports drinks can be, they are not always appropriate for every workout. Cardiovascular exercise lasting about an hour or less, does not require a sports drink, as water effectively does the job of re-hydrating and replenishing the body.  Physical activity lasting longer than an hour, however, requires a little more than water alone.

Sports drinks become essential for endurance athletes (marathoners, cyclists, etc) who rely on the electrolytes and carbohydrates they contain. Before, during, and after prolonged exercise, a combination of both water AND sports drinks are essential. Water helps prevent dehydration while sports drinks help replenish the electrolytes that are lost through sweating. 

Dehydration is one major concern for endurance athletes, and it doesn't take extreme conditions (hot temperatures or high intensity workouts) to start seeing symptoms. Just a 2% loss in body weight (which could easily be lost through sweating) during exercise can reduce athletic performance by 10-20%.  Performance declines more drastically and rapidly as the temperature in the workout environment increases. (think running outside when its hot). It will be hard or nearly impossible to maintain paces that, under normal circumstances, are reasonable for you. What would normally be moderate intensity for you, is now strenuous.

Another concern for endurance athletes is a medical condition called hyponatremia. This occurs when the concentration of sodium in the blood becomes too low. This happens when athletes, knowing the dangers of dehydration, consume too much water.  Symptoms include nausea, slurred speech, disorientation, muscle cramps and confusion. Extreme (and rare) cases have been known to cause coma and death.  Hyponatremia is often misdiagnosed as dehydration since the symptoms are so similar. The immediate treatment for dehydration is an IV of fluids.  This would considerably help the dehydrated patient, but it  only makes things worse for the misdiagnosed patient who is actually suffering from hyponatremia.

This seems like a lot to think about: when you need water, when you need a sports drink, What if I don't drink enough, what if I drink too much? I can offer you advice based on what I do during my marathons. Take small sips during and immediately after exercise. Resist the urge to chug water or a sports drink.  Your stomach shouldn't feel full after drinking liquids during exercise. When doing a distance like a marathon or half marathon, I like to alternate water and a sports drink at each aid station. This ensures you get a little bit of both without getting too much. Be aware of the conditions in which you are exercising. If it is hot out, don't expect to perform your best or put out your fastest times.

Do Shapeups Really Shape You Up?

Those of you who know me, know I don't keep my opinions of 'toning shoes' a secret. Sketchers Shapeups, Reebok Easytone, New Balance Rock and Tone, Avia Avi-motion, whatever brand you choose, they all work the same way: not at all. You might be inclined to disagree, especially if you are employed by a company that makes toning shoes (toning shoes sales grossed near 1 billion dollars last year alone), or if you've visited some of these companies' websites. Shapeups website for example, boasts their toning shoe 'firms buttock muscles', 'tones and firms thigh muscles', and 'firms calf muscles'. What you won't find on the site, however, is evidence of research to support these claims. Manufacturers, naturally, will say that there ARE such studies, but they'll be more reluctant to tell you that said studies were created and paid for by the companies themselves.

When doing research to write this, I was surprised to see just how many toning shoes are out there. Sketchers has their Shapeups, New Balance has a few different variations of toning shoes. So does Reebok, and they've even gone so far as to come out with a line 'toning clothing'.  One brand you don't see in the toning shoe world but is always a big name for anything fitness: Nike. Why is this? Well, I guess it depends on who you ask. Ask any of the major toning shoe manufacturers and they'll say Nike is sulking, upset the didn't come up with the idea first. Ask Nike, however, and they will probably reference a study done by the American Counsel on Exercise (ACE).  The study concluded that the shoes fail to live up to the outrageous claims made by the manufacturers. Exercising in toning shoes does not offer more benefits than exercising in regular shoes. Nike's position on the subject is that they don't believe in the claims and are not making a product for their customers that they don't have faith in. (per article on cnbc, Nike Fights Back Against Toning Shoe)

Even with this, and other studies, disproving the too good to be true claims, millions of people still buy toning shoes. How is this market so profitable? Advertising. Spend enough money in ads and you've got people eating out of the palm of your hand, or, in this case, buying junk and lacing it to their feet.

Differing opinions of toning shoes aside, all I can give you is my professional opinion, and it is this: the shoes are worthless. Losing weight and toning your muscles require hard work; it always has and it always will.