Hydration...

Drinking regularly before and during exercise can prevent losses in concentration and skill level, improve perceived exertion and prevent excessive raises in body temperature. These and other factors should make adequate hydration a priority for training and competition. Fluid replacement will vary according to fluid loss which can be affected by:

Dangers of Dehydration

Dehydration is when excessive fluid is lost from the body and not adequately replaced, this can limit rowing performance as well as having a negative effect on your health. Being dehydrated leads to an decrease in blood volume and a rise in body temperature. This means your heart has to work harder to move blood (carrying oxygen) around your body, this extra effort causes a drop in performance. It i therefore important to take on enough fluid before, during and after training has finished to minimise these effects.

Requirements
If exercising for less than an hour it isnt necessary to drink any other than water, as long as you’ve eaten a sufficient pre exercise meal. However if training or competiting for longer than 60 minutes at a moderate – high intensity (AT, TR or AN) consuming carbohydrate may help delay fatigue. After muscle stroes of glycogen (carbohydrate) have been used up it is important to consume carbohydrate to help maintain blood sugar levels to allow you to continue to train effectively. Suitable things amounts to drink are listed in the table 9 .

During long training sessions, even in cool weather significant fluid loss will occur through sweat. Table 8 shows reported fluid losses in both cool and hot temperatures in rowers during water training sessions.

Table 8. Fluid losses in different environments.

Sports Drinks - What's the difference?

There are now a large number of sports drinks which are widely available but whats the difference between hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic, other soft drinks??? Table 9 explains the difference. Visit the FAQs page to watch a video on sports drinks.

Table 9. Different types of sports drinks.

Sports Drink	Definition and Grams CHO** /100ml
Hypotonic	These have less carbohydrate particles per 100ml compared in your own body fluid ( > 4g CHO/100ml). As this is more diluted it is absorbed faster than water.
Isotonic	These have the same amount of carbohydrate particles per 100ml as your body fluids (4 – 8gCHO/100ml). They are absorbed as fast as, or faster than water. They are good for refueling and rehydrating.
Hypertonic	These have more carbohydrate particles per 100ml than your own body fluids (8g CHO/100ml). They are therefore absorbed slower than water.
Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices	These are too concentrated (9 – 20g CHO/100ml) to replace fluid during exercise, they stay in the stomach waiting to be diluted by existing body fluid, so actually can excellerate dehydration! Dilute fruit juice 1:1 with water will create an isotonic drink.

**CHO = Carbohydrate

Hydration Tips

Before exercise you want to hydrate relatively quickly, drinking water should be sufficient; however consuming additional carbohydrate may also be beneficial (1g/kg BW). A hypotonic sports drink may be suitable or water accompanied by a snack, see Nutrition Before Rowing.
For low to moderate intensity training drinking water or diluted squash should still be sufficient to replace fluid.
If training at a high intensity for an hour or longer and or in hot conditions getting fluid on board quickly is a priority. In this case you may benefit from using a hypotonic or isotonic sports drink. An isotonic solution will provide more energy.
Sports drinks may help faster recovery than drinking normal water especially after a hard session if you have experience high sweat loss. Drinking water may reduce thirst and prevent proper rehydration.

Generally good advice is to always take a bottle in the boat and try out different drinks in training so you learn what works best for you!

*** NUTRITION ADVICE FOR CLUB ROWERS ***