Nutrition For Endurance Sports
Endurance sports like swimming, running, cycling, triathlon, mountain biking, rowing, cross-country skiing, mountaineering or trekking need good hydration and proper nutrition. Either bad nutrition or loss of hydration can cause can make you tired and perform badly.
To prepare for any endurance sport, you should get high nutrition, not only including proteins for the muscles and carbohydrates for the energy, but also minerals, vitamins, and natural enzymes from raw food, plus lots of water. Mountain Spring Water is the best, not just filtered water. Athletes and trainers of endurance sports suggest proper hydration is one of the main factors. This involves hydration before the event and during the event, and thorough hydration after the event to recover.
Water is one of the most important elements for the body to survive. Scientific studies show that humans can live for a month without eating but can only survive without water for three to seven days. The body is made up of fifty to seventy percent water and hydration with water keeps the cells working right. When people with diarrhea die, it's not because of the diarrhea itself, but because of the dehydration caused by the diarrhea. Drinking plenty of water to hydrate the body before the sports activity gives the athlete a boost for the performance.
Once the sports activity requiring endurance has begun, the athlete must drink water to hydrate regularly during the game. Athletes in endurance sports generally sweat about two quarts of water an hour in humid, hot weather. That's why it's important for the athlete to drink a about eight ounces of water or sports drink every twenty minutes. It often helps to set an timer every twenty minutes for twenty-four hours to get used to it and to remind the athlete that it's time to drink water. If you freeze the drinking bottles and pack them with insulation, they will keep the water cooler. Athletes are usually not aware of how much water has been lost and it's usually much more than they think. Always carry more water than you can drink. Hydrating heavily every twenty minutes will use up the supply of water fast.
Is water better than sports drinks? (or vice versa) for endurance sports. Research has concluded that endurance sports athletes under gruelingly hot and humid conditions, drinking only water, recuperated only 50% to 75% of the fluid loss. Athletes hydrated with sports drinks, hydrated almost 100%. The body loses salts in the sweat: salts are electrolytes including magnesium, sodium and potassium. those mineral salts, electrolytes, help retain body fluid for proper body function. Loss of electrolytes can cause extreme exhaustion, irregular heartbeat, dizziness and muscle cramps; in extreme situations, loss of electrolytes can even cause death.
Hydrating the body and maintaining it hydrated with electrolytes during the sport is the most important factor in endurance sports. It is better to use a sport drink or other electrolyte-charged water drink, for hydration during the actual sport event, to maintain the mineral electrolytes in the body. So remember, for endurance sports: hydrate before, during and after the sport for best performance.
This article was written by Jim Krage of Healing Energy News .com. |
