Here in Dubai, we are living in the desert. The temperatures and humidity combine to make it impossible to go for a walk outside without sweating. And those of you who have been exercising outdoors know how much you can sweat during a 1 hour workout.
How much water should we drink to be properly hydrated?
A very simple calculation gives us the answer: body weight in kilograms multiplied by 0.033 gives us the amount of water (in liters) our body requires every day.
For a 70kg individual this turns out to be:
70kg x 0.033 = 2.31 liters.
Pretty simple isn’t it? But wait…think about the extra sweat we lose during and after exercise, and the extra fluid we lose from diuretics such as caffeine and alcohol.
How Much Do We Sweat?
The average person sweats between 0.8 and 1.4 liters per hour of exercise! This fluid needs to be replaced. As for caffeine and alcoholic drinks, for every cup of coffee or glass of beer we consume, we need to consume an extra cup of water to combat the effects these drinks have on our bodies fluid level. Drinking 1 cup of coffee and working out for an 1 hour our 70kg friend now requires closer to 3.5 liters of water today.
When Should I Drink Water?
To ensure you are drinking enough water keep a water bottle with you at work, knowing how much water your bottle holds makes it easy to track your water consumption, and you can bring it along to your workout without having to buy a disposable plastic water bottle. You can consume 200ml or 300ml of water 15-20 minutes before working out, but the key is to be drinking water throughout the day as well.
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