This morning as I was leaving my local Trader Joe’s, the cashier gave me a friendly goodbye and a reminder to, “stay hydrated!”
With how hot it’s going to be this week, I figured I’d pass this advice along to all of you!
Temperatures in Elmhurst, IL are expected to reach upwards of 99 degrees in the next few days. Since most members at Big Shoulders CrossFit don’t let anything deter them from making it to the gym, I figured I’d remind you all what staying hydrated actually means.
While there is no perfect equation for the human body, a good starting point is to drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water each day. I weigh about 210-lbs, so that’s 105 ounces of water each day for me. And I do mean water. Your morning coffee doesn’t count! In fact, anything that has caffeine, or calories in it, does not count as water. Unless you’re constantly exercising for 90-120 minutes (i.e. going for a long run), you don’t need a sports drink like Gatorade (if it’s one of their zero cal options or a similar product, that’s okay, but plain water is best).
Personally, I like to track my water in milliliters, which you simply multiply ½ of your body weight by 28 to find (so 105*28 = 2940 ml, or 2.9 liters).
Again, this number is a BASELINE! Having coffee, lots of carbs, and excessive heat, all add to your water intake needs. So having a cold brew coffee (more caffeine than normal coffee), and some cold sweet treats to beat the heat, would INCREASE your hydration needs!
My recommendation is to start your day with a large amount of your daily water needs. It will help you be more alert throughout the day and make staying hydrated much more manageable.
This is a good rule to remember year-round, but there’s no better time than today to get started!
Stay hydrated everyone!
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