Sports Drinks (Page 1 of 2)

Water makes up about 75 percent of your body weight and is essential for metabolic function. Drinking enough liquid to prevent dehydration during exercise is the most important thing you can do to increase the number of minutes you can exercise. You can easily sweat one or two quarts of water in one hour of exercise. This will decrease the volume of blood available to bring oxygen to your working muscles. Your heart must now pump faster to deliver the same amount of oxygen with less blood. Thus you end up expending more energy to pump blood and less is available to do physical work.

What Kind of Fluids Should You Drink During Exercise?
It depends on how long you intend to exercise. If you exercise for less than one hour, plain water is best. If you exercise for a longer duration you have to be concerned about fluid loss and energy loss. The longer you exercise the less glycogen (sugar) you will have in muscle storage. For this reason, you should drink a fluid that contains some sugar. Since a sport drink contains about 15 grams of carbohydrate per cup, it is superior to water in long duration exercises.

Another factor to consider is the speed of absorption of fluids into the bloodstream. Sport drinks are absorbed faster than plain water. This is because they contain electrolytes such as sodium and potassium that match the concentrations of the body fluids. When you sweat, you lose water and electrolytes as well. The loss of sodium and other electrolytes can result in muscle cramps and nausea.

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