Back to top
Menu
Keeping hydrated for exercise
Expert reviewer, Dr Paul McArdle, Registered Dietitian
Next review due September 2023
Whether you’re an elite athlete or a weekend warrior, hydration is key during exercise. Here are some of our top tips to help guide you on how much you need to drink, and what to drink, before, during and after exercise.
Why is it important to drink during exercise?
Around 60% of your body is water and it plays a vital role in every bodily function. You can lose a lot of fluid when you exercise – as much as a litre or two an hour – mainly through sweating and breathing. So, you’ll need to drink more when you exercise.
If you don’t top this fluid back up, you can get dehydrated. This can affect both your general health and how well you can exercise. You’ll feel tired more quickly if you’re dehydrated, and you won’t be able to control your temperature as well as usual.
Water helps fuel your muscles, so drinking before, during and after exercise will boost your energy levels, and may help to prevent cramp.
Hydration before you exercise
It may not cross your mind, but making sure you’re well hydrated before you exercise is really important, especially in hot conditions.
If you’re dehydrated before you start exercising:
- your core temperature will rise faster
- your heart will have to work harder than usual
This will affect your performance and can even lead to heat stroke. Drinking enough will help you get the most out of your exercise session and feel good while you’re doing it.
One quick way to test if you’re hydrated is to check the colour of your urine.
Top tip
It can take time for fluids to be absorbed into your body. So, drink steadily during the day and aim to drink around 450ml of fluid in the two to four hours before you exercise. After that, drink more if you feel thirsty.
Hydration during exercise
It’s important to drink water during a workout – take a water bottle with you on a run, for example. Being dehydrated can affect your energy levels – you won’t be able to work as hard if you haven’t drunk enough fluid. Drinking little and often rather than a lot less often will give you the best chance of hitting your exercise targets.
The amount you need to drink will depend on how much you sweat and how long you exercise for. How much you sweat and lose water is influenced by your:
- size – larger people tend to sweat more than smaller people, and men sweat more than women
- fitness – fitter people sweat more and earlier in exercise because their bodies are accustomed to needing to cool down
- environment – you sweat more in hot, humid conditions
- exercise intensity – you sweat more as you exercise harder
One way to know when to drink is to respond to what your body tells you. If you feel thirsty, you really need to drink as your body is already showing signs that it needs to take on more fluid. Here’s another way to work out how much fluid you lose while exercising and how much to drink to compensate for it.
The sweat rate calculation
For every kilogram of body weight you lose, drink up to a litre and a half of fluid.
Top tip
Make sure you always have a bottle of water handy when you exercise so you don’t get dehydrated.
Smarter living. It’s in your DNA. Bupa SmartDNA examines your genetic composition to help you eat, move and think smarter. You’ll get help from a health and wellbeing coach to make sense of the science, and build a plan around your body, so that you have the tools you need to live smart. Learn more about SmartDNA >
Smarter living. It’s in your DNA.Hydration after exercise
Once all the hard work is over, no doubt you’ll be ready for something to drink. Not only will this be refreshing, but it will also restore your fluid levels and help your muscles to recover. The sooner you start to replace the fluid, the sooner you’ll recover. Drink until the colour of your urine returns to a hydrated colour (see above) – water should be enough unless your workout is very strenuous or lasts over an hour.
Top tip
Don’t be tempted to reward yourself after exercise with a pint or a glass of wine. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it removes water from your body by increasing how much urine your kidneys produce.
Do I need to drink sports drinks?
The array of sports drinks on the market can be overwhelming and they can contain lots of added sugar. So, it can be hard to know which to choose and if they really offer any benefit.
- If you’re doing moderate amounts of exercise, you won’t need them. Simple water is often the best thing to drink during and after a workout. If you’re exercising for less than an hour, water is all you need. But if you’re doing strenuous training, sports drinks may be useful.
- If you’re exercising for longer than an hour, sports drinks or even just squash can help you keep going for longer. As well as replacing lost fluid, sports drinks contain carbohydrates (sugar) and electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium, which you lose though sweat. These drinks provide fuel and help to keep you hydrated.
Make your own sports drink
To avoid spending lots of money on sports drinks that may contain lots of sugar and additives, you can make your own at home. Mix 200ml squash (not a low-sugar variety) with 800ml water and add a large pinch of salt.
If you’re training for an endurance event like a marathon or triathlon, speak to a dietitian for advice that’s personalised for you. For more information, take a look at our guide on nutrition for sports and exercise.
Can you drink too much?
Drinking too much can potentially be harmful as it can cause a rare condition called hyponatraemia. This is when you drink more fluid than you lose through sweating and weeing. The excess water dilutes the salts in your body and your cells swell up, which can cause a number of problems. The amount you have to drink to get hyponatraemia varies hugely from person to person. The symptoms include:
- feeling bloated
- a headache
- feeling confused or disorientated
- feeling sick or vomiting
In a worst-case scenario, severe hyponatraemia can lead to seizures (fits), losing consciousness and even death.
If you have any of the symptoms above while you’re drinking while exercising, seek urgent medical advice.
Top tip
Get to know what your sweat rate is (see our Hydration during exercise section above) and track how much you’re drinking. If you’re using a refillable bottle, make a mental note of how many times you top it up.
Did our information help you?
We’d love to hear what you think. Our short survey takes just a few minutes to complete and helps us to keep improving our health information.
About our health information
At Bupa we produce a wealth of free health information for you and your family. This is because we believe that trustworthy information is essential in helping you make better decisions about your health and wellbeing.
Our information has been awarded the PIF TICK for trustworthy health information. It also complies with the HONcode standard and follows the principles of the The Information Standard.
 |
 |
|---|
Related information
Food for exercise
What you eat before, during and after you exercise can affect how well you perform
Tools and calculators
Physical activity quiz
How much physical activity should you be doing? Take our physical activity quiz and test your knowledge about the importance of staying active.
Healthy eating quiz
A healthy balanced diet is essential for your physical and mental wellbeing. Take our healthy eating quiz to find out how much you know about nutrition.
-
Sources
- Sports nutrition. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. orthoinfo.aaos.org, last reviewed August 2019
- Water and sodium balance. MSD Manual Professional Version. www.msdmanuals.com, last full review/revision June 2020
- Chapter 33: Nutrition for performance. Brukner & Khan’s Clinical Sports Medicine: The medicine of exercise. csm.mhmedical.com, published 2019
- Corcoran M, Ayotte D. Individualized hydration plans for ultradistance endurance athletes. ACSM's Health Fitness J 2019; 23(4):27–31. doi: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000490
- Thomas T, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Joint position statement: nutrition and athletic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2016; 48(3):543–68. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000852
- Fluid (water and drinks): food fact sheet. British Dietetic Association. www.bda.uk.com, published March 2017
- Muscle cramps. MSD Manual Professional Version. www.msdmanuals.com, last full review/revision January 2019
- Dehydration. Medscape. emedicine.medscape.com, published 7 December 2018
- Developing a hydration plan. UK Coaching. www.ukcoaching.org, published 18 May 2020
- Baker LB. Sweating rate and sweat sodium concentration in athletes: a review of methodology and intra/interindividual variability. Sports Med 2017; 41(1):111–28. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0691-5
- Lee J-B, Kim TW, Min YK, et al. Long distance runners present upregulated sweating responses than sedentary counterparts. PLoS One 2014; 9(4):e93976. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093976
- Baker LB, De Chavez PJD, Ungaro CT, et al. Exercise intensity effects on total sweat electrolyte losses and regional vs. whole-body sweat [NA+], [CL−], and [K+]. Eur J Appl Physiol 2019; 119(2):361–75. doi: 10.1007/s00421-018-4048-z
- Sport and exercise: food fact sheet. British Dietetic Association. www.bda.uk.com, published April 2017
- Healthy hydration. British Nutrition Foundation. www.nutrition.org.uk, last reviewed August 2018
- Understanding energy drinks and sports drinks. UK Coaching. www.ukcoaching.org, published 11 May 2020
- Hyponatraemia. BMJ Best Practice. bestpractice.bmj.com, last reviewed June 2020
- Chapter 23: Heat. Brukner & Khan’s Clinical Sports Medicine: The medicine of exercise. csm.mhmedical.com, published 2019
- Hyponatremia. Medscape. emedicine.medscape.com, updated 17 June 2019
-
Author information
Reviewed by Rachael Mayfield-Blake, Freelance Health Editor, September 2020
Expert reviewer, Dr Paul McArdle, Registered Dietitian
Next review due September 2023
Legal disclaimer
This information was published by Bupa's Health Content Team and is based on reputable sources of medical evidence. It has been reviewed by appropriate medical or clinical professionals and deemed accurate on the date of review. Photos are only for illustrative purposes and do not reflect every presentation of a condition.
Any information about a treatment or procedure is generic, and does not necessarily describe that treatment or procedure as delivered by Bupa or its associated providers.
The information contained on this page and in any third party websites referred to on this page is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Third party websites are not owned or controlled by Bupa and any individual may be able to access and post messages on them. Bupa is not responsible for the content or availability of these third party websites. We do not accept advertising on this page.
For more details on how we produce our content and its sources, visit the 'About our health information' section.
^We may record or monitor our calls
