The heat and humidity have arrived in Georgia so much so that it can put you off exercising. In reality, though, you don’t want to take a break when you have fitness goals to fulfill.
Whether you do personal training in our Roswell facility or you are doing one of your homework sessions from our personal training regimen, you want to take care of yourself in this summer heat to stay safe. 
Your body will lose its hydrated state faster in the summer time and before you realize it. More than just leaving you thirsty, dehydration can increase your heart rate and block your body from cooling off.
You’ll then find yourself with heat exhaustion or heat stroke. This can have a deadly outcome.
Here are some tips to stay hydrated whether you are running or doing a personal training session with us:
- Try to avoid caffeine consumption as it is known as a diuretic and can have a negative effect on body fluid balance.
- Also stay away from alcohol, which also tends to dehydrate. While you most likely won’t be knocking back a few beers before hitting our personal training session, what I mean is to avoid it altogether because regular consumption of alcohol can have a cumulative dehydrating effect that can be difficult to counterbalance. Plus, it’s counterintuitive to your weight loss and healthy living goals.
- Drink water before, during, and after any type of exercise to put back the fluid you sweated out.
- If you plan to exercise in extreme heat or for longer than an hour, supplement water with a sports drink that contains electrolytes as well as 6% to 8% carbohydrates. This prevents “hyponatremia,” which is also known as low blood sodium. This condition dilutes your blood and may lead to serious impairment and death.
- Eat at least five cups of fresh fruit and vegetables each day, which has additional water that does your body good.
- After any type of strenuous exercise, it’s important to take in more protein to build muscle, carbohydrates to refuel muscle, electrolytes to replenish what’s lost in sweat, and fluids to help rehydrate the body. Consider watery foods that contain salt and potassium like soup and vegetable juices.
- Everyone has different fluid replacement needs. To determine your own, weigh yourself immediately before and after exercise. If you see an immediate loss of weight, then you’ve lost valuable water. Drink three cups of fluid for every pound lost. This will also help you determine how much water (or sports drink) you’ll need to drink before and during your next exercise session to prevent weight and water loss in the future.
When you are working out with a personal trainer, we are always happy to monitor and remind you of the amount of water you should be drinking.
We like to provide plenty of time to rehydrate during our sessions and track your hydration needs.
