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Feb 6, 2011

Sports Drinks Or Water After Your Workout?


 

The answer lies in the amount of time you'll be exercising, your drink preferences, and your pre-exercise hydration level.

Water hydrates best for people who are exercising between 25 and 45 minutes.

Only the true endurance athletes really need sports drinks to replace their sodium loss from sweat.

If you are exercising for 30 minutes you won't need to hydrate during the workout. If you are going for 45 minutes water will hydrate you and maintain your performance.

If, however, you are exercising for more than 45 minutes you may benefit from sports drinks that have electrolytes added.

Many people who hydrate with water find the flavor bland and will stop drinking before they are fully hydrated. Are you one of those people?

You can chose to drink sports drinks to hydrate but also remember that they add unneeded calories that have no nutritional benefits.

In other words if you chose to hydrate with sports drinks and you aren't exercising for more than 45 minutes you won't be able to count on the same calorie burn since you'll be adding calories during the workout.

So what is best for hydration is what you will drink. If you won't drink water then sports drinks are your next best option.

Do not use drinks that have sugar or caffeine to hydrate like the rash of energy drinks on the market. Sugar will decrease the emptying time of the stomach and therefore, cause stomach cramping.

Caffeine and alcoholic beverages are actually diuretics. Diuretics cause water to be drawn from the blood and intestines and then filtered out through the kidneys. You become dehydrated even more quickly when you use coffee, tea, caffeine colas and alcohol to hydrate.

If you use sports drinks to hydrate do not use them at other times since they add unwanted calories that have little to no nutritional value.

Have you made your decision?
Sports drinks or water; only you can decide.

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