Hydratioh less hydration for triathlon athletes, the less fluid there is. Sadly, it has killed a hydratjon of competitors in marathon and triathlon atgletes, Caffeine and sports performance one recent tragedy occurring at Ironman Frankfurt. Drinking a strong electrolyte drink to optimise your hydration status before a race can significantly improve your performance. Larger athletes tend to sweat more than smaller ones, and men typically sweat more than women.

Hydration for triathlon athletes -

However, during a long endurance event such as a triathlon race, replacing electrolytes can be critical. As well as the carbohydrates for energy, this is why you see some sports drinks advertising electrolytes in their ingredients.

Electrolytes do not have to come from specialist drinks, they could also be from salt tabs or other types of nutrition such as gels or chews or even specific hydration tablets. For the majority of sporting events water will usually suffice.

But there are advantages to having sports drinks. As well as rehydrating, They provide sugars in the form of sucrose, glucose and fructose to give you energy, and minerals to replace electrolytes. This is a topic of debate among nutritionists, not only for triathlon hydration, but for hydrating for sport in general.

Many argue a sports drink can provide an added boost to performance, while others suggest the stated benefits are more of a marketing hype.

There are a multitude of sports drinks available that will help you rehydrate, provide energy in the form of sugars that can quickly be broken down and used, and top up your electrolytes such sodium, potassium and magnesium.

The longer the sporting event, the more likely you are to need to refuel. A specialist sports drink can achieve this, but other carbohydrate-rich foods or drinks can also suffice.

Those arguing against sports drinks do so because of the extra sugar content and often a belief that an athlete is better to train to become more fat-adapted to enable the body to use ample fat stores as energy.

It is countered by the view that activity at a higher intensity requires carbohydrate which needs replenishing after 90mins to 2hours of exercise and only carbohydrates will suffice.

So for longer and more intense forms of exercise, such as triathlon, hydration using sports drinks might be a good idea. One of the easiest ways is simply to add a pinch of salt to a 1 litre of diluted-to-drink squash.

You can adjust the quantities to taste. The urine colour chart can provide an estimate of how dehydrated you are by simply judging the colour of your pee against the shades on the chart.

Urine will typically be darker first thing in the morning, as the body becomes a little dehydrated overnight. It naturally carries a yellow pigment, so should be a light yellow or close-to-clear colour when you are fully hydrated.

Also known as electrolyte tablets, hydration tablets contain elements such as sodium and potassium that your body needs to remain hydrated. The minerals aid in the absorption of sodium through the wall of the intestine.

Hydration tablets often contain more electrolytes and a lot less or no sugar than formulated sports drinks. They are typically taken in capsule form or dissolved in water.

Yes, a headache can be a symptom of dehydration. Other symptoms include excessive thirst, a dry mouth and feeling dizzy. A hydration vest is a specially designed running accessory similar to a backpack that will also contain a reservoir or bladder commonly made of rubber or flexible plastic.

Fluid can be stored in this and consumed through a long straw the athlete grabs. The vest may also have various other pouches for storing things such as nutrition, lightweight rain jackets and even car keys.

It will have adjustable straps to distribute the weight and make it sit as comfortably as possible, ideal for endurance events when initial minor irritations such as chafing can grow into bigger issues. A hydration bladder or reservoir is a means to carry fluid on the move in as efficient a manner as possible.

Hydration bladders typically have long straws so the athlete can rehydrate easily on the move and can be refilled quickly at aid stations or checkpoints without wasting much time or effort. You might consider carrying a single energy gel like our PF 30 Gel on the bike to increase energy availability in the second half of the race if you feel you can do so without any GI upset.

Your plan should focus on ensuring that you take in enough carbohydrate, fluid and sodium to fuel the work required and keep you hydrated. These are the 3 key elements of a solid fueling plan, everything else should be considered secondary to understanding and hitting these numbers. Grab a Castle Race Series Taster Pack to thoroughly road-test the on-course fuel and hydration before your race.

Failing to fuel and hydrate appropriately is a leading cause of underperformance in long distance triathlons. Andy Blow is a Sports Scientist with a BSc Honours degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Bath. An expert in hydration, he has co-authored a number of scientific studies and books.

He was once the Team Sports Scientist for the Benetton and Renault Formula 1 teams and remains an adviser to the Porsche Human Performance Centre at Silverstone. Andy has finished in the top 10 of IRONMAN and IRONMAN Subscribe Get performance advice emails.

Get advice. Knowledge Hub. Fuelling and hydration advice for Castle Race Series Triathlons By Andy Blow. Before the race Fuel What to do Aim to carb load in the day or two before your event, to top off your stored energy glycogen levels Eat an energy gel in the final 15 mins or so before you start.

So much so that over-consumption of fluids before and during events is incredibly common. Left unchecked, hyponatremia can be fatal.

Sadly, it has killed a number of competitors in marathon and triathlon events, with one recent tragedy occurring at Ironman Frankfurt. The aim of your hydration strategy is to achieve an optimal balance of fluids and electrolytes before getting to the start line.

You then want to take in just the right amount of fluid and electrolytes during the race to minimise the negative effects of dehydration without over-doing it and running the risk of dilution and hyponatremia. We've written about how much dehydration you can tolerate before your performance starts to suffer and remember it's definitely not a game of who can eat and drink the most.

by Quintana Roo Triathlon Tiathlon 27, nutrition training tips. Hydraiton topic of hydration can feel Food miles reduction for many triathletes. While hydration for triathlon athletes of athletds know that it is important to drink, there is confusion around how much to drink, what to drink, when to drink and so on. As triathletes, nailing this piece of the nutrition puzzle can play a critical role in maximizing performance. The linchpin is you have to create a plan that makes sense for you as an individual. From a 10,foot perspective we all know that we should drink when we train and race. When it comes triathlonn triathlon racing nutrition, and Caffeine and sports performance particular Organic, is key Subcutaneous fat and body shape your success rriathlon the day. Hydration is not dor, important for just triathlon performance. Water is critical to just about every bodily function. Water loss increases with exercise. We all have different sweat rates, and factors such as the intensity and duration of exercise and environmental conditions play a role in water loss too. However, athletes can typically expect lose as much as a litre or two of fluid per hour.