The Impact of Dehydration on Your Workouts

You have most likely been dehydrated at one time or another. You could have experienced a dry mouth and throat, low energy levels, and a headache or dizziness. These are all symptoms of mild dehydration and are not seriously dangerous. They disappear when you drink some water. However, when it comes to workouts and dehydration, mild to moderate dehydration can hurt your performance.

So, what are some of the ways that being dehydrated can affect your performance when exercising?

You will lack enough energy, especially for tough workouts

Human muscle needs adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as the basic form of energy to function. During workouts, your body works to convert nutrients like fats and carbs into ATP through aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Since the body can only store limited quantities of ATP, it is continuously synthesizing more of it to supply fuel for every moment. While exercising the muscles, your body needs more energy, thus ATP is at an even higher demand and needs to produce more of it.  

The process of breaking down the food that we eat and converting it into usable ATP requires water. One of the processes that generates ATP is known as a citric cycle, or Krebs cycle, and it cannot take place properly when your body is dehydrated. As a result, you will tend to feel tired or fatigued during your day-to-day activities or as you work out.

Drinking sufficient water before, during, and after the workout is therefore critical to ensure that the body is well hydrated and has enough energy for workouts. Besides drinking water, eating healthily is also vital to provide nutrients for generating ATP. Athletes could also enhance their performance by including steroids from reliable sellers into their routine, such as those from Musclefax.

You will experience a drop in cognitive performance

Great mental capacity is key for good performance in workouts, and you cannot have it while dehydrated. Do you wonder why? Well, dehydrated athletes have been observed to have a drop in cognitive performance.

To illustrate this, in a 2012 study, eight healthy athletes were observed. The athletes were about 3 percent dehydrated because of heat stress or intense workouts. It was noted that after a 90-minute recovery session, all of them had a decline in memory, motor skills, and feelings of fatigue.

Your body will not regulate temperature properly

During workouts, several parts of our body demand fluids. As the skin works on cooling the body, it requires water to sweat. The muscles are running out of energy and producing waste products, thus needing blood (with water) to supply oxygen and nutrients to get rid of the waste products. The proper functioning of the heart also needs a good blood supply. If you are dehydrated and your blood volume is low, fulfilling all of these demands may not be possible, including the regulation of the body temperature.

You could suffer heat-related problems

The effects of mild dehydration are symptoms that bring a little discomfort. However, severe dehydration can become a medical emergency resulting in serious conditions like heat stroke, seizure, and kidney failure if not taken care of properly. Performing intense exercises in hot environments can heighten the risks, but the good news is that for most people, drinking when they sense thirst is adequate to evade getting into severe dehydration. Those who still experience dehydration symptoms despite drinking should consult a physician.

The above are just but a few of the impacts of dehydration on your workout and emphasizes why you should stay properly hydrated while exercising. All you need to do is listen to your body and at the first sign of dehydration, which happens when you are 2% dehydrated, you should drink some fluids and you will be good to continue working out.