A Shred Girl Guide to Sports Nutrition: The Hydration Equation

This week, let’s talk about hydration. I’m on a camp right now, and MAN, it is DRY IN THE DESERT and we are guzzling water like it’s going out of style. But back in February, I was at a cooler camp and we had to really focus on drinking enough because it just wasn’t that hot. Hydration is tricky!

If you read the post on the basic guide to nutrition and the post all about how to fuel for your riding, you know what we’re talking about here: The basics that you need to know to ride and race like a boss, without getting too crazy with fad diets or weird food hacks.

Hydration is actually pretty simple if you don’t get too into the weeds with it: Basically, when you’re on the bike, aim to drink about 1 big bottle (around 20 ounces) every hour, at least. If you’re not eating something that has electrolytes like sodium in it (check the labels of your ride snacks), then make sure you add either an electrolyte mix (I love nuun) or a pinch of sea salt to your bottle. If it’s hot out, aim to drink a little more. It doesn’t have to be so complicated!

During the day, you should be hydrating off the bike as well: around 8 8-ounce glasses of water per day, not including what you drink while training. That’s 2 big Nalgene bottles! Try not to chug it all at once, you’ll just have to pee a ton. Instead, carry a big bottle like a Nalgene around and sip regularly.

If you want more info on hydration and fueling, check out my book FUEL YOUR RIDE for TONS more info.

We can get waaaaaay more in-depth about this stuff, so let me know in the comments if you have any questions about everyday nutrition! Next time, we’ll tackle the issue of how to eat for training. And yes, we’re going to talk about ‘junk food,’ because let’s be honest, it’s hard to avoid!